Update:
Karen and I attended a lovely outdoor wedding on Saturday. Set next to babbling creek, the trees just
beginning to bud, Nekoda and Tessa were married. Nekoda is a close family friend (he lived
with us for a while) and I am so happy to see Nekoda and Tessa together in
marriage.
The biggest challenge for me was to walk down the dirt trail to the
wedding site. It takes a whole lot more
muscle control to walk on uneven terrain and I haven’t done a lot of it yet. It wasn’t that far of a walk; but longer than
I had ever done so far on uneven terrain.
It really was fairly flat and level; but there was enough variation that
it was a challenge to me. Karen and I
walked arm and arm taking a break half way there and I made it. Boy do I have a long ways to go before I am
ready to walk in the woods!
On Sunday after church, the entire family (minus Ruth & Cody in
Chicago), gathered a week late to celebrate Mother’s Day with us. I love my kids and am so proud of each of
them. It is such a blessing to spend
time with them. I know their mother
enjoyed their company too.
I decided to have fish instead of a burger for lunch at the
restaurant. However, the fish took
exception to my choice. Sunday afternoon
and all day Monday it was MY head and stomach that was swimming; not the fish’s. About 8 p.m. on Monday, I finally started
feeling normal again (I know what some of you are thinking. I meant “normal” for me, okay?). It is good to feel good again. Haven’t eaten too much in the last 24 hours—I
wasn’t even hungry—so my wife knew I wasn’t feeling well.
I didn’t try to write an Update/Thought yesterday (for Monday). I wasn’t up to using that kind of brain
power. It rained all day on Monday so I
was stuck inside. It is supposed to
clear up later this week and if we have some pleasant weather, I hope to go for
a motorcycle ride sometime. Although
Monday is my official day off; I was able to do some preliminary work on
Sunday’s message, so that I can steal some work time later this week for that
ride.
As my leg continues to shrink over time, it changes the way my
prosthesis fits. I am having some pain
where a nerve passes over a bone on the side of my leg near the calf
muscle. Sunday morning I was
uncomfortable from the moment I put my leg on.
I took my prosthesis on and off several times throughout the morning trying
to adjust the fit and adding socks—but nothing really helped. By early Sunday afternoon, I had sharp,
needle-like pain around that nerve and had to keep the leg off the rest of the
day. I have an appointment on Tuesday
and hope that we can make some beneficial changes to keep that from occurring
again. Between not feeling well and
concern over the pain returning, I decided to just stay in the wheelchair all
day on Monday and not put my prosthetic leg on at all.
Tuesday morning I hope to feel well enough to have a decent breakfast
and then be pain free in the leg so I can go about my day. We’ll see what happens and I’ll make the best
of whatever cards I’m dealt.
Thought for the Day:
An old Hasidic (a branch of Orthodox Judaism) prayer says, “God, do not
tell me why I suffer, for I am no doubt unworthy to know why, but help me to
believe that I suffer for Your sake.”
Phillip Brooks wrote, “Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your
powers. Pray for powers equal to your
tasks.”
1 Peter 5:10-11 “And
the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in
Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore
you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
“Grace means that whatever we receive, we don’t deserve, earn, or
merit. God’s grace flows freely from His
loving heart because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross” [Warren Wiersbe,
Looking Up When Life Gets You Down].
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “But He
(God) 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.”
I’ve talked before about how the greatest purpose in life is not our own
happiness; rather it is to bring glory and honor to God. That changes the face of suffering in our
lives. While we Christians should not
seek to bring suffering upon themselves, when it comes we don’t have to run
from it or to try every means to escape it.
Suffering isn’t a sign that we’ve done something wrong or somehow
displeased God. Suffering is a
by-product of the sinful world in which we live. We can’t escape it. Every life will be touched by it at one time
or another.
We shouldn’t even seek to merely endure suffering. Instead we are called to use suffering for a
positive result—bringing Glory to God.
How do we do that?
For a certain amount of suffering we, in our own power and by inner
strength and fierce determination, can stand up under its weight. People may look to us in admiration, thinking
that we are “so strong and so brave.”
But when suffering reaches a critical point, there becomes no human
means to stand up under it; even the strongest person will crumble under its
load. When we reach that humanly
impossible level of suffering, it causes us to cry out to God. We reach the end of our rope and find our
grip slipping, so we call out to God begging for His assistance. And God supplies grace. His strength.
His power. His ability. We reach a point when we are unable; but
nothing is impossible for God.
In those situations, we most clearly bring glory and honor to God because
everyone around us recognizes that what we are doing is beyond human
strength. They may not at first
recognize the hand of God—they only know that what we are doing seems humanly
impossible. “I cannot imagine anyone
going through what he is going through.”
“I could never handle that much.”
What these people are unknowingly saying is that God is at work in that
person’s life. And when push comes to
shove, they’ll need God’s power in their own life to make it through as well.
We won’t be able to escape all suffering.
We should do more than just endure suffering. We are called to use suffering for a greater
good. That happens when we have a change
of attitude about suffering and choose to seek, above all else, to honor and
glorify God through our circumstances.
That comes about when we reach the end of our own strength and reach out
to God entreating Him for His grace.
Some people have said that I am an inspiration with how I am handling my
amputation. If you look closely at me
you’ll realize that it’s not me who is inspiring; but the God whom I trust and
rely upon who is inspiring. He is my
strength. He is my encourager. He lifts me up. He does it all. All I am doing is hanging on to Him. I seek His presence and cling to Him as my
source (and I don’t even do that particularly well). Whatever I am doing—anyone
else can do. It is not that I am special
and have some hidden reserve that most other puny mortals lack. No! I
am weak; but I tap into His inexhaustible power source, and so can you!
I encourage you to talk to God.
Admit your weaknesses and failings.
Come to grips with the fact that your personal strength is insufficient
for the task and ask God to supply your needs.
None of us deserve for Him to do so, and we could never earn His
favor. That is why it is called
grace. His grace is abundantly sufficient. His grace alone is enough. His grace brings His glory.
Don’t let suffering bring the worst out in you. Don’t even be satisfied with suffering merely
bringing out the best in you. Allow
suffering to bring out God’s grace in you for His glory and honor.
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