June 29, 2021 – Click here to listen
I spoke with a friend who is struggling to beat cancer and the myriad of serious health issues that accompany it. Understandably his attitude has progressively gotten worse as of late. Yesterday he was down, and I tried to help him as best I knew how.
Unfortunately consoling him “as best I know how” was inadequate. I have clumsily tried on many occasions to help those who suffer, and I find it difficult to succeed. It seems simple and logical to me; however, I know my most earnest words are ineffective.
The key to solving any problem is HOW to solve it, but most everyone who finds themselves in that predicament seems to obsess on WHY it happened to them. No one can know the mind of God and it is impossible to know for sure why affliction or even tragedy befalls us. We just know that it is a part of life that affects us all, rich, poor, powerful, powerless, righteous and unrighteous alike. It is a complete waste of time trying to figure out WHY a tragic event happened in our lives.
Even if we were to know the precise reason why God is allowing Satan to afflict us, it does not offer any healing balm to us whatsoever. It seems to me that the more important question is how we find comfort in times of affliction. The Bible offers scant information as to why we are afflicted as compared to how best to ride out the storms of life.
I’ve read the Bible cover to cover over and over again and studied it for decades. My consensus on finding comfort in times of great distress is that it boils down to two main issues: faith and control.
Having faith that God loves us and has a good purpose for those of us who love Him is essential to the human psyche in this fallen world. Without faith there is no hope and without hope there is fear, sorrow, and misery. (Just what Satan wants)
Second is control, we must recognize that God is in control and not us and just turn everything in our lives over to Him and surrender. My friend was a successful CEO for many years, and he was used to being in control. He is not in control now and he must put his faith in God and the doctors in the Lord’s employ. It’s easy to say but sometimes difficult to do.
I was a CEO for most of my life and can relate. I started losing my eyesight and I soon discovered that it is incurable. Now my wife has to drive me around and she is not that good a driver. LOL
So how does someone who is used to being in control accept that there is nothing I can do to change my situation? I have merely accepted it and turned it over to God to deal with and quit worrying about it.
I have an abundance of faith and have seen God perform many amazing miracles in my life. In fact, I named my book, Miracle on Luckie Street. Miracles have had a huge impact on my life and in fact I would not be alive today without them. I for one will never give up on God performing a miracle concerning my eyesight, but I realize that it might not ever happen, and I don’t relish the thought of it, but I accept it.
I can do this because I thoroughly understand that God has a purpose for my life and when it is accomplished according to His good will I’ll be with Him in paradise. I know that on that very day God will give me my new eyes and I will gaze beyond the stars as an adopted son of God. Those eyes will remain strong for all of eternity.
Have faith in God and let Him drive you where you need to go.
Matthew 6:25
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”