Joshua Osborne

I wish the author would define mental and emotional health...I know most times, these terms are assumed but I would like to have my say against them even being a worthy cause and to do so, it would help if the author already expressed his opinion on the matter. The author makes a statement that providential changes to our life circumstances can seriously damage our mental and emotional health...God is the one who orchestrates these changes for our betterment (James 1) so that would in that regard make him the enemy that we are working so hard against in order to have this thing that is “better” or “healthier”. Yes, I am all for aiming for calm waters as far as handling the responsibilities and circumstances that are thrown at us but expressing it in such terms, makes it seem as if God is evil for going against our “health”. God is our Father who instructs us and gives us chores...in other words, He puts us in circumstances that are hard and stretching (productive). A child doesn’t try to get out of chores for his mental health, he doesn’t try to get out of punishments (or at least he shouldn’t) to protect his emotional health. No, a child should learn to embrace his chores for the day he will take joy in his work that will be harder; he learns to embrace the discipline of his father in order to one day enjoy the benefits of self-discipline for the joy of productivity and loving service that will be produced. So, If we are to aim at having an even keel life, I would say it would be in order to be the best manager of everything that God has given us. In other words, we don’t want to constantly live in a way where we aren’t meeting up to our obligations if we can help it. It is like the passage that says “as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone”. God tells us to seek an even keel life in regards to our relationships with others by managing everything that depends on us...love, peacemaking, humility and such the like. God will however providentially make times of discord between us and others and it is not impossible that God will allow that discord to happen the rest of our lives. There are many people throughout Scripture that God does this to. David is a prime example. In Psalm 13, he says “How long, O Lord?” Speaking of the hardships he was enduring from his enemies. He was at discord with his enemies but he was intentional to be at peace with God which is the most important peace we must always pursue in every circumstance. With this being said, in this same way that God allows discord between us and our fellow man and we must be content yet still seeking peace, God will also allow discord within our own being that we must be content with while still seeking peace (health). Contentment is not found in the lack of discord but in the seeking of peace with as much as depends on us and leaving the rest to God (Take care of your body - 1Cor6:19 - temple of Holy Spirit). Paul was a great example of this. He sought to dispel himself of something that was creating great discord within his body and affecting many areas of his life but instead of allowing himself to be overwhelmed by it, he had faith in God and embraced it while still seeking peace where he could find it (2Cor.12:7-10).