“He will keep you
strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our
Lord, is faithful.”
1 Corinthians 1:8-9
Some of my favorite devotionals are by Charles Spurgeon.
Both Morning by Morning and Evening by Evening are among my
favorites. One of his writings, “A Solace for Sick Saints”, has much more
meaning to those who have walked through the valley of pain and despair:
“They have grown
faint, and they fear that they shall never rise from the bed of doubt and fear...”
Isn’t that the truth—physically, emotionally and spiritually—for
a cancer patient! The many weeks that I spent recovering from compression
fractures were spent in a special hospital bed that my husband imported to our
bedroom. Each morning, I would raise myself up, inch by inch, with the little
button on the mechanical bed, hoping against hope that I wouldn’t experience
painful muscle spasms as I struggled to emerge from my cozy cocoon. And then
there was the battle of the mind: This
might be it for the rest of your life. Get used to this bed. You might never
walk to the mailbox again. Just be happy you can still make it the bathroom,
etc., etc… And of course, spiritually I began to doubt God. Why would You
allow this to happen? You know that I have children to raise, a busy life to
lead, work to do!
“…but the Great
Physician can both remove the disease and take away the weakness which has come
of it.” Yes, He can and He does and He has. He certainly strengthened my
muscles; I’ll never forget the day I stooped down to pick something up and I
could rise again all by myself, with nobody's arms to help lift me. Oh, the
simple joys of life! And the hours of free time that I had to read, to pray,
and to journal played a huge role in my spiritual life, strengthening my
relationship with Him as well. He drew me closer to Him as He removed the disease, strengthening body, mind and soul.
“He will strengthen
the feeble. This He will do in the best possible way, for it shall be “in
Jehovah.””
I will always believe in doctors as instruments of God’s
healing power, but there are times He does step in and personally do the work.
We should never forget the experiences in our disease that cannot be explained
by medicine. They are given to us as a testimony, and we should share them with
others. These “mountaintop experiences” will be there to lift our spirits when
find ourselves in the valley.
“Our strength is far
better in God than in self. In the Lord it causes fellowship, in ourselves it
would create pride. In ourselves it would be sadly limited, but in God it knows
no bound.”
Our strength is so much better in God because He will never
disappoint us and He is never done giving. His strength comes always at the perfect time, and often after
we have learned the hard lesson that we can no longer continue by our own
strength. When things are going well, I tend to give myself credit for choosing
the right doctor, taking the right therapy, and using the right supplements. Meanwhile,
I am weakening inwardly as I sacrifice my fellowship with the One who gives me
strength. I am soon reminded that there are weaknesses and imperfections in
what man can do for me; only Jehovah has the power to meet all my needs.
“When strength is
given, the believer uses it. He walks up and down in the name of the Lord. What
an enjoyment it is to walk abroad after a season of prostration! The Lord gives
His people liberty to walk up and down and an inward leisure to exercise that
liberty. He makes gentlemen of us: we are not slaves who know no rest and see
no sights, but we are free to travel at our ease throughout Immanuel's land.
Come, my heart, be thou no more sick and sorry; Jesus bids thee be strong and
walk with God in holy contemplation. Obey His word of love.”
It is indeed a tremendous joy to “walk up and down” again
after a long illness. But Spurgeon is also speaking about strengthening our
hurting hearts. In those seasons when it is impossible to walk up and down
physically, we have the gift of being able to travel throughout Scripture and to see glimpses Heaven on earth, through
the letters that God has written to us, through the stories of his faithful
witnesses, through long conversations with Him. If we focus on Him, we won’t
dwell on our problems nearly so much. In fact, we will seek to do His will for
us, and won’t even feel so sorry for ourselves. We will be so strengthened by our fellowship with Him that we won’t feel powerless or defeated. We
will rise in spirit and with joy to live out our calling. He will do this for
us, because He is faithful. May the joy of the Lord be our strength!
Thank You, Father, for
the strength that You are able to pour into these weak bones. Each time I think
I’m at the end of my endurance, You pour new life into my heart and I rise
again. Strengthen the weak, and fill their lives with purpose and joy. I pray
for the lonely, the hurting, the fearful, and all those who feel they have no
life left in them. I pray that they will let You meet all their needs.
