02/10/2023
WARNING: LONG POST BUT PLEASE READ TO THE END!
The picture below is a picture taken last week after a short conversation between myself and Michael Booth of the Booth Brothers.
The Booth Brothers have a song called “He Saw It All” about a man who is working in town when some of the miracles of Jesus happened. The man hears the commotion and asks another man what is going on and the man says,
“I was trying to catch the crippled man
Did he run past this way?
He was rushing home to tell everyone
What Jesus did today
And the mute man was telling myself
And the deaf girl
He’s leaving to answer God's call
It's hard to believe but if you don't trust me
Ask the blind man, he saw it all
Ask the blind man, he saw it all”
So, as Michael and I were talking I looked at him and said,
“When y’all sing ‘He Saw It All’ when you sing the part of the man running after the crippled man can you chase me across stage while you sing that line?”
And it was at that point that I told Michael a little portion of my story.
Then he looked at me and said something to this effect,
“The struggle comes in when Jesus decides not to heal.”
And this is so true…
But it was at this moment that I came to this conclusion:
When Jesus decides not to heal, we can still call that a blessing.
And before I go ANY further, please understand a few things:
Number one, I know people—specifically in the church where I pastor—who will never have answers to things they have experienced this side of Heaven.
Secondly, a lot of times blessings may not look like blessings.
And thirdly, what I am about to share is simply what I believe to be true in God’s Word pertaining to my own life because I’ve experienced it first hand and I pray that no matter what you are going through that you can experience this as well.
In 2 Corinthians 12:8 Paul writes,
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about [his thorn in the flesh], that it should leave me.”
And this may be some of you right now.
Maybe there is something in your life that you have been praying for God to take away and you’re still waiting for Him to do it.
Or maybe you’ve prayed this prayer and the end result was not what you had prayed for and now you are forced to live the remainder of this life in what you would consider an “altered state.”
Maybe it’s the result of the loss of a loved one…
Job loss…
Divorce…
Maybe it is a terminal illness…
But, living in this “altered state” could be the result of anything that resulted in you feeling like your prayer wasn’t answered.
And we’ve all been there…
Every single one of us…
But, Paul—being a man who pleaded with the Lord to take away a circumstance which wasn’t taken away—did not lose heart. Listen to what he writes in Romans 8:26-28,
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
So, here is what we know:
Paul’s life almost NEVER went as planned, but yet he knew that everything that happened in his life was going to be used for the glory of the God who is in control of all things.
How could he think this way? (And I hope you’re still with me…)
Paul could think this way because we can count it all joy when we face trials of various kinds because we know that the testing of our faith in these trials produces a faith that is unwavering so that we would be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:1-4).
In other words—because of Paul’s faith in Christ—trials allow him the ability to say,
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
(Surprise! This verse has nothing to do about football or any sport for that matter.)
In that passage in 2 Corinthians that we began with, listen to what Jesus goes on to say and also Paul’s response to what Jesus says after he pleads for Him to take the thorn from his flesh:
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
You see—when God decides not to heal—the situation itself is not the blessing.
The blessing is the presence of the One—Jesus the Christ—who gave His life so that we could be healed from something much more serious than our physical ailments—which is our sin that separates us from God.
Hear me:
Cancer is not the blessing…
The death of a loved one is not the blessing…
Alzheimer’s and dementia is not the blessing…
Spina Bifida (my birth defect) is not the blessing…
The blessing is and has always been the presence of Jesus IN SPITE of all these things.
So, when God decides not to heal—we can consider it a blessing still because He is with us because of His sacrifice on the cross.
I know this to be true in my own life because some of my most challenging seasons of life have also been times when I’ve drawn the closest to Him.
And THAT is the blessing…
If you’re still reading—and I hope you are—I’ll close with my favorite quote from the Prince of Preachers Charles Spurgeon. He said,
“I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me up against the Rock of Ages.”
My prayer for you today is that you would be able to see the trials of this life in light of the surpassing greatness of eternity that awaits every child of God when we will see our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ face-to-face because this life is fleeting and there is Someone greater and MUCH more glorious and His Name is Jesus!
If you don’t have a personal relationship with Him, please reach out to me.
Please don’t waste another moment…
May you be encouraged and see that the presence of Jesus is the greatest blessing God has ever given to us!
