by David Brenneman
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
and a light unto my path.
When I feel afraid, think I've lost my way,
still you're there right beside me,
and nothing will I fear as Iong as you are near.
Please be near me to the end.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
and a light unto my path.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
and a light unto my path.
I will not forget your love for me,
and yet my heart forever is wandering.
Jesus, be my guide and hold me to your side, and I will love you to the end.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
and a light unto my path.
In recent days some things have happened to me that I have little doubt were answered due to prayers of myself and others that my God gets all the credit for taking care of. He is my Great Physician. He is my Savior who said He would never leave me nor forsake me.
My health was beginning down a road that would have negatively impacted my work life. Thankfully, I did have PTO time to cover it, even more thankfully, He spared me unnecessary extended use of it. Some were afraid that it was 'the' virus. Whether it would be or not, it matters not to my Healer. Nothing has been created that a single word from Him would not take care of. When He returns again at the end of the thousand year reign, the multitudes of the Earth will take a stand against Him for battle and He will simply speak a word and the battle will be over. Period.
When Daniel prayed, before he got finished with his prayer, the answer from Jesus was already on its way. When Jesus prayed the angel stood with Him immediately to strengthen Him. When Paul was going to trial the Lord stood with him.
My Dear Reader, when we face whatever life has, He stands with us who are in Christ Jesus.
One of my favorite moving episodes of M*A*S*H was when one of the nurses was seen by Hawkeye in a way he had never seen before. As the story went, hours earlier the two had gotten into it because he never once looked at her as someone interesting, just all the other nurses. On that night shift, a soldier was calling out to someone who couldn't possibly be there. She went to his bedside and held his hand, pretending to be that loved one. In a few moments he passed. The point being, whether we live or not through whatever we face, as Believers, Jesus is right there with us, in the thick of it with us. He doesn't care what the disease is, doesn't care what the sickness is, what the social protocol is, He is there. Whether to comfort towards recovery or to comfort in order to come home to be with Himself, He’s ever present.
We can easily, in our world today, dismiss His entire contribution to our improved health. We took pills, the doctors injected a medicine, we used ice or a hot patch and got better. Often neglecting to remember who it was who allowed those things to exist in the first place. Allowed? Yes allowed. As an inventor I know personally that God's not allowed me to invent some things because they would not work in His plan for humanity. What we do have in this world is either allowed or not because of the still ongoing truth that regardless of his attempts, Satan does not rule over all, only God does through the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Why does He allow illness and sickness, in some cases that end in death? There's nobody who can answer that question. Some people's lives impact a few some impact millions in their life and in their death. Some, through their suffering, heavily motivate others in ways they never could be to impact still others into action.
My life isn't entirely about me. Your life isn't entirely about you. For those who are saved in Christ Jesus our lives are certainly not about us at all. We are told by Jesus to deny ourselves, take up our own cross, and follow Him. We are told in the Scriptures that we are not our own, we were bought with a price, the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We die to self and live to Christ daily. Trusting and obeying. Trusting not in our own understanding. In all our ways acknowledging Him and He will make your paths straight. We aren't going to get it most of the time. Get used to it.
A very good example is the minor blow up between Mr. Miyagi and Daniel in the original Karate Kid. Mr. Miyagi promised to train Daniel and had been giving him things to do around his property. Daniel was fully unaware that he was being trained. And when he blew up at Mr. Miyagi he was shown just how far he had come in it.
You will not, I will not, understand why we go through most anything. Yes sometimes things just break. Even in that, God is sovereign. I have seen really old stuff last decades. Other stuff not. Have seen things that had no right to still work, working still. Have seen God's hands in my life when He lets me see it. Sometimes He knows that I need to see a little bit.
I am very thankful that the armchair diagnoses of a few who thought what I had was wrong. Am very grateful to those who prayed regardless. As the Scriptures say I am the Lord's and He is mine.
Be thankful in everything, in every gain and every loss. Be grateful for your eyesight or if it gets taken. Be grateful for your ability to walk if you can or even if you cannot. The Bible says to be thankful in everything. To some people even to have what infirmities others have it would mean a lot.
A Pastor had been involved in a horrific accident. He soon was mad at God for all the torment of the recovery process, to the extent that in his anguish he was cursing God. Much later, after fully recovered, God opened his eyes to the reasons why he went through it all. At least 5 unreachable people to others were reachable now through him. Unless he had been through all that...at least 5 wouldn't now be part of the family of God. By now it's in the thousands if not more. Read the book yourself. 90 Minutes in Heaven.
Pray before you have situations. Remembering that to Jesus everything is simply a situation, not a problem or set of problems. Complicated to us, never, to Him. "in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB.
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