Many people are going through some tough times. We have many on our prayer list who are going through treatments for cancers of different types. Some of those treatments are painful and debilitating in and of themselves even without the disease that is being treated. There are others in the world that we may not know about who are having to deal with pain from pinched nerves in their necks and their spine. The problem with the “treatment” for those is that it usually makes the problem worse in the long run. The same goes for the cancer treatments which usually make your quality of life worse from the first treatment.
As Christians we are supposed to “count it all joy” regardless of the pain that we experience. Many of us live with some kind of pain or other problem that causes us to dread getting up in the morning to go about another day. Our friends and relatives don’t understand what is bothering us so we don’t tell them how we feel on most days. We just go through the day with whatever it is and if you are like me you just pray that God will give you the strength to get through the day today. Then that prayer is repeated tomorrow and the next day. I don’t tell my wife how I feel because my pain is…well it’s my pain and she won’t get it. So I keep it between me and God.
Disability does hurt. It hurts because I can’t do many of the things that I would like to do like go hunting or fishing. My balance is gone and there have been many times I have nearly fallen in the shower or when I bend over to get something off the floor. Having your balance gone doesn’t sound like a disability and most people only lose their balance occasionally. I live with it every day, all day.
I am not writing this to complain, just venting a little. I have seen the looks that people give me because I don’t “look” disabled.
God does allow things to happen to us in order to bring about His purposes. He gives each of us a talent or an ability that He knows we will use and sometimes it takes an affliction of some kind to make us use what He has given to us. I have never written as much as I have since this came on me. I thank God that my affliction has allowed me to point some people to know my Savior, Jesus Christ.
I began this blog before I became disabled but my early writing was more world-weary or about some other things that were happening at the time. This site didn’t become a true witness about Jesus Christ until I became sick just before Thanksgiving in 2012. It has been twelve years now and God has seen me and my family through many trials since then. I pray that this site has blessed those who read it.
If you believe in Jesus as the Savior of the world, you should do this every day and not just at worship services. God began the salvation of mankind on the day that Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge. If you have read God’s Word, there are many instances in the Old Testament where He shows them how He expects them to live. He gives them the Ten Commandments and the Law to point them in the right direction but even as He leads them through the wilderness toward the land of promise they are griping and complaining.
We do it every day as well. We hear a sermon on Sunday and it has some really good points in it but we question some of them. It may be that we don’t like the way the preacher said it or the way he said it. Maybe we got offended at something in the sermon, as many people do, and decided that they’re not coming back to “that church”. Why? Just because of an offense to your pride? Being offended at something shouldn’t stand in the way of your eternity. Speak with the preacher and ask him to clarify the part of the sermon that you found offensive. Ask God to help you to understand how He wants you to serve Him and truly listen for His reply by praying even more and reading the Bible.
You can’t know God for just thirty minutes each week. You have to seek Him every day, a little bit at a time. Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship and we should treat it as such. Visiting with God once a week is a very limited way to begin a relationship because it should be a daily visit through prayer and reading His Word. Even if you only read one chapter every day. Pray about what you have read and then ask Him to help you to put it into practice in your life.
You can’t store His word in your heart unless you read it regularly. I would like you to get the benefit of His Word because His benefits are far above any others.
Does this world make sense today? In many ways, it doesn’t. So many unusual things are happening everywhere that it is difficult to make sense of them all. Reason and “common sense” don’t seem to have any sway over people today. Life is hard in some places and more challenging in others. Drought, wars, and pestilence are causing so many deaths in the world and causing many to fear and tremble, worrying about what will happen tomorrow. Anxiety is rampant, and people worry about many things, not knowing what is coming.
I believe the reason for all of this anxiety and worry is that people have not looked to the One Who has told us about this time. God had His prophets write many prophecies about the time that we are living in. Today, people are more concerned with their profiles on social media than they are about their immortal souls. God has laid out in the Bible every piece of the puzzle pertaining to today and tomorrow. It takes faith and prayer to understand much of it, but it can be understood.
I pray for all of those who might read this and wonder what I’m talking about. Seek the answers to your worries in God’s Word. Give your heart to Him and be saved from the wrath that is coming soon. I know that it has been a bit more than 2,000 years since Jesus was crucified but the day is coming when He will call the church home to Himself. Then the whole world will fear what is coming, especially those who have been in church but never gave their lives to Jesus. Don’t wait because we don’t know the day or the hour that He will come.
The Living Message of Christ 