Among believers in our Lord Jesus
Christ, I have often thought that one facet of “working out your own salvation
in fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12) has been disregarded in favor of the
so-called “Prosperity Gospel” and “a miracle under every teacup.” And this
particular facet is one of not getting everything we ask for, or think we have
a right to.
I am a subscriber to Facebook, and I
admit spending a bit too much time on that site. Admittedly, it can become
addictive. (Gotta check those messages and comments). At any rate, many of my
social media friends are Christians, and I see any number of posts related to
healing and miracles as I scroll down my homepage on a daily basis.
And then there’s the group messages
that people pass along which claim that, “If you forward this message to ten
friends, you will get the miracle you have been praying for within 48 hours”
(or) “If you forward this video to five people you despise most in the world,
someone will ring your doorbell tomorrow, and give you a hundred dollar bill.” And
based on the inference of this blog, I don’t have to tell you what I do with messages
like those. (Not a darned thing).
Now, don’t misjudge me, dear readers.
I believe in miracles and I believe in healing. I have been the recipient of
both. (But honestly, I don’t believe in those group messages). However, the
same God who encouraged us to pray for healing and miracles encouraged us to
trust Him when He is seemingly silent, and no immediate answer to our prayers
is forthcoming.
What are we to do when it seems a ten
foot thick concrete slab has been installed between ourselves and a loving,
listening God? What are we to do with verses which promise we will not get out
of this world without experiencing the same kind of experiences our Lord
experienced?
Pt. 2
This same Jesus who said,
“If you ask anything in my name
(according to my sovereign will) I will do it for you” (John 14:14) also
said,
“In the world you will experience
tribulation.” (John 16:33)
I think too many Christians “throw out
the baby with the bathwater.” They are transfixed with promises about healing
and miracles, but too easily neglect the promises and admonitions concerning
suffering.
What are we to do with the implication
of Colossians 1:24?
“Filling up in my own body the
unfinished sufferings of Jesus Christ”
And what of the martyrs of Hebrews
Chapter 11, and God’s apparent failure to protect them?
“They were hungry. They lived in
caves. They were killed with the sword. They were sawn in two. They were eaten
by lions.”
And like our dear spiritual relatives,
we will also experience disillusionment and suffering.
I love the “Mercy Me” song, “Even If
(You Don’t)”
“I know you’re able and I know you can save
through the fire with your mighty hand. But even if you don’t, my hope is You
alone.”
The words of this song have given me
great comfort, and the assurance of songs such as this, and countless scriptural
passages have encouraged me over the course of the half century that I have
walked with the Lord, and throughout the trials and turmoil I have encountered
along the way.
Pt. 3
Speaking of the martyrs of the Church,
God forbid that believers in western countries are ever called to lay down
their lives for the Gospel. In recent years, dozens of believers in places like
Iraq and Syria and Libya have been beheaded by members of that despicable radical
Islamic gang referred to as “The Islamic State.” Our dear brothers have gone on
to their reward without so much as the slightest word or complaint.
What are we to do with the implication
of Romans 8:18?
“I believe and I am convinced that the
suffering of this present life isn’t worthy to be compared to the glory which Christ
will one day reveal in us.”
The martyrs of Hebrews Chapter 11 and
the present day martyrs of the Church understood that this life is not all
there is, and that their true, and real, and authentic, and eternal home was in
heaven. They understood and embraced Paul’s words which are found in 2nd
Corinthians, Chapter 5.
“For we know that if the tent that is
our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
As Christians we simply cannot take
anything for granted, and in spite of the modern day emphasis on healing and
miracles, there is such a thing as balance, and the ramification of Jesus’
words in the 22nd chapter of Luke.
"Father, if you are willing,
remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done."
He who spoke these words also admonished
us that a servant is not better than his master. As He suffered, so too will we
suffer; some more than others.
Afterward
While Christians promulgate and enjoy
the blessings of healing and miracles, as believers we must also submit
ourselves to seasons of disillusionment and difficulty.
We serve a good and gracious God who always
has our welfare at heart. However, this life is simply not all there is, and as
faithful believers “when it is all said and done” we are called to submit to
the will of the One who loved us and gave Himself for us.
By William McDonald, PhD. Copyright pending
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