Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker

We often hear someone say, “I’ve got bad news and good news. Which do you want to hear first?” Mom would always tell me the positive ending of a catastrophe before giving the scary details. For example, she’d call and say, “Your Dad’s alright, but yesterday he fell in the garage and hit his head.” Several years ago, a guest speaker was invited to share his story at church. He spent the majority of his time sharing the horrible things he’d experienced in life, and then the last few sentences were about the miracles God had performed in the midst of his nightmare mess. As I left the building, I thought, “I would’ve rather heard 10% of the horrible and 90% of the wonderful ‘but God‘ part of his testimony.

The word ‘but‘ in scripture usually introduces the gracious and powerful intervention of God. There are many ‘but God’ scriptures and these two three-letter words are some of the best in the Bible. The phrase ’but God’ means that when everything seems broken,  useless, and hopeless, God gets involved and brings a miraculous change of events in our life. Here are a few examples:

In Genesis Chapter 7, God sent the flood and all the living things and people on earth were destroyed. He wiped out everything and everybody that wasn’t in the ark. The only people who survived the catastrophic flood were Noah and his seven family members. “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat. He sent a wind to blow across the earth, and the floodwaters began to recede“ (Genesis 8:1 NLT.) God doesn’t forget us when we go through a personal chaotic storm.

However, simply knowing the promises of God is not the same as believing and standing on them. When we take God at His Word, we have what it takes to overcome overwhelming odds. “God can do anything, you know — far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us” (Ephesians 3:20 MSG.) There’s an unfortunate tendency among some Christ followers to keep God in a tiny box with a lid. This practice actually limits what God can do for us. Living an abundant life is a team effort with God as our I AM. We have to be united in purpose, obedient, and not bucking His system. He never intended for us to try to carry our burdens alone. When we take our hands off the mess and give it to the One who holds us in His hands, we’ll eventually experience a ‘but God’ outcome. Take the lid off and let God go to work.

God is a Redeemer and a Reverser. He takes people and circumstances and turns them completely around. BAM! Joseph’s brothers and others treated him cruelly and lied about him. After many years of God’s continual intervention in Egypt, Joseph was finally promoted and was able to say to his brothers: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people” (Genesis 50:20 NLT.) God literally took Joseph from the pit to the palace.

When Paul reached Macedonia he was exhausted from the troubles he’d experienced at every turn. And then He said, “But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus” (2 Corinthians 7:6 NLT.)

The Key: Let’s focus on the bigger ‘but God’ story when we find ourselves in a mess.

Cases of depression are at an all-time high, and for far too many people, the Christmas season exacerbates the problem. Shopping creates emotional stress as credit cards are maxed out in order to keep those little kiddies happy. Many feel overwhelmed by the endless television promotions of holiday celebrations, knowing they don’t measure up. I get it.  Their tables would make Martha Stewart envious.  Seriously.  I mean, who has a table big enough to hold 16 Lenox China place settings? Still, adults aren’t the only ones suffering.

Schools today are spending much of their resources, hiring mental health counselors to help students cope, and pharmaceutical companies are making billions on drugs intended to reduce anxiety and depression. At a doctor’s visit this past week, I was asked a routine question: “Are you depressed?”  I knew she didn’t mean the usual feelings of working through the stress of Christmas travels or being sad because I didn’t lose the weight I vowed to lose for the last several New Years’ Eve resolutions.  She was talking about the overriding feeling of being down with no hope.  Just a few years ago, that question was not asked in a doctor’s office.

Yesterday, I visited with a local woman who shared the story of her relative who spent years suffering from drug-induced depression, and after multiple stays in the penitentiary, decided to come clean and turn back to Jesus. For over two years, he has held a job, been promoted to management, and now speaks to students, warning them never to start drugs.  His heart-felt prayer at Thanksgiving, I was told, caused every adult to tear up.

A few days ago, I met a woman who is seeking answers for her granddaughter who feels hopeless and claims she is picked on in school.  Her medication doesn’t seem to help.

Granted, there are people who need medicine.  But there are some who do not.  They just need Jesus.  Of course, our laws prohibit us from sharing this answer with our students or our employees or our soldiers or our patients.  We who can offer Hope, are told we cannot.  And yes, for some, the answer is medicine-plus-Jesus, but we don’t even give him a chance to make a difference.

It makes no sense.  If you had a migraine and I had a pill that would cure your headache, should I not be able to tell you about it?  If your marriage were on the rocks and I had a way to solve your problem, should our legislative body deny me the right to explain such Hope to you?  If your company was about to go belly-up and I had an answer to keep you in the black, should anyone keep me from speaking up?

Finding 2023 statistics on how many people suffer from depression led to ads on specific drugs to reduce depression, but Rexulti did promote its company by saying this: “Major depressive disorder is a serious medical illness affecting an estimated 21 million American adults…A large study showed that 2 out of 3 people taking an antidepressant still experienced symptoms of depression.”

Someone posted this:     “When Elijah said ‘Lord, I want to die,’ God gave him the strength to live.  Depression is real. But so is God.  Anxiety is real. But so is hope.”

The worst thing we Christians can do is to judge those who suffer with mental health struggles. But we should be allowed to intersect faith and mental health by supporting and loving those who seek answers. By offering them the Hope that Jesus offers.