Encouragement
We all would naturally want to pass peacefully, with the least amount of preceding pain, but as in the case of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is not always going to be the case.
Many of God’s servants have been imprisoned, assaulted, sawed in two, stoned, crucified, tortured, fed to wild beasts, burned at the stake, burnt in oil, etc., throughout the course of Biblical history.
Here in the Church Age, such persecution has come from sources within, as well as from sources outside of the Christian Community at large.
As if the 2Tim. 3: 12 persecution were not enough, Church Age believers are NOT immune from the same forms of physical pain and suffering that is common to all human beings with whom we share the planet.
I cringe when I hear evangelists telling people that once they are born again (become Christians) that “everything” will be better.
While the issue of WHERE a born again believer will be spending eternity has been permanently settled, it does not mean that one’s life here on Earth will be like a walk in a park on a bright and comfortable day.
For example, during the recent pandemic, many who became sick and or died were Christians. Many who are hospitalized or treated every day at emergency rooms for other illnesses and injuries are Christians.
The only things that cannot touch an advancing disciple are the things that would prevent him or her from fulfilling God’s plan for his or her life.
Suffering for Christ is very much a part of the post (after) salvation spiritual life of discipleship (1).
Promoting the unadulterated Gospel Message and accurate Bible Doctrine will draw enemy fire.
The further one advances along the road to spiritual maturity, the more frequent and intense the satanic attacks (2) will be.
Satanic attacks can come in the form of “opportunities” for prosperity (3), as well as adversity (4).
If such attacks are not your ongoing experience, there is a good chance that it’s because the devil already has you where he wants you to be.
The devil is content to leave “well enough” alone. “Well enough” is in view when a born-again believer is living outside of the individual plan that God has in mind. If one spends his or her life having a weak (if any) testimony for Christ, his or her departing words (if any) will likely have the same weak impact.
In this the devil is well-pleased, and will not result in God saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant (Matt. 25: 21, 23 KJV).”
As in the case of Job of the Old Testament, and in the cases of countless Church Age believers, periods of adversity, loss, trial and tribulation has been a dominating factor in the lives of many of God’s children, and not because they had done anything wrong.
During the decade of the 1970’s, when I was 17 -27 years old, I went though a roller-coaster ride of events with many emotional ups and downs, twists and turns.
It was the first third of what would be a thirty year law enforcement career. The typical day in the life of a police officer (who is there to do the job) is not at all like the ones portrayed in the movies or television series.
In my private life, I suffered the loss of a grandfather, a grandmother, my mother, my father, and a still-born son, all within a 36 month period.
I would marry and face the joy and the challenges of marriage and the raising of three children in an ever-increasingly godless society.
At the Age of 48, the bottom of my health dropped out. My blood pressure was severely elevated. There were other heart issues. I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Shortly thereafter, I was initially diagnosed with a stage 2 cancer, that soon became stage 3, with only a 35% chance of survival.
My mother had passed away at the age of 48 with elevated blood sugar, and my father had passed away two years later at the Age of 53 with cancer.
It appeared that I was headed for a similar departure.
I can’t say that these medical issues was what awakened my spiritual life. I was raised in a Christian environment and can’t remember a time that I was not aware of the unadulterated Gospel Message, and the necessity of my individual belief in it.
The development of my post salvation spiritual life of discipleship was a steady, but gradual experience, with many wrong turns, dry patches, with twists and turns of its own, along the way.
While I would not suggest that a walk around the block on the wild side should be a prerequisite for the ministry, my own personal observations and professional experiences, both good and bad, is what motivated me to later study and to become the Christian author and ordained pastor-teacher that I am today.
Something about “having been there and having done that,” in both the good and bad experiences, is what opens doors to be listened to, and to minister to, others people that find themselves in similar situations.
What I can say is that being confronted with a relatively imminent possibility of departing this world allowed me to put my faith to the test, regardless of what the turnout was going to be.
Several individuals and groups prayed for my physical recovery. After surgeries and seven months of chemotherapy, I was able to thank the Lord for placing me on the road to recovery.
Along the way, I had not prayed for recovery, only that l would stand firm in my faith as I went through what I had to do, while I awaited the outcome that God had in mind.
From the onset of my illness, I acknowledged that God was in charge, and I was prepared for whatever outcome God had in mind.
If God’s purpose for having put me on this Earth had been accomplished, I was ready to go home. If there was more for me to do, I would survive.
Either way, it was a win-win situation for me. I won if I was called home to Heaven, and I won if I overcame my illness and remained here to serve the Lord.
I have now been cancer-free for 20+ years, but continue to battle with other debilitating health and aging issues. I wouldn’t wish intense adversity on anyone, but having successfully walked through the Psalms 23 valley of the shadow of death, I am grateful for the opportunity to have put my faith to the test.
As a result, I have the confidence to face and to deal with whatever adversity remains before the time of my appointed departure comes, as well as the process of dying and the departure itself.
End of Part 2
(1) 1Pet. 2: 20b-21 (2) Eph. 6: 16 (3) Luke 4: 6 (4) 1Pet.5: 8
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