Faithfully yours - There are no magic solutions

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Published on Saturday, April 23, 2016

By Neil Strohschein

The Neepawa Banner

Early in my career, I attended a weekend seminar on pastoral counseling. Our presenter was a highly respected individual with decades of experience in the field. He had just finished writing a book on the subject and I was part of the first group to hear him share his ideas in public.

The sessions were well researched and presented. The conclusions reached were not surprising; at least not to me. I had been exposed to similar teachings in college and seminary. Simply put, his argument was this: “Secular counseling techniques can not help us deal with problems that are spiritual in nature; and almost all problems we face are spiritual in nature.”

He went on to suggest that lengthy periods of counseling are not necessary. If “proper spiritual counseling techniques” are used (and he told us what he thought they were), he felt that most of the problems people faced could be resolved in two or three counseling sessions.

Sitting near the back and listening quietly was the guest speaker for a conference that ran parallel to the counseling seminar. Later that evening, he addressed some of the things that were said that afternoon. He did not openly contradict our presenter. But he said one thing that shocked us all.

“If any of you thinks that there are magic solutions to human problems,” he said, “Come and see me. I will introduce you to some victims of ritual (spiritual) abuse who have been so traumatized by their experiences that no amount of prayer, Bible study and spiritual counseling will ever see them return to the innocence they enjoyed before the abuse took place.”

He went on to admit that his statement was extreme, but that he had used it to make a point. Those who engage in any form of counseling must realize that there are no magic solutions to human problems. Each case must be individually analyzed. Each client must be allowed to identify issues, deal with them and heal at his or her own pace. Any attempt on our part to accelerate the healing process or to offer simplified solutions for complex problems will cause additional injuries that may leave scars from which the hurting person will never heal.

The path from hurt to healing is not an easy path to walk. Every step can be painful as it forces us to face our own negative attitudes and sinful actions. Every step opens our eyes to help us see how we were often the architects of our own misfortune; how we let pride, arrogance and selfish ambition control us instead of submitting to God and to the teachings of Scripture. The path of healing often involves confessing specific sins and seeking forgiveness; first from God and then from those we have offended.

Problems that took decades to create won’t be solved in an hour. There are no magic solutions to any of them. They took a long time to create. They may take a long time to fix.

But don’t let that upset you. God isn’t worried about how long it takes us to heal. There is no limit to his patience. He knows the path we need to take in order to be fully healed and restored to fellowship with him and others. He will give us all the time we need to take the steps he has prescribed for us. And at the end of the road, God will look at the product—a wounded child who has been fully healed and restored—and he will say: “That’s good! That’s very good!”