Don't tell them what to do!

It doesn't matter where I was at the time, but a few incidents came up recently.



I believe I have already blogged about one incident, where an obviously mentally ill person got very upset at me for taking my medication. She had a physical disability in addition to the obvious mania. I had gotten dizzy from medication and stumbled getting into the vehicle. Since I don't "appear" sick she asked me what was wrong. I believe the exact question was "You aren't SICK [contagious] are you?"



No, I told her, my medication had me a little dizzy. She asked me what I took and I told her. "For Bipolar disorder". She proceeded, in typical http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mania fashion, to tell me manic-depression was a "made up illness" designed to "Get you hooked on their drugs. You're addicted to those drugs!"



Uhm, how many blog entries have I bitched about horrible side effects? How many times have I typed out my resentment at losing brain function, just to have a functional mood? How many compromises between mood and function? Noting a theme here of LOSS OF FUNCTION on the meds that are not addictive, and possibly damaging to my health. I also resent being termed an addict - I'm only addicted to caffeine.



I just kind of cringed in my seat as she expounded on the theme: A Good Christian would fast and pray, throwing away the evil (life-restoring) pharmaceuticals. I nodded wisely as she flung her hands around, gesturing wildly, one word falling over the next, thinking to myself "You're manic. You need the exact drugs you disparage".

I know, with absolute certainty, God needs me exactly the way I am. He cannot use me otherwise! If I could drive, I wouldn't be handing out Bibles at the bus stop!


In another situation, a person felt called by God to hand out tracts. Another person denigrated that desire, calling it "A waste of time". Why? I have heard many stories of people getting saved by reading a tract at home. But many would-be "Evangelists" believe God has to be shoved down someone's throat, kind of like pilling a cat:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC9TndFmo60


You saw how well that worked! [laugh]



Everything I have read in the Bible says that Jesus had a lifestyle witness - the way he lived His life was so compelling, people had to follow him. In our case, being mere humans, we should live a life so compelling, so unusual, that people just have to ask "What's your secret?"

We should be praying for our enemies and those who persecute us (Matthew, chapter 5), we should be happy when we're weak, because that's when God can use us! (See 2 Corinthians 12:9-10) We're only passing through, and it's our actions we take with us when we die.

Are we making Jesus proud, or embarrassed? He told us not to judge: Matthew 7:1 (Judge not, lest you be judged). The Apostles told us not to judge: James 4:11, and let's not forget, Jesus himself said "I do not come to Judge the world, but to SAVE the world." (John 6:44)

Don't be ashamed if you have an infirmity of some sort, God makes every tool for his purposes (me). Sometimes, God may need an odd-looking tool the world would deem "useless" or "Worthless". We may be making a huge statement, just sitting there.

Many times, I have seen people gape at me and my husband, wondering "What's their secret?"

Jesus. The Jesus of the Bible, not the one humans make him out to be. I sure wouldn't follow that guy!

God bless you and take care, I'm praying for you.