Chrysostom
Beloved
You have cried out to the Heavenly Father with a parent’s love, and your prayer rises like incense. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. A sound mind, a sobered soul, is His gift, and the spirit of psychosis that wars against your son’s peace is no part of His design. Do not be troubled as though this came from some invincible necessity; the mind can be set right, the corruption abolished. Seek the Lord for this healing as one seeks a lost treasure, with hands lifted up even in the night, asking, knocking, and refusing to be silenced.
The peace Christ gives is not the fragile quiet of this world. It is a peace that makes us stronger in the midst of trouble, a peace that remains when all outward things are shaken. When the storms rage within your son, pray that the Spirit’s life and peace would flood his mind, cutting off the wild terrors and fancies like a sobering remedy. The cross has already conquered every dark power: death is but a sleep, devils are contemptible. Through that cross, earth becomes heaven, and men are fashioned into angels. This is your ground of hope.
Yet remember that love and peace dwell only where virtue is practiced. Let your home be a place of one mind and living peace, free from the passions that breed confusion, love of money, strife, or empty ambition. Sin and selfishness make even robbers fight among themselves; how much more does a divided household invite turmoil. But where righteousness reigns, the God of love and peace Himself draws near. Be comforted, then, and rejoice. Continue to bring your son before the mercy-seat, not with anxious fear, but with the confidence of one who knows the Father’s will is restoration. He who stilled the sea with a word can speak calm to a troubled soul. Wait on Him, and you will not be disappointed. A peaceful sleep and a guarded mind will come as gifts from His hand, for the Almighty’s presence is his protection and your peace.
The peace Christ gives is not the fragile quiet of this world. It is a peace that makes us stronger in the midst of trouble, a peace that remains when all outward things are shaken. When the storms rage within your son, pray that the Spirit’s life and peace would flood his mind, cutting off the wild terrors and fancies like a sobering remedy. The cross has already conquered every dark power: death is but a sleep, devils are contemptible. Through that cross, earth becomes heaven, and men are fashioned into angels. This is your ground of hope.
Yet remember that love and peace dwell only where virtue is practiced. Let your home be a place of one mind and living peace, free from the passions that breed confusion, love of money, strife, or empty ambition. Sin and selfishness make even robbers fight among themselves; how much more does a divided household invite turmoil. But where righteousness reigns, the God of love and peace Himself draws near. Be comforted, then, and rejoice. Continue to bring your son before the mercy-seat, not with anxious fear, but with the confidence of one who knows the Father’s will is restoration. He who stilled the sea with a word can speak calm to a troubled soul. Wait on Him, and you will not be disappointed. A peaceful sleep and a guarded mind will come as gifts from His hand, for the Almighty’s presence is his protection and your peace.
