Illness

We can get settled in this life of ours. We describe our activities with words of permanence. We get married and “settle down.” We become “established” in our careers. We “build” a house. We acquire stuff—some cool stuff—that we appreciate and enjoy…sometimes a little too much.

For the next few days, we are going to follow the journey of a great man who walked with God and held evil at bay. He was blessed with ten children and much wealth. He not only took care of himself, but his “regular custom” was to make sure his children were purified by the sacrifice of a burnt offering. Job was strolling along singing Curly’s song from the musical, Oklahoma! —Oh, what a beautiful mornin’! Oh, what a beautiful day! Everything was going his way until…the bottom fell out of his life. There was a time when a person heard the name “Job” and thought “blessing”; today the name is tantamount to suffering.

He is using today to prepare you for tomorrow. He will never waste your time.

Let me leave you with this question, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” You know the answer.

Are you ready to proclaim Christ boldly and without hindrance right from your present situation?

Trust Him. Challenges will come. Illness may knock the props from underneath us. Relationships may break our hearts. Death of loved ones will bring overpowering waves of grief. But God is always preparing for our deliverance.

Our prayers are not for the alteration of the sun’s pattern, but they involve God’s miraculous work just the same - salvation of a loved one, physical healing, strength to be a good witness through an illness, the determination to resist a temptation or the restoration of a relationship. And the miracle is that the holy God hears and answers our prayers.

So here they come rolling in . . . the waves of fear and doubt . . . caused by sickness, job loss, a relationship break-up, illness of a loved one, discouragement, death. You can’t stand up under the force of the crashing waves. But you don’t have to. The Lord will absorb the powerful force for you. You need only to be still.

Maybe something has changed your plans this Christmas. A job that didn’t go the way you expected. An illness that showed up uninvited. A relocation. A separation. A broken relationship. The loss of a loved one. Sometimes things seem to happen so randomly. But for the believer, God is always in control. Hold on! He is using today to prepare you for tomorrow. He will never waste your time.