Something for nothing?

Jacob, son of Issac and Rebekah, was often blessed by God and never seemed to deserve any of it. None of us do, but when a scalawag is continually bailed out but always treated well, it can seem unfair. This passage suggests he may have grown to expecting blessings without any effort on his part:  
As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month. Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” (Genesis 29:13–15)

It seems to me that God is not using this to illustrate salvation, which is never earned or dissevered, but addressing the attitude of the one is blessed by God’s favor. Gratitude is not the same as taking Him for granted. I often call myself God's spoiled brat, but realize this is not the same as having a totally grateful attitude that humbly knows His love and kindness, rather than always expecting it.

I’ve been really sick for a few days, likely a virus and no fun at all, but snapping my fingers for the Lord to fix it is not part of His plan, at least not at this time. I know that He wants me to accept this and keep my mind on the joy set before me, not grumble or wonder why He isn’t doing something for me right now.

Jesus, I’m learning to accept discomfort, even extreme and long sessions of struggle. this is on Your mind, but was not on mine. However, I do trust You and believe You lovingly remain in charge of my life. For the joy set before me, may You grant the endurance needed to glorify You.

Reasons for illness . . .

Anne Lamont wrote an interesting book on prayer. To some, she may seem irreverent in places, but she is refreshingly transparent. The book is titled for how she defines the three types of prayers: HELP, THANKS, WOW.

I’m finished the first section and the take-away for me is that whenever I am asking God for help, I need to come to the Lord with a yielded and trusting attitude. Of course this is true, yet I think how often prayers are more like orders, telling God what to do or at least giving Him suggestions on how to fix the problems.

This A-Fib heart is a test for me. I know the value of doctors, but I also know that God is in charge of my body. I can say ‘help’ to Him, recognizing that He allows illness for reasons. Sometimes it is to bring glory to Himself. Like the blind man in John 9 who was healed “that the works of God might be displayed in him” (9:3), my hubby was healed of an incurable condition. God is glorified as he shares his story with others.

Sometimes we suffer illness so as to experience God’s comfort and empathy that we might be able to share that comfort with others who suffer . . .

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:3–4)

Sometimes illness is a corrective, a result of sin or a discipline from the Lord that gets our attention. When Paul wrote instructions for the Lord’s Supper, he said, “Anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” (1 Corinthians 11:29–30) These people had disobeyed God and were sick and even died because of it. Illness is one of God’s wake-up calls.

A fourth reason for illness is that it is God’s way of taking His people home. We enter eternity through death. It could be the result of an accident, but more often is the result of illness.

As I consider these things, God has not yet revealed to me what this A-fib is for. However, He is telling me where my focus should be. I need to consider and meditate on what I have in Him . . .

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints . . .  (Ephesians 1:15–18)

No matter what situation I am in, sick or healthy, rich or poor, wise or ignorant, God saved me that I should glorify Jesus Christ. As Chambers says, I am to work out my salvation with my tongue, brain and nerves. If I whine, complain, or stay set on my own way, I am not declaring that I am a saved and sanctified person.

Chambers offers a vivid word picture. He says God allows difficulties to see if I can vault over them properly —“By my God have I leaped over a wall” (Psalm 18:29). I am to rise to this occasion and do what He asks of me by allowing Him to manifest Christ in me. In fact, it happens in weakness anyway, not just spiritual weakness, but in physical disabilities.

Paul was given some sort of thorn in the flesh to keep him humble. He pleaded for its removal (just as I asked for this heart to return to normal function) but God said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

From this, Paul replied, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7–10)

Chambers adds these most sensible lines: “May God not find the whine in us anymore, but may He find us full of spiritual pluck and athleticism, ready to face anything He brings. We have to exercise ourselves in order that the Son of God may be manifested in our mortal flesh. God never has museums. The only aim of the life is that the Son of God may be manifested, and all dictation to God vanishes.”

In whatever trial I experience, the Lord wants me to have a yielded, submission spirit, a heart that says yes to His will that He might accomplish whatever he wishes. It might be greater empathy in me, or a healing that brings Him glory. It could be that He is slowing me down to correct me, or even to take me home. Whatever it is, I cannot guess. My response is to yield and obey, whether or not He reveals His reasons.

