Living In Pain 8/20/16

Good Morning,

Nothing much to see outside this morning. Our skies are overcast with heavy clouds that are just waiting to weep some precipitation on Gibbs and me.  I sit at the picnic table with a very hot cup of Door County Mocha Mint Coffee, the dog is on top of the table watching the sky for any bird to fly by.

This is the usual Saturday routine for us until hunting season starts. By now we would be on our second cup of coffee and hopefully a couple of ducks into it hopefully.

I hear from a good friend now and then and it wasn't long ago that he informed me of a painful illness that has riddled his body. I also have another good friend who lives in pain daily. Of course I have prayed for their healing, but the healing has not come to these two Godly men who walk with the Lord daily.

Now notice here what I said. "Walk with the Lord daily". Despite their infirmities, these guys do not complain. They continue to serve the Lord in in any way they can, often paying the price the next day for the activity they did the day before.

What makes men and women like this tick? What pushes them to exhaustion without a gold medal to hang on their chest? Over the next couple of days I will attempt to answer that question. I am praying that God will equip me with the words to do this subject justice. Neither of them will have their names published as I will not invade their privacy. Those two know who they are and how I feel about them. To me, they are heroes and I am  sure if you are reading this you could add to the list many, many, more.

Like the clouds that I mentioned which are heavy with potential rain, my heart is heavy at times for these two. I will continue to pray for healing and will not cease, but I will also accept God's answer of no if He decides that they won't be healed here on Earth but will be pain free in Heaven some day.

My first shot at the answer to this subject of how these guys continue to serve the Lord while in pain is this. They have a love relationship with God and a trust that surpasses all understanding. They love Him despite not having the healing they desire. They would rather have that relationship intact than anything else. Psalm 37 does a great job of explain this.

Psalm 37:4New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Some would read this passage and say "if they do all they do while even in pain, then God should heal them as that must be their desire".  Now that is a pretty good interpretation attempt at Scripture but falls short of the truth.  They delight in the Lord so much that He has become the desire of their heart and they continually want more of Him. They possess a deeper love for Him despite the infirmities of pain. They do not curse God for the pain but embrace Him and want more of Him as they experience His grace daily They look for ways to serve despite the pain. They long to serve more, not trying to achieve favor to be healed but to stand next to Him and assist in His work of redeeming souls.  That is step one for this day and I will continue this subject tomorrow.

Where are you in your delight for the Lord? Are you like the football fan who only shows up if the team is in the Super Bowl?

We will chat tomorrow and I look forward to it. God bless you all.

Marty