With so many tragic things that are going on in this world…
everything from the "SARS" epidemic, to tornadoes knocking down homes, to people from all walks of life losing their jobs, I have to be thankful and content just to have my health and a place to live.
Lately, I have been ministering to more of the inmates who are in the Intermediate Care Program, where I work, and which is part of the Mental Health system. It seems that most of these men need someone to talk to. They need words of hope and comfort as the overall level of stress in my facility has increased. And during the past several weeks more of the prisoners appear to be hyperactive and tense, as well as depressed.
I have also been surprised at the number of guys who have casually mentioned "suicide" in the course of their conversations with me. There is one man in particular whom I have been making it my business to speak with each day in order to help him make it through his depression. Oftentimes, there's a sad countenance on his face, and he is only in his mid 20s with decades left to serve on his sentence.
In my times of private prayer, I have been asking the Lord to draw more of these men closest to Him. But I have found out, too, that while some of the prisoners do not like their periods of depression, they do not want to believe the Gospel either. They do not want to give themselves to Jesus Christ. Thus, for may it has been a never-ending circle of going in and out of prolonged periods of despair.
And this is no different for many people who are outside of these prison walls. They want to feel comfortable without the Comforter. They each want a sense of peace in their hearts, yet they reject the Prince of Peace.
D. B.
Lately, I have been ministering to more of the inmates who are in the Intermediate Care Program, where I work, and which is part of the Mental Health system. It seems that most of these men need someone to talk to. They need words of hope and comfort as the overall level of stress in my facility has increased. And during the past several weeks more of the prisoners appear to be hyperactive and tense, as well as depressed.
I have also been surprised at the number of guys who have casually mentioned "suicide" in the course of their conversations with me. There is one man in particular whom I have been making it my business to speak with each day in order to help him make it through his depression. Oftentimes, there's a sad countenance on his face, and he is only in his mid 20s with decades left to serve on his sentence.
In my times of private prayer, I have been asking the Lord to draw more of these men closest to Him. But I have found out, too, that while some of the prisoners do not like their periods of depression, they do not want to believe the Gospel either. They do not want to give themselves to Jesus Christ. Thus, for may it has been a never-ending circle of going in and out of prolonged periods of despair.
And this is no different for many people who are outside of these prison walls. They want to feel comfortable without the Comforter. They each want a sense of peace in their hearts, yet they reject the Prince of Peace.
D. B.
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