Scripture texts: Psalm 119:81-88, James 5:7-11 (Tuesday,
July 7)
I wasn’t planning to make this about me. I really wasn’t.
But sometimes, the Holy Spirit throws a text at you that not only speaks to you
in your present circumstances, but also turns those circumstances into a
testimony for God. Well, that’s precisely what this week’s lectionary texts
did.
Many of you know that over the past two months I’ve been
struggling with some pretty significant health issues. It’s a frightening thing
to go, almost overnight, from a reasonably healthy man in his early 40s to
someone unable to function without copious doses of medication. There are many
days when I hear my own lament echoed in the words of the Psalmist.
My eyes fail with watching for your promise;
I ask, ‘When will you comfort me?’
For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke.
There is a spiritual element to illness. It may be one of the most difficult experiences we mortals must contend with. It saps our strength. It frightens our hearts. It discourages our souls. At times, it separates us from those around us, something that was even often codified in earlier ages (leper colonies and the like). It takes us from being fully human to something less.
It’s the reason Jesus uses healing miracles as a sign of the kingdom, showing us that God’s promises include restoration of all that we are from what illness has done to us. We get back our strength. We are given peace to calm our fears. And we are given hope.
But the road between now and that moment of restoration can be long indeed. Thus James writes to his people a call for patience in the midst of suffering. He calls us to remember the prophets, to remember Job, and how God fulfilled his promises to them. I often find this call to remembrance important, not only in remembering the struggles of those who went long before us, but also in remembering those around us here and now. Easily my biggest aid in the midst of my struggles have been my fellow Christians, many of whom are themselves either currently dealing with health troubles or have recently done so.
Where are the signs of God’s promise? Does he even care? The answer to those questions, question close to the heart of the suffering Psalmist (and to many of us), is right before us. It’s in the people God has given to us and remembering their struggle and their perseverance. God got them through it and we see that before us. It’s no accident they are in our life. They are a gift. They too are a sign of the kingdom, calling us to remember what God has promised.
It’s the reason Jesus uses healing miracles as a sign of the kingdom, showing us that God’s promises include restoration of all that we are from what illness has done to us. We get back our strength. We are given peace to calm our fears. And we are given hope.
But the road between now and that moment of restoration can be long indeed. Thus James writes to his people a call for patience in the midst of suffering. He calls us to remember the prophets, to remember Job, and how God fulfilled his promises to them. I often find this call to remembrance important, not only in remembering the struggles of those who went long before us, but also in remembering those around us here and now. Easily my biggest aid in the midst of my struggles have been my fellow Christians, many of whom are themselves either currently dealing with health troubles or have recently done so.
Where are the signs of God’s promise? Does he even care? The answer to those questions, question close to the heart of the suffering Psalmist (and to many of us), is right before us. It’s in the people God has given to us and remembering their struggle and their perseverance. God got them through it and we see that before us. It’s no accident they are in our life. They are a gift. They too are a sign of the kingdom, calling us to remember what God has promised.
No comments:
Post a Comment