We are All Insane
As a person who has taught the Bible for over 20 years and counseled for about the same amount of time, I’ve come to a conclusion. We are all insane. Most of our minds are battlefields of irrational thoughts and fears.
Definitions
Insanity:
mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior.
Fantasy:
we are in control.
Reality:
God is in control.
If we weren’t living in a fantasy world, there would be no such thing as control freaks. Yet, the world is full of them.
When people laugh and tell me they are a control freak, I know their lives are in turmoil. I suspect they are miserable. Why? Because the rest of the world didn’t get the memo that they are in charge.
“I say “functional” because sanity can be faked until we get home. The ones living in our houses know the truth”
There is a deep seated reason we are control freaks. We were meant to be intimate and deeply connected to the only One who is in control. Our craving for control is actually our craving for God. When we try to have this undeniable need met without Him, we become functional crazy people. I say “functional” because sanity can be faked until we get home. The ones living in our houses know the truth.
I personally believe that’s why we have so many divorces. The inability to hide our insanity becomes unbearable when people see us as we really are. We tend to think our spouse is the root of our uncontrollable behavior and unhappiness.
How do we become sane? You may not realize that an antonym of insanity is reality. We have to get in touch with reality. God and His kingdom are Reality.
We live in this earthly kingdom and we engage it with our senses. Therefore, it seems more real than God and His kingdom. However, truth and reality are actually found in the kingdom we can’t see.
Jesus said to Pilate,
“My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” John 18:36
Things are not as they should be on earth and deep inside, we feel it. We may not be able to articulate it, but it’s something we can’t deny. It makes us feel deeply afraid and insecure.
Jesus stayed perfectly calm as He walked this earth because He was actually operating from another place. He lived in a human body but operated from God’s kingdom through The Holy Spirit.
Because we were created to operate the same way, when we live disconnected from Him, nothing makes sense and we are restless, constantly looking for what our soul desires.
“Our fear, insecurity and helplessness to control our world makes our mind an enemy to our sanity. The “what-ifs” are too great to handle”
There are many things we desperately need (I will only discuss three of them) and fear comes from not possessing them.
Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence
• Omnipotence means all-powerful.
• Omniscience means all-knowing.
• Omnipresence means present everywhere at the same time.
These are the things we crave. We want to have the power to control our environment, know everything and be everywhere.
There is only one problem. It’s impossible. There is only One who has those qualities.
Our fear, insecurity and helplessness to control our world makes our mind an enemy to our sanity. The “what-ifs” are too great to handle.
In the Old Testament, prophets spoke of a time when God’s kingdom would come and dwell in human hearts. Brothers and sisters, we currently live in that time! I personally believe we live at the greatest time in human history.
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” – Ezekiel 36:26
The Hebrew word for “heart” is Leb. It means your inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.
“We no longer have to be in control because The Holy Spirit has given us everything we need to feel secure”
When God gives us a new heart and spirit, He actually puts His sane self inside of us. He takes our insanity (a hard heart toward your Creator) and gives us a soft heart that beats in sync with His. Our sanity will come and we will finally think the way God created us to think.
The miracle of this connection? We no longer have to be in control because The Holy Spirit has given us everything we need to feel secure.
The things that make us crazy are the same things that will drive us to our Sanity if we will only allow them.
When we meet a truly sane person, we may be surprised. They usually have something the world is dying for but can’t seem to grasp…peace.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” – John 14:27
That word “peace” means peace of mind. We don’t have to remain the way we are with a mind that torments us day and night. Look at Jesus’ words! He imparts His actual peace to us. When we take that peace, we will be unable to be troubled or afraid. His sanity becomes our sanity. This world can’t take it from us because it comes from another kingdom and that kingdom cannot be shaken.
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe…” – Hebrews 12:28
