Our God Is Large And In Charge

Our God Is Large And In Charge

Why are you scheming against the LORD? He will destroy you with one blow; he won’t need to strike twice! Nahum 1:9

Recently, I had to say farewell to one of my long-standing patients.

“Are you ready to be with Jesus?” I asked him when I knew his time was near.

His answer was an enthusiastic, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

But his children were saying, “No, no, no. Lord, please don’t take him,” as they cried and mourned the loss that we all saw coming.

Once the patient had passed away and the family’s tears slowed, they began to see his death with new eyes. They knew that one day in the future, their father would welcome them to their eternal home with great rejoicing. And on that day, their reunion would be complete.

Before the Fall, God’s plan was for us to live with him in Eden, where we would never know disease or pain. But when sin entered the world, our physical lives were changed forever. Illness and sickness are God’s enemies. And sometimes, they can seem like mighty enemies, scheming against us with pain and suffering.

God sent his son, Jesus, to reestablish the covenant, and it is through our belief in Jesus that we know there is more to life than the physical life we see. Though Satan tries to destroy us, no plot or scheme of his can succeed against us. God promised us long ago that he will prevail and destroy the enemy with one blow.

When someone is sick, we pray for healing, and sometimes the Lord answers our prayers with a miraculous healing. But sometimes he doesn’t. In such circumstances, we can feel as if the enemy has won. But God still heals us in death, as was the case with my patient. In death, God heals us with new bodies.

The glory of heaven can be hard to fully comprehend for those of us who are left behind. But what I can tell you from my experience sitting at the bedsides of so many dying saints is that both types of healing are answers to our prayers. And both are in God’s sovereign will.

TODAY’S RX

Whether God heals us here and now or then and there, his answer to our prayer for healing is always “yes!”

Lord, let my heart be at peace with your will. However you choose to provide healing, may you ultimately be glorified.