July 17, 2019 – Click here to listen
I’ve been pretty discouraged lately, and it must be evident to some of you because a few have written me about it. I haven’t told many people, but my eyesight is getting worse by the day due to macular degeneration. I can no longer drive at night and I can barely see in low light situations like restaurants and even my closet at home. I have to use a flashlight to read and find things and it is a pain. I also have a bad disk in my lower back and the doctor does not want to surgically fix it due to my age and the severity of the surgery. I have skin cancer on both legs and the chemo medication for it caused a reaction that makes my lower legs look and feel like I imagine leprosy would feel. The media pounds us with gosh awful news and from what little I read of it and it seems to me as though the crazies are winning.
My close friend and hero Bill Glass who has been in prison ministry 50 years and also has an eye disease and cannot see very much of anything either, wrote to cheer me up. He said: Dear Bob, Thrilled that you’re coming to the 50th Celebration. I really enjoy your devotional thoughts. You and me both will get a new set of eyes soon. 😊 Oh great I thought. Bill cheers me up by telling me that soon I will die and get new eyes. I wrote him back and said I looked forward to getting new ears too because I can’t hear either. He responded: In that case I need a new nose . . . I can’t smell that good. So, I tend to stink a little. At least that’s what my sister says. Lol.
After a good laugh I began to feel better and then last night I got the following letter from a friend:
Hi Bob. I wanted to share something that I hope will be encouraging to you. Your mission may be unwavering, but it is easy to get discouraged when we see through a worldly lens, instead of seeing with a single eye, as the Bible calls us to do.
About six years ago my husband surprised me with a weekend trip to your Honey Lake Resort to cheer me up for my birthday. We bought and read your book, Miracle on Luckie Street, and shared our heartbreaking story with you about our alcoholic son. Later, you agreed to meet with him, and you shared your story, counseling him to seek help for his problem. After you met with him, you called to tell me if he didn’t get help immediately, he would be dead within a few years. You even made arrangements for him to be moved to the front of the line in an alcohol rehabilitation facility, which he declined.
Fast forward. This Saturday will be one year of sobriety for our son! It was a long and amazing journey and through it, God taught me something about His sovereignty that words cannot describe. He IS the one true God! I was even able to accept my son’s physical death if that was God’s plan. But in His mercy, and after much preparation, He literally reached down, and with undeserved favor, touched our son with healing. So, one year ago he called to say, “I don’t really understand why, but (after 15 years of drinking) I’m done! I told God I couldn’t do it myself so He would just have to do it in me.” And He has!
You told me to never stop believing, and I will always appreciate those words of encouragement. So, I thought another miraculous success story might help to make your day. 😊 Thank you. Thank God.
I sit here stunned. She made my day and I’m thrilled for this couple and their son. I meet with many people all the time, but I vividly remember this lady and her son. I told her to pray for him and keep praying. She didn’t know of my eye condition and told me to see with a single eye that really doesn’t need my old eyes to see through. We must focus on the Lord and not the world. God is good and God is great and His Holy Spirit’s timely urging my friends to write me today REALLY encouraged me to get off the pity party that I’ve been hosting for myself and get on with it. I’ll get new eyes, ears, and a nose soon enough and until then I’ll make out just fine thanks to God almighty.
Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight . . .