In the Mirror

You're looking at this backwards. The issue is Jerusalem is not what they do to me, whether arrest or murder, but what the Master Jesus does through my obedience. (Acts 21 TMSG)

I have some friends who are going through a tough time right now. What do you say to someone whose adopted child is diagnosed with a disease that includes permanent brain damage? A disease likely caused by fetal alcohol syndrome. Their child has been on meds to help him function and those meds have been effective, but now they are causing him to have severe itching. Weaning him from the meds is not easy, and neither is dealing with the resulting behavior issues. Their anger and frustration is understandable, this is not what they signed up for!

But what does one sign up for when they take Jesus as their Lord and Savior? Taking Him as Savior is the easy part, everyone wants to be saved. But He must also be Lord. He is in control! So sometimes it is not what Jesus takes me out of that matters, it is what he does as I work through my trials. How is my obedience glorifying Him?

Paul was getting ready to go to Jerusalem. He understood that difficulties awaited him there. He also understood that is where God wanted him to be. So the issue was not avoiding the challenges that lie ahead or Jesus taking him out of those circumstances, the issue was encountering them so that in his obedience Jesus would be glorified. Is there comfort in that? Only with complete faith. Only with total trust. Only when that trust exceeds the love we have even for our selves, those around us, or in this case their own son. That can be tough.

But we do not have to go through these times alone. There is comfort when our only hope is in the arms of God. There is comfort in the family of believers. That does not mean it is easier.

If you read this, pray for my friends and their son. Pray for God to heal him. Pray for God to strengthen them.

give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thess 5:18 NIV)