I just found out that a fellow elder that I served with at a church is diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig's Disease.
This is a devastating disease...Stephen Hawking has it and has survived incredibly well. Most folks die in 3-5 years. I saw a woman who had been healed on a Christian show from it...so by God's grace, anything can happen. This fellow's name is Johan. Please keep him in prayer.
This kind of information comes to me often, as I coordinate a prayer ministry. It also hits me where I live, and often freaks me out...the enemy knows my weakness...fear of health concerns because of my long history of many illnesses. But God knows why He has placed this ministry on me; to face this stuff head on. It's really hard. I came into the world ill...hospitalized many times as an infant and apparently this is my battle. It's one that I'd like to win.
We all have battles of one sort or another....some are illness, some are from abuse, addiction, finances, whatever. It's hard for us to understand the battles of others if we're not familiar with that problem. The enemy knows just what to hit each of us with, though, doesn't he? One who suffers from abuse might never have a day's physical illness; and vice versa. All of us walking out completely different paths. It's a wonder we ever run into each other, isn't it? I guess the whole idea is to keep an eye out for each other.
4 comments:
I listened to Michael W Smith's "Let It Rain." I hope it rains on you and all in need of healing in every way.
Satan can't do anything without God's permission. God knows what he's about in our lives... Satan can't do anything directly, either. He works through subtle lies, innuendo, hints, suggestions, constant chipping away at tiny bits of the soul in hopes that we won't notice. The Holy Spirit makes us quite sensitive to this... if we let him. It is hard.
I'm very sorry to hear about your friend who has ALS.
You think that Satan casues illness? And that this was somehow intended as a challenge to you?
It seems like its more productive to understand religion in how it asks us to respond to problems we face than it does to explain why anything in the world happens. Science can explain how some things happen... but why? It's a mystery.
Thanks for the kind sentiment, eb.Yes,I think illness poses a challenge and how we respond to meet that challenge is key. If I hadn't developed lupus, I wouldn't be the person I am today. It's changed my life...and I hesitate to say that it's been a blessing. A reordering of my priorities and purpose in life. I think that stuff happens because we're in a fallen world, and I think that science might eventually catch up to God. There are many instances in the Bible that describe "scientific" occurances. I prefer the word "faith" to "religion" which essentially means a "rebondage" and I feel that faith in God is freeing and actually quite mind opening, not binding.
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