Thoughts
on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 237
Michael’s book is
available through:
Abiding Life Ministries
International
Littleton, Colorado
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Michael
gives us some great “steps” to recognize, acknowledge, and follow when we encounter, either personally or of a loved one,
a terminal illness. It will do us good
to soak on what Michael gives us this “day.”
DAY 138
Healing
Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask, and you will
receive, that your joy may be made full. --John 16:24
Though death is
something everyone will experience, it is written within man not to obsess on
death lest he get nothing else done. He would not get in an automobile, join
the army, take an airplane trip, or go ice skating or hunting because of the
thought that those activities could lead to death. Often the closest we come to
confronting our own mortality is when we experience firsthand the terminal illness of a loved
one. In this
situation, what is the sick one to do? First, he recognizes that death is an enemy. Many
believers submit to death rather than fight it. An elderly saint told me that
he did not want to die yet and be with the Lord in heaven. “It has taken
eighty-five years to learn what I have about Christ and the Christian life. I
want to stick around and share it with as many young believers as I can.” To
that I say, “Amen!” Second,
the ill person can discern if God has, indeed, told him that it is time to
leave and go be with Him. These first two issues are crucial for him to deal with.
What are those of us who love the ill one to do?
It should not come as a shock that anyone is dying, "inasmuch as it is
appointed for men to die once” (Hebrews 9:27). Since we are all born to die, we must see that the process
toward death and what the process accomplishes are actually more important
issues than death itself. First, we are to pray with absolute confidence for the loved one's
healing. I prayed for the healing of my grandmother, grandfather, and
mother right up to the very moment that they passed away. Why? Praying for the
sick is commanded, and if
I pray in faith, even though the person is not healed, I enter into the
category of the “others” of Hebrews 11:39: “Having gained approval through
their faith, [they] did not receive what was promised.” Frankly, though
the physicians diagnose, God
will have the last word. I will pray, and if I do not receive that for which I ask, I will
continue to trust and love God.
Second, every event in life occurs to create faith, and we
are not of those who rebel against faith. As a young parent I
had to come to grips with my inability to be omnipresent for my children. I
began to be full of fear of the park, of their walking to school, of the
bullies, and of influences in homes that I could not control. One day, on my knees, I
acknowledged, “Lord, these are Your children. Thank You that You watch over
them and allow nothing to enter their lives that will not be used by You.” My
eyes and heart could rest. The loved one is the Lord's, but we forget! What is coming into the ill
person’s life has first passed through His hands and will be used for His
purposes. What we see is part of a necessary process. At this point in
my life there is absolutely not one single thing that has happened to me that I
would change. All of it has been for my good. God shows no partiality, and everything that happens to the
ill person is for his good. This awareness stirs faith. If the end of
illness is death, then a loved one has gone to be with the Lord. I have a
friend who loves hunting and was able to take a trip to Africa to hunt. When
asked where my friend was, I would say with excitement, “He is hunting in
Africa!” I said it with a lift in my voice, for I was happy for him. To say a loved one is with the
Lord is not a depressing statement.
Third, we come to understand that we all need suffering.
In the one who is ill, suffering is good preparation for the laying aside of
the worn-out body that had heretofore encased the soul and spirit but is not
suited for heaven. Suffering brings the greater acceptance of the temporal, for
though much of life has consisted of the physical, the suffering person is
ready to lay aside the body and leave the material world. At the same time,
watching the suffering of a loved one prepares us to let go of him more
willingly. I have known many who have lost a loved one instantly through
something like an auto accident or suicide (there is also a process, which we
have not discussed here, for those who undergo instant death), and those
understandably need a more extended process of letting go after the fact of
death. In the end, we
see that God is, in fact, in all things. “Thou dost make Him to rule over the works of Thy hands;
Thou hast put all things under His feet” (Psalm 8:6).
Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point Green
– IT, Incredible Truth
Red – GP, Greatest Promises
Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches Pink
– PV, Priceless Victory
With Christ as our Life (Colossians3-4 and others), filled with His
Spirit, “we” will ask “in Christ’s Name” and whatever life brings our way, we
will “receive (from Him), that our joy may be made full.” Don’t you like that word, “made”?
Nothing puts everything into proper perspective like seeing that God is,
in fact, in ALL things. Thank you,
Michael for this reminder. Thank You,
God, for Your words in Psalm 8:6.
To access ALL past weekly
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“C” by logging onto www .leemccm.blogspot.com
NOTICE: another blog on
Michael Wells’ book, Sidetracked In The Wilderness, called Getting Out of the
Wilderness. You can access by logging onto
www.leemcchristianministries.blogspot.com
Lee McDowell Christian Ministries
P.O. Box 633244 Nacogdoches,
TX 75963 936-559-5696
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