GOD’S ALL-SUFFICIENT RESOURCES FOR DEALING WITH STRESS

Lesson 3

The Sufficiency of the Bible – Part 3  

TEXT:  Heb 4:12, Ps 139:1-18

I. INTRODUCTION  

A nationally known pastor preached on the radio that he did not believe that true Christians should submit themselves to the counsel of modern psychology. He preached that a believer in Christ and His Word is the sufficiency of the Christian. A lady wrote him a letter of disagreement and he published parts of it in a book. It demonstrates the thinking of our society, even many "contemporary Christians." It reads as follows:

"I have never agreed with your view of psychologists and how you lump them all together, Christian and secular. A recent awareness of past events has made this all the more disturbing. I wonder if you realize the harm you are doing as you turn people who have deep emotional problems away from seeking the help they need. If you came from an ideal family situation you may well have difficulty understanding how deeply the spirits of some people have been wounded and how it has warped the very fiber of their being. Oftentimes the incidents havebeen sublimated by the youngster only to surface as an adolescent or adult. Recommending only Bible study and prayer can be like putting on a Band-Aid when you need surgery. Just becoming a Christian doesn't solve the dilemma either (I used to think it does), because the troubled person may just consider their past life experiences fairly normal, having sublimated the deep hurt of their spirit. Then because these matters have never been dealt with they carry them on into their marriages and then begins another cycle."

(The woman added some personal details about a son-in-law who she felt needed psychological counseling. He was being abusive to his wife and had even threatened to kill her. He refused to accept responsibility for his wrong behavior, always finding ways to blame others for things that were wrong in his own life. The entire family had been encouraging him to seek psychological counseling for more than a year but he had refused. Now he was using my teaching as justification for his refusal to seek a therapist's help. She closed with these comments.)

"The simplistic answer is that it's due to sin: ask God to forgive you, forgive others, read your Bible and pray. Ask God to help you do better. But you also have to address what the sin has done and if the person is not aware of the problem that has become so deeply buried in their subconscious, how are they going to go about correcting it? A man with a broken leg isn't helped by rubbing ointment on the hurting area. Until you discover the underlying cause of the pain, you can't bring about healing. The Christian psychologist has been trained and is better able to get to the root of these serious problems ... a friend or good listener isn't of much help because the matter is too deep, and a minister has an entire congregation to minister to. How in the world could he justify the time it would take to deal with just a few in his congregation? Life is becoming more complex and relationships more fragile because of it AND YOU DON'T THINK CHRISTIANS SHOULD SEEK PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING???? I wonder how many other needy people have been persuaded not to seek professional help they desperately need. I shudder to think of the responsibility that is yours as your voice travels the airways, discouraging people from getting the help they need. I sincerely hope that we have misunderstood the real meaning of what you meant ... To make my point very clear: I DO NOT AGREE WITH YOU THAT CHRISTIANS SHOULD NOT SEEK PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING. If the need is there, they should avail themselves of the help."

Modern psychology is the study or science of the mind without regard for God Who is our Creator. And, in psychotherapy, the patient is challenged to look deep within himself and that the keys to his problems lie deep within.  

Notice the letter and the lady’s reference to “deep,” “sublimated,” “subconscious.”  Her suggestion is that the Bible, prayer, Christ, etc. are OK for surface, superficial, and Band-Aid type problems, but not for deep and real problems; that God’s people must have the help of a system that it totally secular, humanist, and ungodly, which means without regard for God.  

Heb 4:12 – God’s word will deal with matters no matter how deep they are!

II. GOD IS FULLY AWARE OF ALL OUR DEEP NEEDS AND PROBLEMS – Ps 139:1-18  

A. Vs. 1-6 God’s knowledge of us is more than we can attain

1. Nothing about our life is hidden from God

2. Vs. 6 His knowledge of us surpasses our own  

B. God knows intricately and cares intimately

1. Vs. 7-16 Just listen to God’s knowledge of us

2. Vs. 17-18 Now notice His care and love for us

a. Did you know that God spends time thinking good thoughts of you?

b. What a comfort this should be for us!  

C. Ps 32:6-8 God will counsel His own through the times of trouble

1. Vs. 6-7 David’s words to God

2. Vs. 8 God’s words to David

III. BUT WHAT ABOUT OUR PAST SINS AND PAST INFLUENCES?  

A. 1 Cor 6:9-11 & Col 1:20-22 That God calls to Himself those with incredibly sinful and twisted paths is nothing new

1. All Christians have a past filled with sinfulness and wickedness

a. What about people who got saved as children?

(1) In our eyes their sins may not have been so bad but sin is sin to God

2. People in this church would not want their lives played on TV before everyone

a. Even if our deeds weren’t so bad our thought lives would sicken many  

B. But God has made allowances for us to be free from the torment and haunting control of the past

1. Ps 32:1-5 By faith, David accepted God’s forgiveness

2. Ps 103:1-18

a. Let God have your past and cleanse it by the blood of Jesus.

b. Come to these verses as oft as you will; they will assure you of the Father’s forgiveness to the repentant

3. If you are convicted by your past then ask God to reveal to you why you cannot let it go.

a. If may be that you have someone YOU need to forgive

b. Maybe God’s not allowing you to forget it because he wants you to set is straight

4. If we never sense the responsibility for our sin and behavior, we will never come clean totally before God.

a. Until we come clean before God we will lack peace, have torment, and not carry on with the joy of God.

IV. CONCLUSION:  

A. Stay in God’s word!

1. It will remind you that God is aware of your needs

2. It will assure you that your past is cleared

3. It will help you to find that peace that you want