I'm not in a wheelchair, but the bottom line is it's difficult to move around." The problem is sometimes I feel like I am this brain on fire, and I'm like in a wheelchair. But it hasn't changed the way that I think. "It leaves all my major muscles in pain, pretty much, 24 hours a day," he said. However, he admitted that the illness is "debilitating" and causes him constant pain. The 69-year-old author of The Purpose Driven Life shared that he has been in a two-year-long battle with an autoimmune disease, which he assured is not life-threatening and won't last past three to five years. Warren, who co-founded the Saddleback Chruch in California alongside his wife, Kay, appeared on " The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast" Wednesday to discuss his new book and ministry goals after retiring from Saddleback Church last year. Retired megachurch pastor and bestselling author Rick Warren revealed in a podcast this week that he has been battling an autoimmune disease for the past two years. I pray that in the time of waiting, the persons afflicted with mental illness and their families would be strengthened in faith and in the saving knowledge of God.Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest speaks at the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Anaheim, California, on June 14, 2022. I think that God wants to reveal Himself personally to people, and doesn’t just randomly perform miracles when credit goes to the doctor or a medicine or anything else other than Himself. In the bible, it was usually the people who sought Jesus (like the woman bleeding for twelve years in Luke 8:43) or sometimes someone who was helped by others… like in the case of the quadriplegic who was passive but whose friends had faith (Luke 5:18-20) who was healed because of his friends’ faith the centurion who asked for help for his paralysed servant (Matt 8:4-6) the father Jairus who pleaded for his daughter (Luke 8). I pray that the people who are afflicted or the loved ones around the afflicted would seek the Lord amidst the pain and suffering that these illnesses bring. Easter shows that with God, no situation is hopeless.” His brain doesn’t always work right but God always works right.ĭavid concludes, “If you are going through dark days right now, I want you to hear me loud and clear. That is his source of significance and confidence. God has a purpose for his life greater than his illness. “Pastor Rick says that God loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections.” David says that his true identity is in Christ, not in his illness. I was told I should never have kids or even get married but God gave me a loving wife and two incredible kids…”ĭavid went on to encourage anyone struggling with any kind of illness whether physical, emotional, mental or any other kind of hurt…, God has the power to help that no one else can offer. I was told I would never hold on a job but God gave me a great vocation for my life. Because of my illness, I was told that I would never finish college but God gave me the grace to complete graduate school. So many of the negative predictions people had made about my life never happened. Both my church and the promises of God’s Word brought me great comfort when I could not see my way out of the darkness…Because I knew God’s promises, I felt God’s presence I entrusted my entire life including my disease to Jesus. The stigma, the shame, and the many misconceptions about mental illness we all held were enormous barriers that kept me from getting help… That sad season of my life was marked by isolation, dark days, and great suffering… I take medications and have used medical therapies but I know that it was God’s love and power that gave me resilience to get through my recovery. That night I felt my mind and my future was gone…Įven though my mental illness caused great devastation to my family, my friends, and community, we didn’t talk about it. One week, my mind became increasingly filled with irrational beliefs, both paranoid and grandiose…That evening, I found myself in a locked psychiatric unit in a hospital. “Remembering the promises of God not only carried me through the darkest days of my life but it also transformed my life… In 1992…I was diagnosed with schizophrenia…struggling with …hallucinations and delusions about what was real. Praise God also for His victory in the life of the sharer, David Mandani (from 43:05). We need to keep our eyes on the promises of God in His Word on our Fridays and Saturdays. He shares that Fridays are characterised by pain and suffering, Saturday is doubt and confusion, and Sunday is victory and joy. Pastor Rick Warren is living out the hope of the resurrection. He gave this message less than a year since the tragic event in the life of his son who had suffered from mental illness.
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