This was my first real assignment in my counseling class. We were given a case study of a real guy code-named “Clyde” and then were simply asked “what’s his problem?” “what would you tell him to do?” I’m just posting this real quick so I can’t remember if there’s anything more a reader would need to know before reading this, but I’ll check later. We only had a page, so this is much shorter than I normally would have written. Enjoy!
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My heart is broken right now. Really, I’m in the middle of the library on the verge of tears. His “problem”: He has set up the “could be”s (future possibilities) and the “I wish they were”s (past failures/unrealized hopes) as the idols/saviors/objects of his hope and ultimate acceptance by God.
This is how I would perhaps walk him through it: We are all made to find mediators between life as we know it and life as we want it. There is perhaps no greater despair found than in one whose functional mediators have been removed from them. Or perhaps, more precisely, one who is in the middle of that process, with no equally authoritative new possibility on the horizon. This is where Clyde is. If even one aspect of his life started to “right itself,” all his energies, affections, and devotions would surely be set upon this thing, to the destruction of the rest. It is the mercy of God that this does not happen. It is His love. His Grace. His personal drawing near to Clyde to show him that which his hope is in. As Clyde’s “saviors” (as they are) become further and further from being realized, so does he feel isolated from his True Savior. Humans instinctively know that without these mediators, life is purposeless, hope is gone, possibilities are never realized. This is why for life to truly be lived in freedom, joy, and peace; there must be a Mediator between ourselves and all we really need.
My “counsel” would take time and would require a theological base (theory) with practical outworkings thereof (action). Theory: I would need more time with Clyde to work through what each “mediator” (or thing being challenged in his life) is trying to achieve for him. What destination he want them to take him. Then I would start showing how each of those “destinations” are actually shadows of greater needs and desires in Him that are directly addressed by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. In short, how the Gospel is his true, ultimate, and final need and mediator. Action: My practical goal would be to implement healthy discipline in his heart. Things like scheduled open time with his wife and kids, both together and individually. Getting involved in some sort of ministry or small group to give him time around the people of God. The first human relationships that need to be resolved are with his bride and His Bride.
