July 25, 2012
Faith.
"You are made well because you believed." (Mark 5:34)
"Don't be afraid; just believe." (Mark 5:36)
Jesus healed the woman with the blood disease and raised the young girl who had died.
Faith is tricky. There is a difference between having faith and the refusal to accept truth. Can God do ALL things? Absolutely. Will God always heal someone who is sick and dying? No. Death is a reality of life and there is no getting around it. We will ALL someday die unless we are alive at His second coming. No one lives forever. Psalm 139:16 says - "All the days planned for me were written in your book before I was one day old."
Is it wrong to pray, have faith, and seek healing? Absolutely not. Is it misguided to feel as if God has let us down, or we didn't have enough faith if a prayer for a loved one was not answered the way we wanted? Yes. The key word is "we." What "we" should want is God's will and not our own. The prayers we are praying in faith should always be to seek HIS will. As Christians, if we truly believe there is a heaven and that is our destination, then how can we fear death and why do some people refuse to accept the reality of it? When it is our time to die it should not be feared, it should be embraced. Do we want to leave our loved ones? Of course not. Do we want to enjoy our families and this earth as long as we can? Of course. But the bottom line is: This earth is not our home!! We are only passing through. Don't delay. Don't put it off. DO TODAY what you need to do to receive God's free gift of Salvation.
My brother-in-law's (my husband's brother) CML is progressing rapidly. He is out of options. Except for a miracle from God, there is little to no hope and there hasn't been for a very long time. Everything we have done is to give him as much quality time as possible. I am very grateful for the ten months we've been able to help give him. Unfortunately, that time is probably soon coming to an end.
The kindest and best thing we can do for my husband's brother is to pray for a fast and peaceful passing. We need to be making some decisions. When do we tell my husband's Mom and Dad? How much do we tell them? When do we broach the subject of Hospice? He is starting to use quite a bit of morphine. His legs especially are causing him a lot of discomfort. We are soon going to have to make decisions about his driving. We've already begun to talk to him about it. There is just so much he doesn't understand.
Oh LORD, please help him. LORD, I pray that his passing from this earth to your arms will be as peaceful and painless as possible. Guard his heart and mind. Protect his emotions. Give him the strength he needs to make it through these days, weeks, or months ahead. Give us wisdom on how to do what is best for him and his wife, and for my husband's Mom and Dad. May he feel your loving arms awaiting him. LORD, may my mother-in-law—for the very first time—release her fear of death, and LORD, may my father-in-law release his need for being in control. May they both surrender their son to you. LORD, may my sister-in-law trust you for her strength. Thank you, Father for giving us this time to serve my husband's brother to the best of our abilities. May you receive the Honor, the Glory, the Power, and the Praise forever. Amen.
And to think—we are thanking Jesus for the opportunity to serve when we (my husband and I) always swore we would NOT be left to pick up the pieces from what his parents created when they buried their heads in the sand and never got their younger son the help he needed.
Wow! What a change—in US!
Addendum: 1/10/16 ~ I am so glad I started keeping a journal. This entry brought everything flooding back. My husband's brother passed away less than six months after this journal entry. My heart is praising God today, for He absolutely answered our prayers. My husband's brother passed very peacefully and quickly. There was no pain or discomfort. There was no anxiety.
Thank you, LORD. As I read this entry, I realized how completely you heard and answered our prayers. We are so grateful Lord, we are so grateful.
My husband and I poured our hearts and souls into taking care of his brother and trying to do the best for him. There was SO much water under the bridge. He had caused my husband SO many problems during his life. My husband's brother was a product of his parents refusal to accept that he was "different" and trying to push everything under the rug. He paid for it—and my husband paid for it.
And we, who always swore we would NOT be trying to pick up his parents pieces for the rest of our lives, jumped in with both feet and did all we could to help him. What a change—in us. We are so grateful that we could serve him and help him through the last years of his life.
Thank you, LORD, for changing US. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve HIM, and YOU.
Next Entry: Mark 6:1 – 7:23
Faith.
