Before I speak another word, I must say this plainly because I care for your safety and your son’s. If your son is in immediate danger, if the storm in his mind is threatening his life or anyone else’s, please reach out to your local emergency services right now. Do not delay. And if you need someone to talk to in your country, you can find a helpline at
findahelpline.com. There is no shame in seeking help; it is often the very hand of God stretched out to us in the darkness.
Now, let me sit with you a moment and speak to the ache that brought you to your knees. You have cried out for the Lord to calm the storm inside your son’s mind, and heaven has heard you. Do you remember what sort of Savior we have? He is the One who once stood in a little boat on a very real sea, when the waves were crashing over the sides and seasoned fishermen were certain they would drown. With a word, He hushed the wind and flattened the waves to glass. That same voice has not lost its power. The sea inside your son’s head, the roaring hallucinations, the squalls of confusion and fear, is not beyond His reach. It never has been. Let me tell you, I have seen Him still wilder storms than this, in souls the devil thought were his for certain. Believe it: your boy is not out of Christ’s hearing, nor out of His grip.
I want you to picture something. When a ship is in deep water and a storm rises, the passengers above deck feel every heave and shudder; they see the black sky and the foaming crests, and they say, “We are going to perish.” But down deep, far beneath the surface, there is a calm no wind can touch. The ocean is quiet in its depths. Your son is being tossed on the surface of his mind just now, his thoughts are a whirlwind, his perception a frightening fog, but Christ is the anchor lowered into that deep, quiet place. He holds the keel steady. Even when your son cannot feel it, cannot think it, cannot speak a coherent word, Jesus is there, speaking a peace that passes his understanding, a peace that is not a feeling but a fact. The blood of Jesus whispers peace within, even when the enemy shouts confusion without. And because that peace is a person, Jesus Christ Himself, it cannot be drowned out. It lives when all other voices lie.
I know you are watching the waves, and it feels like your faith is seasick. That is natural. When those we love suffer in the mind, we suffer a thousand times with them. Your dear son may not be able to pray right now; the words may tangle on his tongue or be stolen by the clamour in his head. But your prayers for him are not lost. They rise like incense. You are doing for him what the four friends did for the paralytic, lifting him on the mattress of your faith, carrying him through the crowd of terrors, and digging through the roof if you must, until you lower him right at the feet of Jesus. And what did Jesus say when He saw their faith? “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Then, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” He saw their faith, and healed the one they brought. Take heart, pleading mother or father: your faith is visible to Him. He will not turn aside.
Do not think that his confusion means he is forgotten. A love letter sometimes comes in a black-edged envelope, and its message is sweet even when the border is mourning. The Lord is writing something on your son’s heart through these deep waters, something of His own nearness. When a man cannot trust his own eyes or ears, he must lean entirely on the arm of Another. And that is a hard school, but a blessed one. I have known souls who, in the depths of mental affliction, discovered Christ as their sole reality, the one fixed point when everything else spun away. Pray not only for the calming of the storm, but that in the darkness your son would grip the hand of Him who walks on the water, and who says, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
Do not let the enemy suggest to you that your son’s peace must wait until every symptom disappears. No. The peace of God, the true peace, is not a truce with circumstances; it is a garrison for the heart, a fortress thrown up around the soul even while the battle rages outside. It can coexist with the trial. The peace Christ gives is not the peace of a sleeping sea, but of a boat that has Him on board, so that the tossing does not overthrow it. That peace can settle into your son’s spirit even now, a deep, quiet current beneath the noisome waves. Ask for that. Expect that. Jesus does not always remove the thorn, but He always gives grace sufficient, and grace is the peace of God in action.
And you, yes, you who are pressed down by a thronging crowd of fears, watching every symptom, wondering what the next hour will bring, hear this: to do the will of Jesus, this is rest. Your duty just now is to trust, to pray, to seek wise help, and to love your son with a love that won’t let go. What you cannot understand, what you cannot fix, leave with Him. You were never meant to carry the weight of another soul’s perfect healing. That is Jesus’ business, and He will see it through. The same Lord who is Lord over all, over the body, over the mind, over every dark power, will speak the final, silencing word. He is not pacing the throne room in anxiety. He is not wringing His hands. Your boy is in the grip of the Good Shepherd, and no one can snatch him out.
Let us lift our hearts together now in the quiet, and I will join you in commending him to the only Peacemaker.
Lord Jesus, You who stilled the raging of the sea, speak Your great calm into this precious son’s mind. Silence every voice that is not Your truth, and let Your perfect love cast out the fear that torments him. We cannot reach the place of his trouble, but You are there already, and we trust You to hold him fast. Give Your child, the parent who prays, the peace that the world cannot give, a firm confidence that You are working even when they cannot see. Bring Your son home to clarity and peace in Your time, and let Your name be glorified in his restoration. In Your mighty and merciful name, Amen.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. God bless me to prosper, walk in excellent health, and never stop growing in the love, grace, and knowledge of Christ Jesus. God bless me to know You in truth, fall in love with You with all my heart, mind, soul, body, and strength and never fall out of love with You. Bless me to have an ever growing closer stronger, more intimate relationship with You. Bless me with the love, desire, strength, and the spirit of obedience to always delight myself in You, seek first Your kingdom, Your righteousness, and to always respect and obey You. Bless me to trust You with all my heart, acknowledge You in all my ways, and lean not to my own understanding. Bless me with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in all You have called me to do. 
be-an-encourager.blogspot.com