Today: needing Him

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

Sometimes Christians speak of being born again as if we did it, or at least had something to do with it. But this is a work of God. It is as mysterious as the wind. It is also a surprise. I remember when it happened, but have no idea how, or where it started, perhaps somewhere in the depths of my heart, but certainly in the depths of God’s heart!

Chambers says being born again from above is a perennial, perpetual and eternal beginning. He rightly points out that it brings freshness in thinking, talking, and living and makes the life of God filled with continual surprise, so much so that any staleness indicates my life is out of joint with God.

One sign of staleness is thinking ‘I must do this thing or it will never be done.’ However, I don’t need to rake my mind for something to do because staying fresh with God is not about me, not even about my obedience. It is from the Holy Spirit, light, newness, energy, the will to walk with Jesus and let Him constantly surprise me.

And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. (John 17:11)

Keeping close to God, being obedient, walking in the light and staying fresh are vital and somewhat connected. Jesus prayed the above prayer for my oneness with Him and with His people. His desire is that nothing gets between us, nothing to mar my relationship with Him, nothing to ruin the freshness of new life from the Holy Spirit.

I cannot draw my life, inspiration, even my energy from any other source than God himself. Chambers says that if I am depending upon anything but Him, I will never know when He is gone. That is a horrible thought. These days, it also seems a ridiculous thought. I felt yesterday that I was ‘running on fumes’ but it is not right to talk about the life and energy of the Holy Spirit as mere fumes. He is sustaining me at a time when there is no other source.

I need to eat. I need to sleep. I need to keep from being entangled in non-essentials that press me into ‘stale’ mode. Being born of the Spirit means having vision for the challenges of each moment. It also means being kept fresh for everything by the perennial supply of the life of God.

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Last night Bob thought he would likely die soon. Every breath took too much energy. He called me to bring a book so I could take notes of what needed to be done. By the time I got to the hospital, he was repeating himself, nearly incoherent. He was struggling to breathe. Someone decided to raise the oxygen input. When that happened, he improved, forgot all he wanted me to write down. More tests, more x-rays, and so on, and he was much better by five pm. Still not out of those proverbial woods, but clearer of mind and able to breathe without gasping. God used Psalm 20 to comfort both of us.

May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion! May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans! May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions! Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright. O Lord, save the king! May he answer us when we call. (Psalm 20:1–9)

Guilt can make me sick

According to at least one doctor, “Most of the people I see in my office are bearing in their bodies the involuntary confessions of their guilt. The illness is the soul’s way of saying; ‘If you won’t deal with the discomfort in your soul then deal with it in your body.’”

Not everyone gets sick over unconfessed sin and not every sickness is caused by unconfessed sin. But this doctor saw enough of it that he could say there is a connection between illness and feeling guilty over doing something sinful.

Today’s devotional isn’t about the idolatry of relying on some sort of penance rather than the cure offered by Jesus Christ, but it is about one way people deal with their transgressions — by simply trying to ignore them.

The most ‘alive’ and healthy people that I know have a biblical view of sin and of what to do when it happens. Instead of making excuses, rationalizing, blaming others, or trying to make up for it, they confess their sin to God because they know . . .

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

At times, I’ve said this is the most important verse in the Bible for Christians. Indeed, John is writing to believers. He also says if we say we don’t sin, we are lying. The psalmist goes farther. He says if I say that I have no sin, I am not only lying, but that lie could put me in the hospital.

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah (Psalm 32:1–4)

In another place, the same writer said this in a prayer to God about his sinful condition . . .

O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath! For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness, I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning. For my sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart. (Psalm 38:1–8)

Perhaps my low toleration for pain and discomfort has something to do with it, but I’m usually not slow to deal with sin and guilt. I don’t like the feeling of it, and I don’t want to be sick.

I’ve also noticed that failure to confess sin isn’t necessarily about being dishonest, or about embarrassment. It is more like, “If I confess that sin, then I must to stop doing it and I don’t want to stop.”

Even that is a confession of sorts and God will answer it, not by cleansing the sin (yet) but by making me hate it. He has ways of turning a so-called ‘delightful’ sin into a heavy and loathsome burden, one that I want to get rid of. I know the only way to do that is to take it to the Lord.

