Hello, friends!

It has been a while since I wrote an article here, mainly because I am currently focused on two projects: developing and promoting my Substack publication Relflections and promoting my website (StevenColborne.com). I am writing this from a place of peace and I am in a positive frame of mind.

One of the things I’ve been writing about on Substack is a Christian discipleship event I attended last weekend. The event was full of wonderful experiences and the weather during the event, which was held by the river in London, was beautiful. I had a lot to process following the event but the Lord has been so gracious in helping me.

I hadn’t fully understood how much healing I still needed to do following my suicide attempt. It was a major life event that caused me significant trauma and my intentions to get back into work asap did not take into account the extent to which I had been psychologically affected by what happened. With God as my counsellor, I am on the road to feeling well again. If you have prayed for me, thank you so much.

I’m reading the Bible daily but have been challenged by some things God has been telling me about my life that are conflicting. When God tells you something that doesn’t fully accord with beliefs you hold very strongly, what do you do? You have to keep trusting and keep going, praying about everything. He hears every prayer and although it’s a struggle at times, a belief in His goodness is an important anchor to help you move forward.

I went through a period of anger with the mental health system this week. It has felt as though the whole system is geared towards getting people into hospitals when they experience even the slightest change in mood or behaviour. The problem with mental health diagnoses is that they create a kind of box, supported by law in the UK, which means that professionals working in healthcare and support services continually see you as unwell even when you are well. If you take steps to reclaim your freedom, people don’t like it. I’m sure there is some genuine intention they have to help, but unless they know God they won’t understand that He is the only true source of healing. Medication is never a cure.

I have found immense peace in switching off my smartphone for a few days. I know it can be hard to do this in contemporary society, but the stress of being connected with people who are not necessarily at peace can be overwhelming. I spent a day feeling acute stress and I had no idea why, but when I switched off my phone it dissipated in moments. In an age of all day battery life, don’t forget that you can switch off your phone!

I’m so deeply thankful that I have the Lord. He was showing me this week how some people aren’t even aware of Him and I used to be that way myself. It is a hard thing not to know God in a world where we desperately need Him.

I’m now going to return to reading ‘Making Sense of God’ by Timothy Keller, which is a cracking book so far!

God bless you.

Steven x