Diabetes . . .

. . . is the latest malady with which Linda’s body must contend. Not only that, but her liver enzymes continue to be at such a high level that she is unable to resume chemotherapy. Her kidneys are strained and her oxygen level is low. Linda is struggling. So are all of us who are close to her.

Years ago I preached a message from Ephesians 1:3 entitled Looking for Blessings in All the Wrong Places, which was, of course, a play on the title of a country song, Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places. Are you familiar with Ephesians 1:3? I know you will be blessed:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

In the Old Testament, God promised blessings in every imaginable sphere of life for the individuals of the nation of Israel if they would love and obey Him. There were, of course, spiritual blessings, but also material blessings, physical blessings, including long life for you and blessings on your children and grandchildren, medical blessings, victory over the nation’s enemies, even psychological and emotional blessings. Of course, if the nation as a whole forsook God, all Israelites suffered.

The promise is much different in the NT for those who will follow the Lord. If you will live a godly life today, you are promised – persecution. HUH? Check it out for yourself in 2 Timothy 3:12. Philippians 1:29 tells us that believers are not only called to salvation, but to suffering.

Now, granted, physical ailments, such as the ones that trouble Linda, are not included in the suffering caused by the persecution of the two passages just quoted, but there is ample biblical evidence that believers are sometimes called to suffer deprivation, pain, suffering, and even death just as unbelievers do. Jesus was quite clear when He said that God makes the sun to rise and the rain to fall on the just(ified) and the unjust(ified) alike. (Matthew 5:45)

So, are we getting shortchanged by being promised only the spiritual blessings of Ephesians 1:3? I suppose one’s answer would depend on his or her understanding and appreciation of those very spiritual blessings that are promised. I am certain that someone in the world whose loved one was dragged off to prison (North Korea) or hacked to death (Sudan) yesterday is grateful for the spiritual blessing of eternal life. How ludicrous does the “health and wealth” gospel sound in a country where the name of Jesus on one’s lips is a death sentence?

Well, I must qualify. I really, really, REALLY want God to heal Linda. We all do! Well, what I really want is for the Lord to return tomorrow! We will continue to passionately pray that He will heal her. We will also appreciate God’s spiritual blessings of eternal life, purpose, peace, His presence (and on and on we could go) more and more.

This has been a difficult week for Linda. This has also been a blessed week for Linda, because she is a child of God, a joint-heir with Jesus Christ. Linda has urged me to submit a post with nothing but various Scripture passages that have ministered to her. I will close this post with a passage that has been particularly meaningful to her. It is Paul’s prayer for the Colossians in the first chapter of that book, verses 9-14. Notice the amount of time Paul spends praying for their spiritual health as opposed to their physical health. Perhaps our prayer lives should be more in line with Paul’s! May his prayer minister to your heart:

“And so, from the day we heard (about your salvation – my note), we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”