Do You Appear Well?

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart'” 1 Samuel 16:7

    Years ago I had to part ways with my pickup truck. On the outside it looked like a beautiful red truck. It was an older model but it looked nice. Yet beneath the truck the brake lines and other areas were badly corroded and needed replacing. It appeared to be in great shape on the outside, but was actually in terrible shape.

    Many of us are like my old truck. We put on a nice suit of clothes, get a new haircut, look reasonably healthy and in good shape from our appearance, yet beneath the facade, we too are worn out, diseased, aging. We are in bad shape beneath the facade.

    Like a vehicle in constant need of repairs and expensive to keep on the road, we face constant challenges just to maintain a functioning body. Sometimes we limp along with a body that simply is not in good running condition despite our best efforts.

    Yet we are worth far more than a favorite vehicle. God treasures us much more than material items. We are made in the image of our Creator. Nevertheless, I think sometimes we must admit and adjust to the reality that we are wearing out, our health is much worse than it seems with our nice clothes and outward appearance. The “paint” cannot hide the fact that we have very real illnesses and internal challenges that must be dealt with and faced every day.

   Be honest with others about your challenging condition, whether physical, mental-emotional, or spiritual. We can only fool people so long by the way things appear on the outside.

    Prayer: Dear Lord, accepting the reality of our health condition is difficult. We can often appear well on the outside. But help us always to be honest with ourselves and others regarding our true condition. Amen.

Adjusting To The Changes In Life

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” Hebrews 13:8

    During the early years of my illness it seemed to me that “change” was always a bad word. My illnesses have forced so many adjustments into my life that “change” took on negative connotations. The forced adjustments were often painful.

    Yet over the years I have learned that if I adjust myself mentally to the adjustments forced upon me by my health issues, the frustration and anger and my general misery decreases.

    New issues creep up, and changes in circumstances frequently occur. It seems we are always adjusting our lives in one way or another due to change.

    Yet with time we gain experience, and our increasing string of experiences add up. If you have been a Christian for very long you have seen Jesus help you through many trials and difficulties. Remembering those experiences can take away or lessen the fear of adjusting our lives required by the vicissitudes of life.

    We can become discouraged and distraught by changes brought on by declining health or ill fortune. Continually declining circumstances can force an endless list of adjustments that tests us to our core. For many people, Jesus is the “last resort” in a crisis, but I believe we need Him each and every day through the ongoing adjustments we must endure, and with time, that we must accept.

    While we should never accept defeat, we must often adjust to the reality of our difficulties. I think it takes courage to be both hopeful and realistic. We need wisdom from God, courage through His Spirit, and comfort from knowing our Lord is always with us no matter what life throws at us. Trust Him, believe in Him, and He will help you to make the necessary adjustments.

    Prayer: Dear Lord, we struggle so often with the many things required by changing circumstances. Give us healing, wisdom, and strength for the adjustments we must make. Amen.

We All Need God

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

Struggling with afflictions for many years has caused me to wonder if difficulties make it easier or more difficult to believe in God. I am arriving at the idea that it does neither. At first, even unbelievers might be moved to pray, asking God to remove their afflictions. Yet without relief from their affliction quickly arriving, I think it is just as easy for them to blame God for unanswered prayer or begin “railing at the heavens” for their ill luck.

 

Yet faith and belief in Jesus can drive a believer closer to the God of Heaven through affliction. If we develop a habit of digging deeper into God the harder affliction befalls us, then nothing is impossible for the man or woman of God to endure through Christ. How else are we to explain martyrs like Stephen in the Book of Acts who was stoned to death while reflecting the light of Christ through his final moments? How do we explain untold numbers of believers throughout history who have died for their testimony about Jesus and God’s faithfulness?

Faith does not always free us of our afflictions, but it can carry us through them to the Lord who has empathy for us. For He has Himself suffered very much on this earth.

Whether healthy or ill, in good fortune or great need, you need God. And He is not an excuse for your misfortunes nor to blame in your suffering. 

We need Jesus. Everyone needs Jesus. Circumstances have nothing to do with it. Only a willing heart is necessary to believe in God whether young or old, infirm or in blessed health. You need God. We all do.

Prayer: Dear Lord, how we all need You. Through good times and bad, in sickness in health, from here to eternity. Amen.

The Cricket And Spider

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

I noticed a cricket jumping around beside my outside doorway. He jumped onto a spider’s web and as fast as lightning a spider leapt out, grabbed him, and then disappeared. I stood there in shock as it happened so quickly and there was no sign of the cricket or spider, but I noticed a tunnel at the back of the web where the spider had disappeared with its prey.

Scripture warns us to be wary of our arch enemy. The devil seeks to destroy the testimony and the lives of Christians. Our enemy is ever on the prowl watching for a time when we are being careless or foolish so he can pounce.

How do we stay alert? First we realize the devil is not the caricature red devil with a pointed tail and horns. Neither is he non-existent. Even in churches you will seldom hear Satan mentioned. Yet our enemy is real and we need to stay alert and wary so we do not fall into his trap.

We can be vigilant by remaining strong in our prayer life and meditating upon scripture. We can also realize that becoming a Christian does not make us immune to sin. If we think we are invulnerable to temptation we set ourselves up for the enemy.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ Matthew 6:13

We are led into temptation and risk danger when we begin to allow “little sins” into our heart and life. Small steps toward darkness can allow our capture by sin just as that unwise cricket hopped right onto the spider’s web.

Jesus taught us to pray that we do not fall into temptation and that we would be delivered from Satan’s power. Our Lord would not have emphasized this if it were not important to both pray about and to be reminded of this real danger.

Brothers and Sisters, there are many dangers in this world, but nothing is as dangerous as falling into the trap of the enemy. He is not focused on trapping unbelievers, for he already has them in his web. No, he is out to get Christians any way he can, even if it is through destroying our testimony by falling into sin through foolishness. Let us be both wise and wary. And let us always be on our guard and strengthened through prayer and God’s word to avoid sin and the enemy trap.

Prayer: Dear Lord, we are foolish in many ways, but help us not to be so foolish that we step into the trap of the enemy. Amen.