01-13
2 Corinthians 12:8–9 (NIV)
"When Life Changes"
A word from The General
Sometimes life changes slowly. Other times, a few words spoken across a doctor's desk can change the life we thought we were going to live.
A diagnosis may tell us that something we have always taken for granted will no longer be the same. An illness may change what we are able to do, where we are able to go, or how we will live from one day to the next. For some, the diagnosis may even mean that their earthly life could be shorter than they had expected.
There are people I know and love who have faced circumstances like these. Recently, someone very dear to our family was told that she is legally blind. She is a dedicated believer, and something she said has stayed with me. God gave her her eyes, and He can fix them if that is His will.
I find a great deal of faith in those last few words: if that is His will.
Of course we can pray for healing. We can pray for the doctors and others caring for us. We can pray that treatment will be successful, and we can certainly pray for a miracle. But what happens when God's answer does not correspond with the answer we desperately wanted?
I am not a medical professional, and these words are not intended to provide medical advice. I am simply a fellow Christian who wants to offer encouragement, spiritual hope, and the comfort I have found through Jesus Christ.
I cannot tell you why God allows a particular illness to enter someone's life. I cannot tell you why one person is healed while another continues to suffer, and I cannot promise what tomorrow will bring.
What I can tell you is where I take my own questions.
I take them to Jesus.
When we address Jesus in prayer, we are communicating with Him. He hears every word we say to Him. We don't have to pretend that we aren't frightened. We can tell Him when we are confused, disappointed, angry, or hurting. We can ask Him for healing. We can ask Him for strength. We can even ask Him why.
We may not receive every answer we want during this life. We don't know all the plans God has for us. His plans are bigger than our plans, and He has reasons we may not be able to understand from where we are standing today.
That is where faith comes in.
And if His reasons don't correspond with your own, ask Him when you see Him.
I'll bet His glory will supersede any of your concerns.
-The General
-In God We Trust-
Scripture
"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'"
- 2 Corinthians 12:8–9(NIV)
Background – Historical Setting
The apostle Paul understood what it meant to ask God to change a difficult circumstance. His life after encountering Jesus was certainly not an easy one. As he traveled throughout the Roman world proclaiming Christ, he experienced persecution, imprisonment, physical hardship, rejection, and danger.
In his second letter to the Christians in Corinth, Paul also wrote about something deeply personal. He called it a "thorn in my flesh." He did not tell us precisely what that thorn was, and Scripture does not give us enough information to know with certainty. What we do know is that it troubled Paul enough that he repeatedly asked the Lord to take it away.
Paul prayed about it three times.
That is important. Paul did not lack faith because he wanted his suffering removed. He took his desire directly to the Lord and asked for what he wanted.
But the answer he received was not the answer he had requested.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
The thorn remained, but Paul did not face it alone. God gave him the grace and strength he needed to continue the journey.
Paul would go on serving Christ, teaching others, planting churches and spreading the Gospel. The circumstance he wanted removed did not prevent God from continuing to work through his life.
Paul's plans may have been affected by his thorn, but God's purpose for Paul was not defeated by it.
Meaning
There is an important difference between believing that God can heal and believing that God must heal.
We can pray boldly for healing. Paul certainly did. We can ask God for the outcome we desperately desire while receiving appropriate care from those He has equipped to help us. Faith does not require us to pretend that pain is painless or that frightening news does not frighten us.
Faith asks us to trust God even when we do not understand His answer.
That may be one of the most difficult parts of following Jesus.
When life is going according to our plans, it can be relatively easy to say that we trust God. When those plans suddenly change, those words can become much harder to live.
Perhaps that is when we need to come sit with Jesus.
Tell Him what you are thinking. Tell Him what you fear. Tell Him what you hope for. Ask Him the questions for which you have no answers. Prayer is not a performance, and Jesus is not waiting for you to find eloquent words before He will listen.
Talk to Him.
Then listen.
There may be questions for which an answer does not come. There may be circumstances that remain unchanged. There may even be a new way of living that you never imagined for yourself.
None of those things means Jesus has left you.
Your circumstances may change, but Jesus does not. Your abilities may change, but your value to Him does not. Your plans may change, but your life can still have purpose.
Paul's thorn did not become the end of Paul's story.
Neither does your diagnosis have to become the definition of yours.
Encouragement for Today
If your life has changed because of illness or disease, I won't pretend to know exactly how you feel. Your journey belongs to you, and there may be fears and difficulties that only you, those closest to you, and Jesus fully understand.
But I would encourage you not to measure the value of the life ahead by the abilities you may have lost.
There may still be laughter you haven't laughed, people you haven't met, prayers you haven't prayed, encouragement you haven't given, and moments with those you love that haven't happened yet. There may be ways God will use you that you cannot possibly see from where you are today.
And perhaps one of the people He will encourage through your life is someone who is watching how you walk this road.
That doesn't mean you must always appear strong. It doesn't mean there won't be difficult days. It simply means that even on those days, you can come sit with Jesus.
If you are frightened, tell Him.
If you are hurting, tell Him.
If you want healing, ask Him.
And if you don't understand His answer, keep talking to Him.
One day, for those who belong to Christ, there will be no disease, no failing body, and no earthly limitation standing between us and the glory God has prepared. Perhaps we will still have a few questions when we arrive.
If we do, we can ask Him then.
I have a feeling His glory will supersede many of the questions we thought we needed answered.
Until then, we walk by faith. We pray with hope. We receive each day we are given, and we trust the One who already knows what tomorrow holds.
When the journey suddenly changes, don't let go of His hand.
Come sit with Jesus.
Be encouraged today.
-In God We Trust-
