When We Seek Healing, We Will Find It

It takes courage and strength to seek healing to the point of sharing the dark corners of our lives; the ones we most desperately try to hide. But that’s what Sheila Walsh does in her latest book, In the Middle of the Mess: Strength for This Beautiful, Broken Life (Thomas Nelson).
People are rarely who we think. And reading the transparent and vulnerable words from the co-host of Life Today with James and Betty Robinson offers a perfect example. As soon as I read the Introduction, I knew this book would be life-changing.
And I was not wrong.
While she has shared many pieces of her story of personal struggles and her father’s suicide during her years of ministry, this is the first time she shares her own thoughts of suicide and the tools she uses in coping with her own mental illness.
Ann Voskamp, New York Times bestselling author of The Broken Way and One Thousand Gifts wrote:

“This book will not only change your life—it may just literally save your life. It is one rare, luminous, astonishing brave book, saying what too many of us in the shadows have been desperate for someone to speak out loud for years. Sheila Walsh is not only a brazenly vulnerable, fearless warrior, she speaks unwavering truth that shatters the dark into a freeing light. It’s a long time since I’ve read such a book, and I weep for joy that someone finally wrote a literal lifeline. This woman is my hero.”

For those suffering, it can be scary to reach out, hoping that healing can be within your grasp. But Sheila shows that as a lie from Satan and how that lie kept her emotionally crippled for years.
Reading how Sheila had to re-learn what God’s love really was gave words to thoughts I’ve had for years. While Christian leaders may covertly instruct followers to never show doubt and weakness, Sheila broke that bondage and focused on God more than what others expected. I offered a big sign of relief when I read how Sheila refused to let Satan rob her of her God-given purpose. This gave me a rejuvenated hope—and permission—to want more for my life was well.
If you deal with past shame and have a hunger for a more satisfying relationship with God, I highly recommend this book. After you read it, please let me know what you think.