MORE THAN COMFORT
This is the word of the Lord the God of your father David: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. 2 Kings 20:5, N.E.B.
Picture this scene in the emergency room of a hospital: A doctor is standing over an accident victim, comforting her, "There, there!" he soothes. "I see your tears; I understand how badly you are hurt!" As the hemorrhaging woman, calmed by the reassuring words of the physician, ceases her crying, he slowly backs out of the room, satisfied that he has brought solace to the injured woman. Meeting her disgruntled husband in the hall, he smiles warmly. "Your wife's fine! She's stopped crying!" Ten minutes later she is on her way to the morgue.
"Ridiculous!" you say. And yet do we sometimes credit God with such misprocedure? Do we believe that He is more interested that we stop "crying" than He is that we stop "bleeding"? Do we think that our profession of faith is of more value in His sight than is the restoration of our friendship with Him?
We have much to unlearn about our wonderful God. Even those of us who hold "enlightened views" concerning Him have clung to ideas about Him that keep us tethered to fear and/or a poor self-image. It's time to reevaluate every concept we have that casts a shadow upon free-flowing communion with Him.
In our text today we see God listening, watching, understanding. We believe that; we count on it. We even believe that He wants to heal us. But sometimes we fail to grasp how much He desires to do just that! We argue about how healed we can expect to be. Yes, He can take away the cigarette habit. He can reform us and realign our priorities. But can He make us perfect?
"Whoa!" you say. "Nobody's perfect!" (See what I mean?) But, then, what do we mean by "perfect"? In the usual sense perfect means you never do anything wrong again, and we have to reexamine the whole idea of growth throughout eternity. However, if you understand perfect to mean fully won back to loyalty to God...
Can God fully win back our loyalty? Can our misunderstanding about Him be fully healed? Can we dare hope that our misgivings will be fully assuaged as He thoroughly and finally dismantles our misinformation? In fact, what else could establish our undying loyalty and love to Him?
Friends, I'm counting on just that!
This is the word of the Lord the God of your father David: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. 2 Kings 20:5, N.E.B.
Picture this scene in the emergency room of a hospital: A doctor is standing over an accident victim, comforting her, "There, there!" he soothes. "I see your tears; I understand how badly you are hurt!" As the hemorrhaging woman, calmed by the reassuring words of the physician, ceases her crying, he slowly backs out of the room, satisfied that he has brought solace to the injured woman. Meeting her disgruntled husband in the hall, he smiles warmly. "Your wife's fine! She's stopped crying!" Ten minutes later she is on her way to the morgue.
"Ridiculous!" you say. And yet do we sometimes credit God with such misprocedure? Do we believe that He is more interested that we stop "crying" than He is that we stop "bleeding"? Do we think that our profession of faith is of more value in His sight than is the restoration of our friendship with Him?
We have much to unlearn about our wonderful God. Even those of us who hold "enlightened views" concerning Him have clung to ideas about Him that keep us tethered to fear and/or a poor self-image. It's time to reevaluate every concept we have that casts a shadow upon free-flowing communion with Him.
In our text today we see God listening, watching, understanding. We believe that; we count on it. We even believe that He wants to heal us. But sometimes we fail to grasp how much He desires to do just that! We argue about how healed we can expect to be. Yes, He can take away the cigarette habit. He can reform us and realign our priorities. But can He make us perfect?
"Whoa!" you say. "Nobody's perfect!" (See what I mean?) But, then, what do we mean by "perfect"? In the usual sense perfect means you never do anything wrong again, and we have to reexamine the whole idea of growth throughout eternity. However, if you understand perfect to mean fully won back to loyalty to God...
Can God fully win back our loyalty? Can our misunderstanding about Him be fully healed? Can we dare hope that our misgivings will be fully assuaged as He thoroughly and finally dismantles our misinformation? In fact, what else could establish our undying loyalty and love to Him?
Friends, I'm counting on just that!
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