Safe in Jesus' Hands ~ 2 Corinthians 4:13 - 5:1 ~ Third Sunday after Pentecost ~ June 10, 2012
It started out as headaches...
Just minor inconveniences that made Jean a little bit uncomfortable during the workday...
But as time passed, the headaches became more frequent—and more severe...
In time, the headaches caused her to be dizzy—and unable to keep her head up...
After three trips to the ER, her doctors became concerned enough to order some tests-- including a biopsy...
Finally, her doctor walked into the exam room, looked her in the eye, and said “Jean, you have cancer.”
Most of us (if not all of us) know what it’s like to be in Jean’s shoes... We know what it’s like to hear this diagnosis... We know what it’s like to journey with someone we love through a life-threatening illness. Many of us are making this journey on this very day...
When that diagnosis comes, it turns our lives completely upside-down.
The sickness steals its way into every aspect of our lives, so that life itself is no longer about living, but just trying to cope with the pain.
And there is no knowing of what tomorrow will bring...
With every illness comes a great crisis in our faith: where is God in all of this? Why did this happen to me? Will God answer my prayers?
These were questions that the Apostle Paul surely pondered throughout his life—because he is one who was certainly no stranger to pain and hardship.
In the time since God had called him into the ministry of the Gospel, he’s suffered shipwrecks, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger.
At no point in his writings does he make reference to suffering any illness. Yet, many times, he has been face-to-face with death. But in spite of all that he has suffered—and that he knows he will suffer—he persists undeterred.
So how can this be? How is it that Paul does not lose heart?
Paul was able to endure his suffering by the reality of God’s presence in his life. As he suffered, the very power that raised Jesus from the dead was at work within him. His faith and his hope were the gifts of a God who was renewing from within; making him a whole new creation. As his outer self wasted away, this new self, this new being endured by God’s grace.
And so it is for us.
When we suffer, the work of the Holy Spirit is to make God’s presence real to you. God will not stand idly by when you suffer. And God will not stand idly by while the devil to use your suffering to destroy your faith.
God is more powerful than death and the devil. God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. And God is determined to display this power to you and to all who suffer.
While sickness and suffering tear away at our bodies, God creates a new person within ourselves that is untouchable to every evil. God is making you alive so that you may see God’s grace happening in your life—and believe. God is glorified in the faith and hope we receive from him.
So in those times when we feel as we are dead, God’s will is for us to be alive in with the life Christ.
That was something I’ll always remember about Jean. She was a woman who suffered so much in her life. But at death’s door, she spoke as someone who was filled with the peaceful presence of Jesus Christ. There was no denying that she was already seeing into paradise.
So when sickness and the troubles of life have you feeling as though you are free-falling into darkness, with no hope for a brighter tomorrow; remember: you are falling into the hands of Jesus, your merciful and compassionate savior.
Regardless of what may happen in this life, God will hold you safely in his hands. If the earthly tent you live in is destroyed, you have an eternal home from God that is indestructible and ever-lasting. In life and in death, you are safe in God’s care.
And in the same way that Christ abides with us in our suffering, let us abide with our neighbors in their suffering. Let us let reach out to them in love, let us stay with them... When darkness closes in, let us keep watch and pray.
Just minor inconveniences that made Jean a little bit uncomfortable during the workday...
But as time passed, the headaches became more frequent—and more severe...
In time, the headaches caused her to be dizzy—and unable to keep her head up...
After three trips to the ER, her doctors became concerned enough to order some tests-- including a biopsy...
Finally, her doctor walked into the exam room, looked her in the eye, and said “Jean, you have cancer.”
Most of us (if not all of us) know what it’s like to be in Jean’s shoes... We know what it’s like to hear this diagnosis... We know what it’s like to journey with someone we love through a life-threatening illness. Many of us are making this journey on this very day...
When that diagnosis comes, it turns our lives completely upside-down.
The sickness steals its way into every aspect of our lives, so that life itself is no longer about living, but just trying to cope with the pain.
And there is no knowing of what tomorrow will bring...
With every illness comes a great crisis in our faith: where is God in all of this? Why did this happen to me? Will God answer my prayers?
These were questions that the Apostle Paul surely pondered throughout his life—because he is one who was certainly no stranger to pain and hardship.
In the time since God had called him into the ministry of the Gospel, he’s suffered shipwrecks, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger.
At no point in his writings does he make reference to suffering any illness. Yet, many times, he has been face-to-face with death. But in spite of all that he has suffered—and that he knows he will suffer—he persists undeterred.
So how can this be? How is it that Paul does not lose heart?
Paul was able to endure his suffering by the reality of God’s presence in his life. As he suffered, the very power that raised Jesus from the dead was at work within him. His faith and his hope were the gifts of a God who was renewing from within; making him a whole new creation. As his outer self wasted away, this new self, this new being endured by God’s grace.
And so it is for us.
When we suffer, the work of the Holy Spirit is to make God’s presence real to you. God will not stand idly by when you suffer. And God will not stand idly by while the devil to use your suffering to destroy your faith.
God is more powerful than death and the devil. God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. And God is determined to display this power to you and to all who suffer.
While sickness and suffering tear away at our bodies, God creates a new person within ourselves that is untouchable to every evil. God is making you alive so that you may see God’s grace happening in your life—and believe. God is glorified in the faith and hope we receive from him.
So in those times when we feel as we are dead, God’s will is for us to be alive in with the life Christ.
That was something I’ll always remember about Jean. She was a woman who suffered so much in her life. But at death’s door, she spoke as someone who was filled with the peaceful presence of Jesus Christ. There was no denying that she was already seeing into paradise.
So when sickness and the troubles of life have you feeling as though you are free-falling into darkness, with no hope for a brighter tomorrow; remember: you are falling into the hands of Jesus, your merciful and compassionate savior.
Regardless of what may happen in this life, God will hold you safely in his hands. If the earthly tent you live in is destroyed, you have an eternal home from God that is indestructible and ever-lasting. In life and in death, you are safe in God’s care.
And in the same way that Christ abides with us in our suffering, let us abide with our neighbors in their suffering. Let us let reach out to them in love, let us stay with them... When darkness closes in, let us keep watch and pray.
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