Never-ending-ness

A dear friend asked me what she could talk to the Lord about on my behalf. I shared with her that I was really wrestling with the never-ending-ness of my disease. You see, C.I.D.P is incurable and progressive; I'll never get better; I'll only get worse. Sometimes I feel truly trapped with absolutely no solutions. What about you? What has you trapped? In fact, many of us are suffering in a permanent situation. Mine is illness, yours may be a failed marriage, financial woes, a wounded spirit, or anything else that is and will continue to cause you agony. These crushing burdens can be the underlying root of many other problems like bitterness, anger and depression.

How are we supposed to deal with this problem? I'm learning to take my cue from the Apostle Paul. While unjustly imprisoned in a vile Roman dungeon, he referred to himself as a prisoner of CHRIST. And that is not just religious fervor, but a real truth. Paul was really in that place of suffering because God had placed him there. There were several times when the Bible tells us of miraculous deliverance from prison, one concerning an angel as a key player, so Paul knew without a doubt that he was in that dungeon only as long as God allowed. This is a very transformative truth. When I view myself trapped by a disease, I truly panic inside...which quickly turns into doubting God or being angry with Him. After all, suffering is sometimes seemingly unbearable, imprisoning me without any hope of mercy. But when I shift my perspective to that of a loving and sacrificing God as my "jailor", I don't panic. In fact, it is very comforting to know that He has His eye closely on me and will never let any situation harm me if I continue to trust Him. And I do. Do you?

Suffering's Heat

Have you ever considered that suffering and strength are two sides of the same coin? Suffering requires strength to endure the painful flames burning your soul. But it also created strength as we continue to endure the trial. There's a metaphor in the Bible of a man working at purifying metal, and, of course, God is the refiner and I am the metal. What I didn't quite understand about purifying metal is that all the impurities don't just disappear because heat is being applied. Nooooo!! There is a process involved. The refiner begins at a low setting where certain impurities melt lose from the metal and float to the top. They are then skimmed off and the refiner INCREASES THE HEAT! This is repeated until the highest heat that the metal can withstand without being destroyed is applied. Also, at each level the various impurities are skimmed off. At the end of the process, the refiner can clearly see his reflection in the metal. That indicates to the metal worker that the refinement is complete and no more heat needs applied. As we endure whatever circumstance is burning us up, bear always in mind that it is NOT purposeless. It has an ETERNAL value, and is therefore priceless!!

You know, we can live "outside" our life grieving for a life we "never had". Or we can choose to trust that God gave us a SPECIFIC life to lead with eternal meaning. The choice of perspective is entirely mine...the length and intensity of the process is entirely God's.

Keep on enduring AND trusting.