Pill or Pilgrimage?

"OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION WHICH IS BUT FOR THE MOMENT WORKS A PEACEABLE FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS" in the long run. (2Cor.4:17.) It's not that I've never been sick, Lord, that I haven't gone to the doctors, hospitals and taken medicines. It's not that I haven't had lots of afflictions, and it's not because You've always healed me instantly or immediately either.

BUT I JUST ALWAYS TRUSTED YOU, LORD, and believed that sooner or later You'd either heal me or kill me, and either way I'd die trusting. And if I was afflicted, I was afflicted for some reason--my own fault, my own sins, or you were trying to teach me something, and that when I learned the lesson You'd deliver me--and You always did, You never failed!

I'VE BEEN SICK MANY TIMES, INJURED AND WHATNOT, BUT YOU'VE ALWAYS PULLED ME THROUGH IN THE LONG RUN LORD. I had to wait a little while sometimes, but You never failed, Lord, eventually You always did the work. So Lord, I'm just really ignorant about doctors and hospitals and medicines. I just don't know much about them and I don't have much faith in them.

I GUESS THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO HAVE FAITH IN PILLS AND NOT IN YOU--MAYBE THEY'RE THY MERCY ON THE WORLD, Lord, maybe they do help some people. But I just never had much faith in them for me, Lord, since I know You and know You expect us to trust You and believe in You and You'd either heal me or kill me, one or the other or something.

 SO HERE I AM, LORD, I'M STILL HERE, STILL TRUSTING YOU LORD, and I haven't died yet and I have no major afflictions that I know of. I have survived many accidents and injuries and close calls and death. It's not that I haven't had the afflictions, Lord, for "many are the afflictions of the righteous," but You've delivered me out of them all!--All!

 "MANY ARE THE AFFLICTIONS OF THE RIGHTEOUS, BUT THE LORD DELIVERETH HIM OUT OF THEM ALL" (Ps.34:19)--A double L, Lord, all--not just some or a few or most or many, but all, all of them! You've never failed, Lord. You know Lord, how that's been my motto many a time,

"THOUGH HE SLAY ME, YET WILL I TRUST HIM" (Job.13:15). I figured if You wanted to kill me, okay, I'd die, still trusting You and praising You Lord, whatever You want to do--I'm Yours, my body is Yours, my life is Yours, I live for You, so it's Your business to take care of me because I'm in Your business and You've never failed, Lord to pull me through sooner or later somehow.

SO I JUST DON'T HAVE MUCH FAITH IN ANYTHING ELSE, LORD, BUT YOU. I just don't have much faith that anything else can help me but You because I depend on You Lord. You know that--I have for years. I just don't have much faith in this chemical experimentation and tinkering around with my body with a bunch of chemicals that we don't know what they're doing to us!

I HAVE A LOT MORE FAITH IN YOU, LORD, that You know what You're doing and You know how my body's made. You created it, You made it, so You ought to be able to fix it without any of this other junk! If You can fix it then You don't need any help necessarily, as far as I can see.

 AND IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIX IT, WHY, I DOUBT IF ANYTHING COULD HELP ME, LORD. That's the way I've looked at these things for years and here I am, still here, still going strong--not because I've never had any afflictions or close-calls or sicknesses or injuries or accidents, but I survived them all, You've delivered me out of them all! So I've had many afflictions, Lord, but You've always delivered me out of them all, You've never failed me, Lord.

 AND WHEN IT COMES TIME FOR ME TO DIE, LORD, YOU'LL DELIVER ME OUT OF THAT TOO! You'll deliver me out of this life and set me free from this body! So that'll be a deliverance too Lord, "out of them all." It's not that we don't have afflictions, Lord, it's not that we aren't going to die sometime, but You'll deliver us out of them all, including death! Praise God! Hallelujah! That's a thought! I never thought about that!

 "THOU SHALT NOT TASTE OF DEATH!" (Mt.16:28.)--What You mean by that, Lord, we don't exactly understand, because we all die. But You said, "I am the resurrection and the life--he that believeth on Me though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die!" (Jn.11:25,26.)

 WELL, YOU MUST BE TALKING ABOUT SPIRITUALITY THERE, because You said, "It is given unto man once to die." (Heb.9:27.) We'll never really die in that sense of spiritual death, or to taste the agony of death and separation from You.

