Greetings in the Lord! It is hard to believe that today we begin the last half of 2024, but I pray that, if the Lord tarries, the time we spend in the His work during the remainder of this year will be filled with good deeds.
I want to give you an update on the state of my health and emotional well-being, but having done this, I won’t be saying anything more about these things in future reports (unless something new comes up, of course). The TMS treatments for depression that I received earlier this year were extremely helpful. Combined with numerous psychotherapy sessions, the TMS did what it was supposed to do, and I’m in the best condition mentally and emotionally that I have been in for many years. I am thanking God every day for His use of these therapies to help me get back on my feet, as far as my feelings are concerned. I have rediscovered how good it feels to feel good!
Physically, however, the various issues that I deal with continue to limit me. I wish these hindrances didn’t exist, but they do. Medically, everything has been done that can be done, so my psychiatrist said this to me last week (I’m paraphrasing): “Gary, as your psychiatrist, my recommendation is that you accept your physical condition for what it is, including its limitations on your work. Within those limits, just do the best that you can. In regard to the symptoms you have in the evening hours, I don’t know of anything that can change that, so you should feel free to tell people there are medical reasons why you can’t accept evening invitations. In the daytime, I know you wish you had more hours to work with, but if you use the hours that are available, that’s all that anybody can do. You’re in the hands of grace, and whatever grace provides to you, that will be enough.” I believe that advice is consistent with the Scriptures, especially in 2 Cor. 12:9, where the Lord said to Paul, “My grace is enough for you” (NET).
So, from my present perspective, here is what you need to know: I am deeply grateful for the help that my counsellors and doctors have given me over the past year. I wish that I felt better physically, but unless the Lord brings something unexpected into play (which He is certainly capable of doing), I am going to accept the boundaries within which I must work at this point in my life. I am going to get up each morning choosing to look at the glass as being half-full rather than half-empty. And during the hours that are given to me, I’m going to give the devil all the grief that I possibly can. As for my writing goals, I will keep pursuing them diligently — but if my writing opportunity runs out before I finish, I will gladly raise my Ebenezer (1 Sam. 7:12) and thank God for carrying me as far as He did.
I enjoyed speaking week before last to a group of the older members at Douglass Hills on the Parable of the Sower. At this stage of my life, I am more conscious than ever before of the need to broadcast the “seed” of God’s word far and wide, trusting that He will get it into the hands of those that He wants to hear it.
In my next report, I want to talk to you about Walking in Christ, the book that I’m currently writing. As I have studied, prayed, and pondered the subject matter of this book, it has been a refreshing time of renewal for me personally. God’s will for the Christian’s life is simply magnificent. What a grand theme to have the privilege of writing on!
Thanks for your financial help and emotional support in my effort to use the written word. May God be glorified.
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
WRITING GOALS
Pray with me that I will be given the ability to finish these works
- Walking in Christ — Book 6 in the WordPoints Daybook Series. Target: November 2025.
- Going Home — Book 7 in the WordPoints Daybook Series. Target: November 2028.
- Seeking God in the Psalms — a 52-lesson study — theme for each week, studies for Monday-Friday.
- Ecclesiastes — a full-scale commentary on the text of Ecclesiastes.
- Encountering Christ — what the Scriptures teach about Jesus Christ . . . and why we should believe it.
