FAITH-SURVIVING
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated. Heb. 11:37, R.S.P.
I have just returned from the home of close friends whose 3-year-old son is dying of leukemia. A precious, well-formed blond with a tender personality like his mother's, he played contentedly on the floor among us as we discussed his death. One would search long to find a more openhearted, Christ-centered couple than his parents. As we spoke of the unspeakable, with many tears, no hint of bitterness or doubt of our Father crept into their words. Their main perplexity was whether to subject his fragile body to painful treatments to forestall his death or let the disease take its sure course.
We knely in a circle, and I held his restless little hand as we prayed for God's active mercy. Afterward his father walked with me to my car. "I've been studying again the lives of the great people of the Bible," he said, "and I've come to the conclusion that there is no connection between the quality of a person's faith and his protection from tragic death."
What great faith! I remember another who grieved, "If only I had more faith, my daughter would have been healed." Christians speak much--perhaps too much--of faith healing. Often the assumption is that the more faith one has, the more likely that healing will take place. I would wish for an emphasis on "faith surviving"--on learning how one's faith in God can survive even if one is not healed. In the long view, faithfulness is a far more serious tragedy than death!
Satan urges us to believe that our faith is a sacred life-insurance policy; if we invest adequate "faith premiums," God is obligated to protect us from death. Those who hold this view find every life-threatening event to be a faith-threatening event, for the loss of faith is the loss of eternal life. It leads to the second death.
Jesus insisted, however, upon calling the first death but a sleep. To His faithful ones who sleep He will one day soon say, "Awake!" And a tenderhearted little boy--in perfect health--shall be placed in the arms of his glad parents. Together they shall rise, to look into the face of the Life-giver and to pour out their gratitude.
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated. Heb. 11:37, R.S.P.
I have just returned from the home of close friends whose 3-year-old son is dying of leukemia. A precious, well-formed blond with a tender personality like his mother's, he played contentedly on the floor among us as we discussed his death. One would search long to find a more openhearted, Christ-centered couple than his parents. As we spoke of the unspeakable, with many tears, no hint of bitterness or doubt of our Father crept into their words. Their main perplexity was whether to subject his fragile body to painful treatments to forestall his death or let the disease take its sure course.
We knely in a circle, and I held his restless little hand as we prayed for God's active mercy. Afterward his father walked with me to my car. "I've been studying again the lives of the great people of the Bible," he said, "and I've come to the conclusion that there is no connection between the quality of a person's faith and his protection from tragic death."
What great faith! I remember another who grieved, "If only I had more faith, my daughter would have been healed." Christians speak much--perhaps too much--of faith healing. Often the assumption is that the more faith one has, the more likely that healing will take place. I would wish for an emphasis on "faith surviving"--on learning how one's faith in God can survive even if one is not healed. In the long view, faithfulness is a far more serious tragedy than death!
Satan urges us to believe that our faith is a sacred life-insurance policy; if we invest adequate "faith premiums," God is obligated to protect us from death. Those who hold this view find every life-threatening event to be a faith-threatening event, for the loss of faith is the loss of eternal life. It leads to the second death.
Jesus insisted, however, upon calling the first death but a sleep. To His faithful ones who sleep He will one day soon say, "Awake!" And a tenderhearted little boy--in perfect health--shall be placed in the arms of his glad parents. Together they shall rise, to look into the face of the Life-giver and to pour out their gratitude.
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