I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:13

 

I’ve been reviewing an old blog which was active from 2006 to 2014. 2006 was the year Living Room started. Today http://marjabergen.blogspot.com/ can still be viewed – so many years after the fact. It’s amazing for me to read about it now. Hard to believe the number of things I did, despite living with frequent bipolar depression.

As well as Living Room, my book A Firm Place to Stand was coming out, I was doing interviews, writing articles about faith and mental health, and doing a fair amount of public speaking. In spite of the depression I missed very few meetings during the nine years I led my group. News about Living Room spread and many were inspired. Eventually groups started in many places, with facilitators encouraged via email.

How was all this possible? This is what I’m thinking now, as I live with more illness than I did in those days.

One thing I know. It was possible because I believed that forming faith-based support groups and increasing church awareness was important work. It was God’s work. Not mine, but God’s. I was only his helper – walking where he wanted me to walk, writing what he wanted me to write, saying what he wanted me to say. I trusted him fully, obedient to his leading. As a result, much got done. Remarkable what God can do when we, as his followers, see what he’s doing and join him in it! Although it might be a big job, you come to realize you’re not alone with it.

Things are different now. I don’t have the same kind of oomph. But reading the history of my years with Living Room makes me wonder if God could possibly be leading me into a new and different direction. Just reading about my past makes me think something meaningful might yet be in the future – something I’m better suited for at this stage of my life.

Does this situation sound familiar to you? Do you have memories of a wonderful past that you were sorry to leave behind? Maybe God has work for you that would be just right for where your life is – even now.

Talk to God about it. Allow him to be present with you as you consider where your gifts and passions lie. It’s very possible that you will see him doing work that you could join him in. If you were able to long ago it could happen again. God doesn’t change. He is still at work and needs someone like you to join with him.

marja

NOTE: At the time I founded Living Room I read Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby and was much inspired. This writing reflects some of what I learned that helped me learn to trust God as I worked with him. There’s a good review of the book that you might find interesting at https://www.9marks.org/review/experiencing-god-henry-blackaby/