Bipolar Christianity

Peaks and Valleys.

Life is full of them... mountaintop experiences are, many times, followed by dark days. Most of us live from peak to peak and try to endure the valleys.

Is your spiritual life hot and cold? Do you sometimes find yourself 'on fire' while at other times cold as ice?

I do.

Less, frankly, than I used to... because God has placed so many wonderful Christians in my path to minimize my 'down' times and keep me 'up' and hold me accountable...

but still there are hills and hollers in my walk.

It seems that many of us suffer from a sort of 'manic-depressive' Christianity... one day we are world-beaters, planning and doing and helping and 'in tune' with His will... and the next day we are far from the center of His will, barely able to string together two conscious God-thoughts in a whole day!

So what is the cure for this 'Spiritual Bipolarism'? ...or at least what is the treatment?

I don't know what it is for everyone else.

but for me, it is prayer and study and serving and praising... and, most importantly, being around people who share a love for prayer and study and serving and praising.

sounds simple, right?

I have a couple really close friends who are bipolar. While I am certainly no expert, I have watched them do really well when they are taking their meds.... then they sometimes get to feeling so well they forget why! and stop taking the medications... and plunge into the 'yoyo effect' that is the disease... bouncing from the highest euphoric high to the lowest depths of depression...

I am told that this 'cycle' is part of the disease...

so is it a stretch to observe that, like the person who suffers from bipolar disorder, we sometimes get to feeling so 'well' spiritually, that we forget why? and stop 'taking our meds'...

well, for me.... it's a daily struggle... but it is made much easier by being married to the very best wife on the planet. She is the very best part of me... and she daily reminds me in hundreds of ways how blessed I am...

whatever it is for you... just remember it, and 'take the medication'... do whatever it takes to remember God's gift.

...how can we forget?


Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Blessings!