Vazquez Counseling

Psalm 34:11-14 declares the following:

“Come, you children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

Who is the man who desires life,

And loves many days, that he may see good?

Keep your tongue from evil,

And your lips from speaking deceit.

Depart from evil and do good;

Seek peace and pursue it.” (New King James Version)

I think we can all agree that there is a lot of bad stuff going on in the world right now. Society appears to be falling apart. Everyday, it seems, we hear of wars and rumors of wars, disease, lawlessness, political unrest, massive fraud, just to name a few of the horrible things that are happening. As a Christian, can you honestly say that you are surprised by these things? You shouldn’t be. As a non-Christian, you may be taken aback by all the evil in the world. As Christians, we should all understand that all these things were predicted by Jesus and many other Biblical writers.

In Matthew 24:4-14, our LORD Jesus said:

“Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”(NKJV)

You might say that the kinds of things that our LORD Jesus mentions here have been happening for thousands of years, and you would be correct. However, the Bible teaches that in the End Times, the frequency of these events will increase tremendously. The Scriptures describe these End Time events as occurring much like birth pangs. While I am not a mother, I am sure that any mother would recognize the meaning of this analogy.

So, all this begs the question, what are we do to do with this information? Should we build a bunker, hide, and wait for the end? Should we all quit our jobs, give away all of our possessions, go sit on a nice beach somewhere, and wait for the LORD’s return?

The answer is not any of those things. The Scriptures clearly exhort us that we should not give up at all. Instead, we should continue doing more of what we are already doing. If you love your Wife or Husband and your Family, love them even more. If you are working hard, work harder. If you are sharing your faith with others, continue to share it like never before. In other words, do everything in your life better because in doing so, you will be ready for when Christ returns.

Looking at the passage from Psalm 34 above, what does the Bible clearly teach that we should always be doing? It says in this passage that we should “depart from evil and do good.” Sounds simple enough, right? Then why are so many people committed to doing evil? And it’s getting worse, as I stated earlier. Jesus’ words in the passage from Matthew above clearly teach us that evil will reach a fever pitch right before the end of all things.

Have you ever really thought about what evil is? We know the enemy of our souls is evil, and we know that many people in history have done evil things, and that many people in the present continue to do evil things. But, what is it? Evil is the absence of God. Evil is the darkness that results when someone doesn’t have the light of Jesus. Does that mean that all atheists, agnostics, or even people from non-Christian faiths are evil? Anything that does not have the light of Christ is evil. I cannot think of a clearer definition of evil. 

Does that then mean that there is no hope for atheists, agnostics, or people from non-Christian faiths, or even people who are Christian in name only? Certainly not! We have to remember that we were all lost at one point. Our Heavenly Father sent His Son Jesus that we might have Life, and the Bible says that God is not willing that anyone perish. Do you see why it is so vitally important that you share your faith with others? It is no longer optional, and it never has been, really, but I believe that for too long, we have been reticent in sharing our faith because most of us are afraid to offend others. Time is short, and people desperately need to hear the Word of God. Would you rather not offend people, or would you rather see them with you in Heaven?

If evil is the absence of God, then what about many other things that affect us and cause us to feel distant from God. In my work as a therapist, I meet people from all walks of life who have things like depression and anxiety. Those conditions are by no means evil, and they are not sinful, either. Nowhere in the Bible does it teach that depression or anxiety are evil.

Depression and anxiety result when there is chaos in our lives. If our relationships are broken, or we’re having problems at work, or our children are lost with no direction in life, or we are severely ill, really anything that causes disorder in our lives, then we can become depressed or anxious. Depression, if you think about it, is the absence of joy in your life, and anxiety is the absence of peace in your life. Joy and peace come from the Giver of all things, our Blessed God. He gives us joy, in spite of our circumstances, and the Bible says that the source of peace is also our LORD. In the passage from Psalm 34 above, the Psalmist tells us to “seek peace and pursue it.” So, joy and peace produce order in our lives. So, we can conclude that chaos is the absence of order.

On the first page of my website, there is a very serene picture of a small church. Under that picture are the words, “Good Mental Health Begins With Good Spiritual Health.” Do you see from this blog today how that statement is true? That is why I am a counselor. I love what I do because I get to promote good spiritual health in my Clients, thereby greatly improving their mental heath, not to mention their physical health, relational health, and whatever other areas of life where they need to be healthy. Truly, these areas of health all go together, and when someone is healthy in all areas of their life, they will be successful in whatever they do. Amen.