"You are made well because you believed." (Mark 5:34)
"Don't be afraid; just believe." (Mark 5:36)
Jesus healed the woman with the blood disease and raised the young girl who had died.
Faith is tricky. There is a difference between having faith and the refusal to accept truth. Can God do ALL things? Absolutely. Will God always heal someone who is sick and dying? No. Death is a reality of life and there is no getting around it. We will ALL someday die unless we are alive at His second coming. No one lives forever. Psalm 139:16 says - "All the days planned for me were written in your book before I was one day old."
Is it wrong to pray, have faith, and seek healing? Absolutely not. Is it misguided to feel as if God has let us down, or we didn't have enough faith if a prayer for a loved one was not answered the way we wanted? Yes. The key word is "we." What "we" should want is God's will and not our own. The prayers we are praying in faith should always be to seek HIS will. As Christians, if we truly believe there is a heaven and that is our destination, then how can we fear death and why do some people refuse to accept the reality of it? When it is our time to die it should not be feared, it should be embraced. Do we want to leave our loved ones? Of course not. Do we want to enjoy our families and this earth as long as we can? Of course. But the bottom line is: This earth is not our home!! We are only passing through. Don't delay. Don't put it off. DO TODAY what you need to do to receive God's free gift of Salvation.
My brother-in-law's (my husband's brother) CML is progressing rapidly. He is out of options. Except for a miracle from God, there is little to no hope and there hasn't been for a very long time. Everything we have done is to give him as much quality time as possible. I am very grateful for the ten months we've been able to help give him. Unfortunately, that time is probably soon coming to an end.
The kindest and best thing we can do for my husband's brother is to pray for a fast and peaceful passing. We need to be making some decisions. When do we tell my husband's Mom and Dad? How much do we tell them? When do we broach the subject of Hospice? He is starting to use quite a bit of morphine. His legs especially are causing him a lot of discomfort. We are soon going to have to make decisions about his driving. We've already begun to talk to him about it. There is just so much he doesn't understand.
Oh LORD, please help him. LORD, I pray that his passing from this earth to your arms will be as peaceful and painless as possible. Guard his heart and mind. Protect his emotions. Give him the strength he needs to make it through these days, weeks, or months ahead. Give us wisdom on how to do what is best for him and his wife, and for my husband's Mom and Dad. May he feel your loving arms awaiting him. LORD, may my mother-in-law—for the very first time—release her fear of death, and LORD, may my father-in-law release his need for being in control. May they both surrender their son to you. LORD, may my sister-in-law trust you for her strength. Thank you, Father for giving us this time to serve my husband's brother to the best of our abilities. May you receive the Honor, the Glory, the Power, and the Praise forever. Amen.
And to think—we are thanking Jesus for the opportunity to serve when we (my husband and I) always swore we would NOT be left to pick up the pieces from what his parents created when they buried their heads in the sand and never got their younger son the help he needed.
Wow! What a change—in US!
Addendum: 1/10/16 ~ I am so glad I started keeping a journal. This entry brought everything flooding back. My husband's brother passed away less than six months after this journal entry. My heart is praising God today, for He absolutely answered our prayers. My husband's brother passed very peacefully and quickly. There was no pain or discomfort. There was no anxiety.
Thank you, LORD. As I read this entry, I realized how completely you heard and answered our prayers. We are so grateful Lord, we are so grateful.
My husband and I poured our hearts and souls into taking care of his brother and trying to do the best for him. There was SO much water under the bridge. He had caused my husband SO many problems during his life. My husband's brother was a product of his parents refusal to accept that he was "different" and trying to push everything under the rug. He paid for it—and my husband paid for it.
And we, who always swore we would NOT be trying to pick up his parents pieces for the rest of our lives, jumped in with both feet and did all we could to help him. What a change—in us. We are so grateful that we could serve him and help him through the last years of his life.
Thank you, LORD, for changing US. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve HIM, and YOU.
Next Entry: Mark 6:1 – 7:23
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