Life's Inanities and Ironies

  The secret Paul learned in every state Paul wrote from prison, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound… I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:11-13). Contentment is not natural. It is learned. And it is often learned most deeply when sickness strips away every ability to “do.” First Thessalonians 5:16-18 commands us: “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Notice it does not say give thanks for the sickness as if it were good in itself, but in every thing. The circumstance is real; the thanksgiving is an act of faith that God remains sovereign and good. Job lost everything and still worshiped. Habakkuk, facing barren fields, still determined to rejoice in the Lord (Habakkuk 3:17-18). The believer who can no longer help anyone else is not exempt from these commands. In fact, ...

  What Scripture commands when we are sick and dependent James does not leave the sick believer to suffer in isolation. He gives clear instruction: “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up” (James 5:14-15). He continues, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (v. 16). Notice the direction of the command. The sick one is to call. Dependence is not failure; it is obedience. We are not designed to carry every burden alone. Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” There is a difference between the personal load each must carry (Galatians 6:5) and the crushing burden that requires the help of the body. When sickness makes us unable to help ourselves or others...

When we can no longer help ourselves There comes a day for many of us when the honest confession is this: I cannot help myself, and I certainly cannot help anyone else. Pride hates that admission. Scripture meets it with one of the most liberating truths in all the Bible. Paul pleaded three times for the thorn to be removed. The Lord’s answer was not healing, but this: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul then declared, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me… for when I am weak, then am I strong” (vv. 9-10). God is not limited by our inability. In fact, He often waits until our own strength is gone so that His power alone is seen. When we are reduced to the place where we cannot rise, cannot serve, cannot even pray as we used to, the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26). Our weakness becomes the ve...

 Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Word of God never pretends that the righteous will always walk in unbroken health. From Job on the ash heap to Paul with his thorn, from David on the bed of languishing to the saints James addresses, Scripture faces sickness head-on. It shows us both the outward man that perishes and the inward man that is renewed. It teaches us how to live when we can no longer help ourselves, let alone carry the load for others. These six posts draw from the whole counsel of God so that, whether we are the one lying weak or the one standing beside the bed, we may walk in faith, humility, and hope. The dichotomy of body and spirit that frees us from despair When sickness strikes and strength fails, the first truth we must settle is that we are not merely physical beings. Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). The body m...

  So much has happened in the last few days, and I’m still trying to soak it all in. Thursday morning I sat with the heart surgeon at IU Methodist in Indianapolis. They told me they can help me. On the 26th of this month I will go in for double-bypass surgery. I am more than a little scared physically. Spiritually, I know I have nothing to fear. Convincing my mind of that truth is the hard part. If someone had told me even a couple of years ago that a man could feel genuine physical dread and yet rest in complete spiritual peace at the same time, I would have thought they were talking nonsense. But the closer I walk with the Lord, the more I see that the two can truly dwell in the same body. The outward man and the inward man are not the same thing. Scripture has been preparing us for this reality all along. Paul wrote, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). The body can be breaking down whil...