The Seeker's Daily Devotion

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The Seeker's Daily Devotion

Where is God?

August 13, 2012

Today's Scripture

Luke 17:20-21 (NKJV)

20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He  answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For
indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."

A widower friend and I were discussing the challenges of  maintaining faith in the
face of chronic illness. Let's call my friend John. John  said that his wife was
diagnosed with lupus when she was 24  years old. She had just given birth to their only child. The disease progressed rapidly. She and her parents were evangelical  and believed  that God would restore her health. John was not a committed Christian, but he loved his wife and wanted to save her life. Frantically, they began to attend Christian healing crusades all over North America. She often had to be carried up to the stage or had to come to the service in a wheelchair. While others all around her would seemingly be healed, she always left the way she came. Twenty- four years after her transition, John is still grieving and confused.

Where is God? Some of you are living with a life-threatening illness. This condition may have caused you to question God's plan for your life. You are stressed wondering what would happen to your family in your absence.  You pray, but the diagnosis remains.

Here's great news! The focus scripture today tells us that  God is already within you.  You don't have to travel the world looking for a spiritual leader who can  take away the suffering. The only thing  that is required is your own faith. In
Matthew 9:20-22, the scripture reads: Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."  Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed at that moment.

What I know for sure is that God is a faithful healer. Our healing is custom-designed just for us, we can not pick up a one size fits all  healing off the rack. The thing that we must accept is that God heals us in many ways. We want a healing event like we see on television, where people go to a crusade in wheelchairs and leave running down the aisles.  But we must trust that God loves us and that the nature of our  healing is totally in His/Her hands.That's the hard part. Whether it comes through the gifts of a great surgeon, a  non-malignant diagnosis of a lump, an unexpected extension of our lives, information that we unexpectedly receive about a new treatment, or through our own transition; it's all orchestrated by a loving God.  It's how we live our lives, when enduring health issues, that glorifies God.

Prayer

Dear God, help us exercise our faith when we are at our weakest. Send us angels
to support and comfort us. Remind us that the Kingdom of God is within us, and that we merely need to reach out and touch His garment.

Shalom,

Pastor Addie