When that is done, then God lifts the burden. Instead of seeming to be a hard wall that blocks joy and well-being, He becomes the source of joy and well-being . . .

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah (Psalm 32:5–7)

The psalmist’s most well-known confession reveals that my experience with sin and confession is much the same as his. I see it is sin and feel guilty. I realize my sin is against God even if it was against others. I know that He is right in calling it sin. I also know sin is deeply entrenched in the human heart, but I am fully convinced that Jesus Christ makes possible full forgiveness and cleansing.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. (Psalm 51:3–8)

Like the psalmist says, truth and honesty with God results in a clean heart and in joy and gladness. As any doctor will tell you, medicine might be helpful, but a glad heart is far better toward healing sickness than any medicine.

Jesus and psychosomatic illness

In Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there was a pool. In Aramaic it was called Bethesda, which meant “house of mercy.” This area had five roofed colonnades and in this semi-protected place lay a multitude of invalids. They were blind, lame, or paralyzed. One man had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. (John 5:2–6) 

This man could have been in an accident, or could have had some disease that left him unable to walk. What was unusual is that he had lived so long in this condition, perhaps longer than a normal lifespan for that time. There were no government medical programs back then either, which meant this man must beg to make a living. Being ill that long would not be an easy life, yet Jesus asked him a strange question, “Do you want to be healed?”

The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” (John 5:7)

Today’s devotional writer sees loneliness in this statement. Here is a man in a crowd of people who believe that the first one into the pool when the water “moved” would be healed, but this man had no one to help him? 

I’m not sure that he was telling the whole truth. How can an invalid survive that many years without some help? He must have had family and friends that took care of his basic needs. However, he said no one would help him into the pool. Maybe those who took care of him didn’t want him to experience healing? Maybe they thought this “first into the pool” thing was superstition and refused to play along? Perhaps they didn’t understand how illness can be psychosomatic and that he might actually be healed if he thought the water would heal him. 

Or maybe they recognized that his infirmity was not the same as those who has been in accidents or had some disease, and were not impressed. He became tiresome to them and perhaps seemed to be faking it. Maybe he was drawn to this place called “house of mercy” for he longed for kindness and understanding that his ailment had deeper roots.

Those whose illness is emotionally caused could be lonely, but also deeply insecure. I knew someone who became genuinely sick when she didn’t want to tackle a challenge. She would soon be in bed with a fever, too ill to do anything. Perhaps this man was like that and found it easier to be an invalid than to live a normal life. He became comfortable being taken care of others, and was afraid of trying to make it on his own after being so long in this state. Also, even though he was likely not alone, he could have been very lonely. That is what happens to anyone whose focus is “me and my medical problems” — whether they are real or caused by fear or attention-seeking.

Adding to my thoughts about his illness is that the story says nothing to verify that the pool had specific powers. However, the power of suggestion is also noted in modern medicine. If a person has a psychosomatic illness, rather than something physically caused, then Jesus’ question makes even more sense — and it cuts right to the heart of the issue. 

It also convicts me. Haven’t I at times used some sort of personal problem to get attention? Haven’t I been fearful and made up excuses for why I could not move ahead? I also remember a few times when others suggested a simple solution and I was annoyed with them. I didn’t want solutions; I wanted a good excuse for not doing what needed to be done.

Jesus may have had a longer conversation with this invalid man than was recorded by John. The Lord may have talked to him about his fears and encouraged him to think differently about life. He may have challenged him to consider the life he was missing, or even why the people who brought him food were not sticking around long enough to put him into the pool. Whatever else was said, the Lord had mercy on the man.

Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked….(John 5:8–9)

But afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said something that again seems to cut to the heart of the problem again, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” (John 5:14) 

How does this apply to my life? First, don’t let self-pity and fear keep me from living as fully as God intends. To do so would be sin. He wants me to trust Him, then get up and walk. I must obey Him.

Second, consider others who are like this man and whose infirmities are held on to because they do not want to be well. Jesus was merciful with them, yet direct. He understood their need but also their problems and gave His kind attention to both. Jesus can hug and rebuke at the same time. Does He want me to be like that with the infirm and those who make excuses? I think so and I must obey Him.