God's Treasure

When I chat with people online at some chat sites for people with schizophrenia, and when I read their posts on the forums at Schizophrenia.com...there is sometimes a sense of desire that I  see. It is a desire to be "normal" and to be able to succeed in some of the ways that we can see the "normies" around us succeeding. Sometimes I feel like this; that the world is full of treasures, which I simply do not have access to. For me, this sense is accentuated by my physical pain and disability.

I also think of the billions of people across the globe living in abject poverty with their eyes fixed on the treasures owned by the fortunate few who live in wealth -- even the "wealth" that very average people in this country possess -- and it is desired and longed for by these starving masses...Our wealth is beyond their reach and beyond their dreams.

In Isaiah 45:1-3, Scripture calls Cyrus, “God's anointed”, despite the fact that he was a foreign king in a country that enslaved Israel and not a follower of the God of Israel. This was because God put on his heart a task that was birthed in the depths of God's desires for His people. Anyone who is motivated to do the work of God in response to a call from God can be considered God’s anointed. And what does God promise to those who respond to His call, despite the fact that what God has initiated looks difficult and maybe even impossible? When God wants to do something, HE will get it done; it doesn’t rely on our power, merely on our obedience.

In these verses we see that God promised to miraculously exert His power to accomplish things that, in man’s strength alone, were impossible, NOT only to get the work done, but to testify in undeniable terms, that the God of Israel is the one, true God, not the false gods of Persia that Cyrus worshiped.

And to the obedient ones who respond to His call, He will give the hoarded up treasures of the enemy; He will bring treasure up out of the dark where it was hidden and not anticipated. How many times has this been the case in my life?? God prompted me to do something for Him, something frightening and hard that I really didn’t want to do. But (sometimes) I obeyed. And when I did, miracles began to happen: things that spoke to me and to others around who were watching, of the truth and power of our God. And always, always there was unanticipated treasure in it for me…I always received, not only the power and ability to carry out the task, but rewards as well.

God put it on my heart to begin to share through my writing, some of my past experiences with mental illness. I did not want to…I wanted to bury those horrible memories down deep and forget about them…and I CERTAINLY didn’t want others to hear about them. But I began to share, and to “come out of the closet” about my mental illness. Although hiding it is still a tendency that I have to struggle with, I’ve begun to be more open about my story with others.

God has given me the words to do this (and believe me, I can write—but in speaking I am often tongue-tied in embarrassment), He has provided the courage, He has provided the topics for this blog…and He has provided the readers…maybe not thousands of them, but every one of them who has contacted me and shared their story has been a HUGE blessing and reward to me. A reward that was unanticipated. An unlikely reward…from a loving God.