I failed the test!

Since last week, my physical frame has been plagued with severe pain. First it was a shoulder, now a hip. I'm not talking mild discomfort. I'm talking 'take your breath away, make you yell' stabbing pain. The shoulder's pain escalated over two days to the point of becoming immobile, then subsided about as quickly. The hip's pain seems to be on the wane. My response to this week of pain was not one of grace or simple faith! I became short-tempered and had a heart full of complaint. Yes, I failed the test of suffering in patient quietness! As I talked over my responses with the Lord, confessing my failure to accept His grace for this trial, He gently reminded me that many people suffer much worse pain and for extended periods of time. I could sense the Spirit saying, "Are you gentle with them? Do you empathize, encourage, and help them carry the burden? Do you offer them grace and faith, or do you just 'instruct' them?" Being human, I quickly told the Lord I would do better.... and that I didn't need a retest!

Suffering should help us to understand our frailty and make us dependent on our God so that His glory and strengthen can shine through our weakness. But, does it? Too often, no. Many are like me, assuming a right to feeling well, to having a pill at hand to take away pain, to finding a solution now for the things that are difficult. But sometimes the Lord has a purpose for leading us into temptation! (Read that word 'temptation' not as a time of seduction to sin, but rather as a time of testing for the purpose revealing weakness and strengthening faith.)

In the 14th chapter of the Exodus, we learn that shortly after the Israeli people left their Egyptian slavery, delivered by the mighty hand of God, something that defied all logic, happened. Take a look. "Then the Lord gave these instructions to Moses: "Order the Israelites to turn back and camp by Pi-hahiroth between Migdol and the sea. Camp there along the shore, across from Baal-zephon." (Exodus 14:1-2, NLT) God turned them around, led them back toward Egypt and to a place where their ability to get away was blocked by a body of water! Why? Because the Lord wanted to draw the Pharaoh and his armies into one more decisive conflict. He wanted Pharaoh to think that they were confused and ready to be retaken! "I have planned this in order to display my glory through Pharaoh and his whole army. After this the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord!" So the Israelites camped there as they were told." (Exodus 14:4, NLT)

Pharaoh took the bait and soon the Israelis saw the approaching army. Did they remember that God was with them? Did they quietly wait for the next instructions? No. They failed the test! "They panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, and they said to Moses, "Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’ " (Exodus 14:10-12, NLT)

Moses' did not fail the test! "Moses spoke to the people: "Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and watch God do his work of salvation for you today. Take a good look at the Egyptians today for you’re never going to see them again. God will fight the battle for you. And you? You keep your mouths shut!" (Exodus 14:13-14, The Message) And we know the rest of that story, the great crossing of the sea when God parted the waters.

A pastor from Kenya and I were talking about faith and prayer. "Jerry, I find that American Christians don't depend enough on the Lord," Patrick said. He went on to explain that in Africa, because they are not so wealthy, because they do not have so many medical resources, the Christians are much more prone to trust God, to fast and to seek Him in times of trial! How unlike us. Usually pain doesn't make us reflective and faithful - it tends to make us loud in complaint and angry with God! Dear friend, let's renew our commitment to Him, trusting Him with the pain as quickly as we praise Him for the blessings. Let's rediscover the God-honoring life that emerges when we dethrone Self and enthrone Christ as Lord of all, and let Him lead us even where we would not naturally choose to go.

Here's a word from the Word to ponder today. Paul wrote it as he reflected on his own prayer for relief from something that caused him distress.
"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:8-10, NIV)

Thanks for praying for the Lord to heal my body.
But I'd appreciate your prayers even more that my faith would be made strong so that I won't flunk the test next time!
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