“A certain type of ministry of the gospel is cruel. It doesn’t mean to be, but it is.” J.I. Packer |
I have many friends who are going through difficult times in their lives. There are the two women, one in her late 80’s and the other 91 who both have fallen and are dealing with hip and knee replacements. I have a friend in his late 70’s and another in his late 60’s suffering for months with a hip replacement of a hip replacement. I have other friends --- one who is paralyzed, one who struggles to take each breath, and others living with debilitating illnesses. I have a friend just diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and others who have the regular kinds of cancers. And others who do not struggle any longer. The one thing all these people have in common, besides being Christians, is that they are all incredibly faithful to the Lord, and each one of them is my teacher. Their life is a portrait by which I measure my life and mature my faithfulness to Jesus. All of us must endure the vexing vicissitudes of this life. In fact, that is a biblical promise and a human certainty. (James 1:2) The Lord does not shield us from these unwanted situations as He leads us into unmapped territory. But by exposing us to impossible circumstances it is meant to drive us to Him and find our adequacy in His arms and not our own. I have learned much from my teachers through their trials. Their example in the difficulties of life is a ministry to me as Paul described in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. As Wade Berry reminds us, “We are always more than the tragedies we face.” And we are not alone in the tragedies we endure. We can look to our faithful friends, and we must look to Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith. Serving Him with you until He comes for us, Fred |