Council of Counselors: Grieving Well / Healthy Marriage, Sick Soul? / Difficult Bible Passages / Chronic Pain Management

This is a weekly post that highlights resources from other counselors that I have found helpful. The counselors may be from the biblical counseling, Christian psychology, integration, or secular counseling traditions. By linking to a post, I am not giving it my full endorsement, I am merely indicating that I believe it made a unique contribution or raised an important subject for consideration.

Do I Really Need Counseling to Grieve Well? by Robin Barnes

Regardless of how you may categorize your suffering, it’s helpful to consider that the desires of our heart often reveal a deeper need within us. When trials come, our response reveals what we truly believe about God and I hope you will consider turning to Him for comfort and safety. We do not often take the time to pay attention to our heart in the midst of these painful moments so here are a few ways that I believe biblical counseling can really help you to understand your grieving heart.

• If you are looking for another resource on grief, consider this podcast series.

You Can’t have a Healthy Marriage with a Sick Soul by Gary Thomas

The problem of marriage is the problem of unformed or ill souls relating through unhealthy responses. It’s not primarily about communication, finances, conflict resolution or in-laws. It’s about our sick souls. Even when we really desire something like sex, we’ll deny ourselves to make our spouse pay.

• If you enjoyed this article, consider this sermon built on the idea “a good Christ follower will be a good spouse lover.

Applying Difficult Passages by Mike Emlet

But God doesn’t intend for us to cherry-pick passages and verses that seem to connect easily with our lives while ignoring other passages, which on first glance, have nothing to say to us. Remember that God addressed Numbers 5 and Numbers 11 to his people at the same point in history. If Numbers 11 is “applicable” and Numbers 5 is not, what are we saying?! Are parts of God’s Word more valuable than others? No, we should always expect God to speak meaningfully into our lives wherever we are in Scripture. His revelation is meant to inform and transform his people, both when it was originally given—and now.

• If you benefited from this post, you may also like “Four Ways to Read the Bible.”

21 Ways to Cope with a Chronic Pain Flare by Esther

Chronic pain flares are hard. Practice these strategies to make them just a little bit easier.

• If you’re experiencing chronic pain, you may also benefit from “Reflections on Broken Hearts and Closed Ears.”

What I’m Reading

Cross Talk: Where Life and Scripture Meet by Michael Emlet. Your friend just left his wife. You catch your child posting something inappropriate on the Internet. Someone in your small group is depressed. A relative was just diagnosed with an incurable disease. When those you know and love experience trouble, you don’t want to hand out pat answers or religious platitudes. Instead, you want to offer real hope and help from God’s Word. You know it s true, but how does an ancient book, written thousands of years ago, connect with our twenty-first century problems?

In CrossTalk: Where Life and Scripture Meet, Michael R. Emlet gives you the tools to connect the Bible to your life and to the lives of your family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. You will learn to understand people and God s Word in ways that promote gospel-centered, rich conversations that help you and those you know grow in love for God and others. This book will make the whole Bible come alive to you. Instead of platitudes, you can offer a cup of living water to those who are struggling in this broken world.

Tweets of the Week

Meaningful Meme

On the Lighter Side

Because, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones,” Proverbs 17:22.

If you’re a basketball fan, you’ll get it. If not come back next week for a less niche-specific chuckle.