In a story titled “Runner turns personal struggle into cross-country mission for mental health awareness” published over the weekend, it was reported that a run across Canada that began as a deeply personal challenge has turned into a growing movement for mental health awareness.
Carter Armstrong arrived in Swift Current this week on Day 46 of his solo journey from Vancouver toward his hometown of Dryden, Ont., running thousands of kilometres while raising awareness and funds for mental health initiatives through the Canadian Mental Health Association.
Armstrong said the idea for the run came after years of struggling with mental health himself, including the loss of a close friend to suicide.
“About two months before I started on this venture and decided what I was doing, I attempted to take my own life,” Armstrong said during an interview with Country 94.1 FM's Chris Martens. “The next day, I just realized I had so much more to give to the world.”
However you measure it though, one thing is clear. There are a lot of people who struggle in this sinful world, and a host of reasons why a person can despair of life. King David was one of those people who, at any given time, had legitimate and real reasons to be downcast and despondent.
As a young shepherd, he protected his flock from lions and bears. He famously defeated the Philistine giant Goliath as a youth, which immediately thrusted him into the national spotlight.
David’s popularity then caused King Saul to become fiercely jealous. For years, David lived as a fugitive in the wilderness (although he had been anointed as king, it would be about 14 years before he ascended the throne), narrowly escaping assassination attempts and living in caves. During this time, he had multiple opportunities to kill Saul but chose to spare him, demonstrating restraint and respect for God's anointed and for God's timing.
After becoming king, David fell into severe moral failure, committing adultery with Bathsheba and orchestrating the death of her husband, Uriah.
Though God forgave him, David faced lifelong internal and external punishments, including the death of his newborn child and intense family turmoil.
In addition to internal family conflicts, David fought endless battles with enemy nations and endured devastating civil wars. Wow right? And that’s just a few of the things David went through!
As you would imagine then, David had his many ups and downs and his innumerable highs and lows. And although David had countless times of depair and doubt, he forbearingly depended on the Lord. Why? Because he had learned that God was faithful to hear and faithful to act.
This is something we can see in Psalm 40 when David said, "I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth—Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the Lord"
There’s so much we can glean from this ourselves as we go through (and it’s not a matter of if, but when) our own dark times. And the first thing is this… although we might be in a season of waiting for deliverance, God bends his ear to hear our cries. Think about that for a minute. The Almighty God of the universe bent down to hear David and He does the same for us. That means no matter what our feelings tell us, the facts tell us that God knows and God cares.
Secondly, God pulls us out of the sinking mud. If you’ve ever experienced depression (and I have), you know exactly what it feels like to be weighted down by feelings of sadness and sunkenness. These feelings become a pit so deep that they are impossible to overcome or climb out of by our own strength and willpower. But God…
Depression may steal our joy and silence our voice for a time, but God will give us a new song. He will take away our heavy groans of despair and replace them with a melody of genuine hope and freedom. And here’s the beautiful part of our healing: Our survival becomes someone else's survival guide!
You see, as David noted, people didn’t just hear his song; they "saw it." And they trusted in the Lord because of it! Talk about having so much more to give to the world! That’s everyone going through a state of sorrow that continues to trust in the Lord. The Lord replaces that sorrow with singing!
So, no matter what you’re going through today, hang in there my friend. Your pain is not meaningless. God can and will use your story of overcoming the darkness to anchor the faith of someone else who is still trapped in their own pit if you will call on Him and trust in Him. He did it for David, He did it for me, and He can do it for you too.