His Grace is Enough

 A near and dear friend, one of my spiritual mentors, is hurting deeply at the moment.  I saw him yesterday and the first words out of his mouth were," my world is rocked."  When a man of deep, strong, consistent faith shares that opening line with you, hang on, 'cause the enemy is at work.

It turns out that an estranged sister, one who eats right, exercises, never drinks or smokes, goes to church, prays daily, volunteers at the hospital, has been a foster parent for 23 years or so, has cancer in her colon, liver and lung.  As a doctor, I know the gravity of this diagnosis.  As a human, I feel his pain.  As a Christian, I believe in miracles.

So many good people get struck down too early in life and leave us asking the unanswerable question, "Why?"  I've heard many explanations as well as funeral sermons helping to shed light on this painful reality.  And, honestly, there are no good ones.

I believe that, ultimately, God has a plan for each of us.  He knows who we are going to touch, how we are going to impact others and when we've done enough.  He will call us home to be with him in Heaven when we have completed his plan, not ours. 

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.  2Cor 12:9

I tend to look at sickness, disease and illness as blessings, or opportunities for miracles.  I have seen so many of them in my life that I know God is in the healing and miracle producing business.  So for my friends sister, I can see her being healed. Beyond that, I see opportunities for the power of the Holy Spirit to be made manifest in people's lives.  How many estranged families are brought back together because of a crisis or illness?  How many lonely people are comforted by friends and family during illnesses?  Don't you find it amazing how families reunite during a crisis?

There are so many pieces to this puzzle of life.  We may think that the border is the best place to start because we can comprehend and understand how two pieces can make a right angle.  All the while Christ sees the whole picture and is putting all sorts of pieces together here and there, creating the miracle we call life.

I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to comfort, provide, heal and lead.  I also believe Jesus in that sometimes we have to be made weak so that he can be strong.  Weakness can be seen as a gift, just as an illness, disease or sickness, to provide an open environment for a miracle.  It is during times of weakness that our hearts are most open to Christ, we are most receptive to the gift of the Holy Spirit and we see miracles.

My challenge is to live, daily, with weakness, so that the strength of the Holy Spirit might be made manifest in my life.  I hope to live in such a manner that it doesn't require an illness or disease or disaster to open my heart and mind to Christ.  I pray that my ego might die daily, that I might surrender control of my life to Christ, that in my weakness his power might prevail.

I pray for my friend, Mike, today, that the Holy Spirit would comfort him and his family in this time of concern and despair, that his heart might be touched and mind be opened to all the possibilities Christ might have available for him and his family. And lastly, I pray that the glorious healing power of the creator of the universe might touch the life of one of his faithful servants and make manifest the Glory of God through a miracle healing.  I pray that, too, God's blessing would be upon this family now, and forever more, so that they might have peace.

His grace is enough...