Whenever a diagnostic category begins to blinker us, or even to blind us to the many other things going on in a person’s life, we have mis-stepped. Our detailed engagement with a person’s problem won’t be a sign of sophisticated understanding. It may in fact be a sign that our thinking has become simplistic. We have reduced this person to their diagnosis and we have lost sight of all the other things – especially the spiritual realities – that are also true of them.
As Psalm 20 says, "we trust in the name of the LORD our God." We do not trust in a random concept of God – we trust in the one whose character (name) can be seen in God’s word, and we trust in the one who is in relationship with us (LORD) by virtue of his covenant love.
How easy is it, for some of us, to assume that a piece of advice – or a thoughtful Bible study – that helped one person, is bound to help another? So, we whip it out, unthinkingly, hoping to play a trump card that solves the problem and sends the person away rejoicing in the Lord, so we can get on with our day.