BUT YOU'LL DELIVER US OUT OF THE JAWS OF DEATH TOO, LORD: "Oh, grave, where is thy victory? Death, where is thy sting?" (1Cor.15:55.) We pass through it Lord, but without sting--through the grave with victory for us, not the grave! Thank You Lord! It's a Homegoing, a relief, a deliverance, it's our Coronation Day!

SO EVEN DEATH IS A DELIVERANCE, LORD! So if You don't deliver us from the affliction and we die, then You deliver us from everything. So, Lord, we just take it all as from You, and whatever You want to give us or deliver us or whatever You want to do, like You did with Job, it's our job not to murmur or complain, but to just trust You Lord in spite of the tests and the trials.

 WE REALISE YOU'RE TESTING OUR FAITH WHEN WE HAVE THESE TRIALS, TO SEE IF WE'LL TRUST YOU or we'll suddenly just run the other way and forget all about trusting. So praise You Lord! Thank You Lord! Lord, it doesn't take much to scare some of us out of trusting. Forgive us, Lord, help us, in Jesus' name.

 ONE LITTLE TEST OF THE DEVIL AND BOOM, WE SAY UNCLE AND OUR FAITH FALLS FLAT! If it doesn't go through the fire, Lord, it's not faith. If it doesn't come out as pure gold it's not faith! Because real faith stands the test whatever it may be!

SO JESUS, WE JUST HAVE ALWAYS PUT OURSELVES IN YOUR HANDS AND TRUSTED YOU TO TAKE CARE OF US one way or another, somehow, and You always have. You've never failed, and here we are. We've started a worldwide spiritual revolution, Lord, that's covered the Earth and won millions of souls and witnessed to billions and You never failed us Lord, we're still going.

THE ENEMY TRIED TO SCARE US the other day that sooner or later our enemies are going to get us, sooner or later they're gonna get you.

WELL, LORD, THE DEVIL'S BEEN TRYING TO TELL ME THAT ALL MY LIFE: "SOONER OR LATER THIS IS GONNA GET YOU OR THAT'S GONNA GET YOU or something else is gonna get you--your heart's gonna get you or your lung's gonna get you or your side's gonna get you." I had this pain in my side, Lord, since I was 12 years old, and heart trouble since I was 12 years old, but none of them ever got me yet and I'm still here.

SO THE DEVIL'S A LIAR, LORD, BUT SOME OF US SCARE PRETTY EASY. When he says "Boo!" we run! When he says "I'm gonna get you!" we believe it and surrender. Oh Lord, helps us to put up a fight, the fight of faith, the good fight of faith, put on the armour, all of its parts.

 TAKE THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD AND INSTEAD OF SURRENDERING, LORD, WE SHOULD ATTACK, and conduct an aggressive warfare, Lord, instead of a defensive warfare. Help us to fight, Lord, some of us don't have much fight in us, we give up awful easy, we surrender too quickly to the lies of the Devil.

 OH JESUS HELP US, LORD JESUS HELP US IN JESUS' NAME! Help and strengthen and deliver us Lord. Most of all, help us to trust You, Jesus, for everything, Lord, that You never fail. You never fail! Thy Word never fails, Love never fails, and Jesus, You never fail!

FORGIVE US FOR GETTING SCARED OUT SO EASY BY THE ENEMY AND HIS TESTS. So help us Lord to pass the test and not let the Enemy scare us off and scare us off of our position, our stand of faith, off of Your territory that belongs to You, even our bodies!

 HELP US O GOD TO HAVE FAITH, AND NOT GET SCARED OUT OF IT! For if we've got real faith we won't have fear and we won't let the Devil scare us with his doubts and fears and "boo's"! You've kept me this long, Lord, from my enemies, safe and secure in spite of people who would like to kill me--demon-possessed people who would like to destroy me.

YOU'VE KEPT ME ALL THESE YEARS, LORD, YOU'RE CERTAINLY NOT GOING TO FAIL ME NOW. You'll keep me until, as You said, "You'd not suffer me to be cut off before my time," You'd keep me till the end of my time Lord, until it's Your day to take me or let me be taken. So we believe You'll do that, Lord.

 WE BELIEVE YOU'LL KEEP ME HERE AS LONG AS YOU WANT ME AND NEED ME TO SERVE YOU HERE and as long as the Family needs me, and You're not gonna let the Enemy scare me out of Thy will or even touch me without Thy permission. We trust You, Jesus. In Jesus' name, amen.

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