Prayer Request and some thoughts


Please pray for my pastor, who is suffering from Bells Palsy which has paralyzed one side of his face

I ask all of you, my readers, to please keep my pastor, Russ, in your prayers. He has a condition called Bell's Palsy, which has paralyzed half of his face. It is a temporary condition which he has had before (over 10 years ago, after a car accident), but he doesn't know how long it will last. Thankfully, he is still able to preach, but it is much more difficult for him - kind of like after someone has a stroke and they have more difficulty speaking.

As is normal in our suffering, God has shown Himself to be strong in our weakness. Russ preached an excellent sermon on Sunday, and one that also illustrated God's providence better than anything he could have said. Russ had chosen on Monday to preach on the crosses that each of us bear, and the texts and hymns corresponded to that, announcing to the congregation that God is strong when we are weak - "my grace is sufficient for you." The episode with Bell's Palsy started on Thursday, meaning that the sermon Russ had written and chosen to preach, was ultimately one that he needed to hear as well. In addition, to hear my pastor encourage me that God's strength is sufficient for me while he was preaching with half of his face paralyzed served to drive home the point in a profound way.

This illuminates the Theology of the Cross (this is one of the most encouraging and deep pieces of Lutheran theology that I would love to explore further in future posts - sorry this will only serve as a thumbnail sketch). The Theology of the Cross says that it is often in our times of difficulty that God does the most work of sanctifying us and bringing us close to Him. For instance, the one time that I was most thankful for my wife was not the joyous occasion of our wedding, but rather when I had my wisdom teeth out and I was a big baby in a ton of pain and scared. Our relationship with God is the same way. When things are going well in our lives we are often apt to forget that God provides everything for us; but when we fall on hard times, we have no recourse but to call to Him in prayer and beg for His providence.

The other thing that ties in with the Theology of the Cross is that God is hidden from us. God's ways are higher than our ways and we often do not understand them - but we know that we have a good God who has promised to work all things to our good. As I mentioned above, Russ' sermon had a much more powerful impact on those people, myself included, to whom he has been called to shepherd. There was ultimately good news for Russ as well, as he had a chance to receive love and prayers and encouragement from the congregation in a way that sadly we just don't do on a normal basis. So something that I'm sure was a great trial for Russ, filled with fear and uncertainty, ultimately became a blessing to both Russ and the congregation.

So why does God allow difficult times in our lives? Because our sanctification is more important than our comfort. In times of trouble our trust is placed where it belongs - on God and His providence. Praise God that He is worthy of our trust.

Note, however, that I began this post by asking for your prayers for Russ. Although trials bring us closer to God, we by no means seek them out and we need not hope they endure. God does not expect us to meet all trials cheerfully, but rather to call out to Him in our sorrow and trust His providence even when we do not understand it. This is no doubt an experience Russ would rather not endure, and we should pray that God would encourage and strengthen him and that it would not last any longer than necessary.

Posted: Mon - January 10, 2005 at 12:35 PM | | | | | | |

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