Recently I was talking to an old school friend. He had been through a crisis with cancer some ten years ago. Around that time, he was marvelously saved and eventually healed of cancer. The Lord even told him he would not have to battle with cancer again. But just the past month he was found with active cancer cells again. He was devastated. How could this be happening! Had not God promised him he would not have to battle cancer again? How could He break His word?
My friend said he felt like God had forsaken him. I shared with him some of the thoughts on this subject I had read a few months ago from the book God On Mute: Engaging the Silence of Unanswered Prayer by Pete Grieg. In the book, Pete shares his personal experience with unanswered prayer. His wife suffers with epileptic attacks. As a firm believer in the ability of God to answer prayer and miraculously heal, Pete prays desperately each time his wife suffers an attack. Most of the time, it seems God does not answer his prayers and they rush off for medical assistance to the nearest hospital or clinic. But at times, He does answer.
One time when they were vacationing in the mountains of Virginia, his wife had another horrible attack. However, they were far from any kind of medical help. Pete prayed as he always does. But on this occasion, God heard his prayer and his wife supernaturally recovered. But why does it seem at times that God does not answer our prayers? Pete goes on to explain how Jesus Himself had to suffer the death of a sinner forsaken by God in His death on the cross.
Remember the words of Jesus from the cross,"My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" Jesus had to experience the feeling of being forsaken by God to become a high priest that is touched with the feeling of our infirmity. He has gone through this same experience and knows how it feels so He can therefore understand what we are going through. That does not mean He will always reach down and heal us, as I explained to my friend. But he can give us grace for the trial like the old poem teaches.
God has not promised
Skies always blue
Flower-strewn pathways
all our life through;
God has not promised
Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.
But God has promised
Strength for the day
Rest from our labor,
Light for the way,
Grace for all trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
Undying love.
(Annie Johnson Flint)
I then shared with my friend the passage in Hebrew 11 where Paul discusses some of the old great saints of God in verses 36 through 39.
"And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:"
In other words, they suffered for their faith and it seemed that God had failed them and He did not rescue them and they "received not the promise." But He gave them what they needed, he gave them dying grace. Some even raised their hands as they died as a predetermined signal to their family that God was giving them supernatural strength to endure the cruel death they were suffering at the hands of their enemies.
Two brothers were imprisoned and were to be burned at the stake for their faith. The older brother was to be burned first and so his younger brother, who was experiencing a great trial of faith, asked him to lift up his hands during his execution if God was giving him dying grace. And low and behold, just as the flames enveloped his body, the brother who was watching from his prison window saw his older brother raise his hands in praise unto God. God was giving dying grace.
Hebrews 12 goes on the explain that it is through looking unto Jesus we are able to endure suffering and affliction and He will help us not to be wearied and faint in our minds. (Hebrews 12:3) So if you feel you are fainting, wearied and unable to endure, maybe you need to spend more time in prayer and fellowship with Him looking unto Him for strength, faith and grace to carry on. Spend time with God. He will answer your prayers. He will help you.
God may not reach down and touch you and heal. But He will give you the grace for the trial. He will give you His unfailing sympathy and undying love.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment