It is well…
Filed in NHL | Comments (2)Yesterday I had the drain tube removed from the biopsy surgery. An interesting conversation with the surgeon took place. He offered his regrets over finding that I do have non-Hodgkins lymphoma. I was able to share with him my faith and of my readiness to embrace whatever the Lord had for my future. In our conversation the doc also shared some interesting things. He spoke of his dad who had had to deal with cancer of the esophagus some years ago. (His dad was healed and is doing well.) The dad was a Baptist deacon.
He added how his dad had said very much the same as I shared about our belonging to the Lord whether we live or died. Then he added that believers have a much higher rate of healing than do others. I certainly agree. Believers are attuned to the greatest healer of all eternity.
That ties into something else I want to share. In my email to our church family, entitled, ‘It is well with my soul,’, I gave an update on my journey of faith. I chose the title ‘It is well with my soul,’ as the best way to share my feelings. Interestingly enough this brings me to my devotion this morning. My morning devotion found me in a faith story that I loved to preach as a young evangelist. The story is about the Shunammite women of whom Elisha had promised a son. (You can read the entire story in 2 Kings 4:8-37.) This story is so filled with insight into God’s world of faith.
The woman’s son had died and she was distraught. Here is what captured my attention. Elisha saw her coming from a distance, and sent his servant to see if things were alright with her. Gehazi asked her; “Is it well with you? It is well. Is it well with your husband? It is well. Is it well with the child? It is well. Until she came to the man of God, her message concerning anyone else was simply, It is well.
The Shunammite women’s story of faith has always intrigued me. Her expressions of faith are very much the same as my own. I’ve learned long years ago to not look to others for answers but to simply go to the Lord with whatever the case may be. And as long as everything is alright with me and the Lord, then all is well.
The trial we are walking through is not something that is new to us. When Betty and I stood at the casket of our second son, it was the greatest trial of our life. Our hearts broke in a million pieces. Yet I will never forget what my mom said. Mama said that as she observed how Betty and I never got angry with God, and how our faith in Him never wavered, this let her know that our faith was a living faith. My mama came to know this living faith for herself. But Betty and I both knew that we would see David again. A living faith is a living reality.
I hope no one will ever think that I am bragging on my faith. My only boast is in a living Savior who has walked with me from the very moment that He brought me into His kingdom. This is why I truly sorrow for people who do not know the Lord in a personal way. The journey of faith begins when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, but it extends through every moment of every day and up to our final presentation in heaven.
I want to end this entry by sharing a dream the Lord gave me long ago. I believe it speaks to all believers. It is about our testimony in life. The dream showed me how we are so often unaware of how our walk with the Lord affects those around us.
Here is the dream — I was walking across a large open field of dead grass. When I looked back I saw a group of people staring at the ground and then pointing to me. I was puzzled; What are they looking at? When I looked closer at where I had walked, I noticed that green grass had sprung up in every foot step I had made.
The Lord has often instructed me through dreams and visions. And as much as I would like to think that my every step has produced green grass, I also know that not all my footsteps have been the best. But even in times of my straying, the Lord has always brought me back on course. All I can do is thank the Lord for His marvelous grace and that in the new covenant, He remembers our sins no more.
Perhaps the point to be made is that believers are called to be life givers. We should bring life with us wherever we go. And the life we have to give is the life of Jesus. And our walk with Jesus does influence others far more than we realize.
Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” Living water is the life of Jesus. It is the water that brings life to others.
I often ask the Lord to forgive me for those times when my words have not been words of life, and for the times that my footsteps spoke of anything other than green grass.
Just something to think about. Can you say with the Shunammite, ‘It is well.
Love and blessings,
Buddy
