|
TEMPORARY FIXES
#2
PRAYING FOR AN "A"
In their book, Letters to God, compilers Eric Marshall
and Stuart Hample include one from a young girl named Sarah, who writes:
"Dear God, are boys better than girls? I know You are one, but try
to be fair." Now, that brings up some Tuesday theology I really don't
want to get into, so let me share one a bit closer to the point of our
Bible discussion this week. This one comes from a young man:
"Dear God. I wrote you before. Do you remember?
I did what I promised but You didn't send me a horse yet. What about it?
Louis."
Well, we smile, but friend, how often have you and
I wondered about the times God didn't send OUR pony either? A dear friend
of our media ministries on this campus, Sandy Wyman Richert, went through
the most agonizing experience a mother can know. Her little boy, Trevor,
was terminally ill with cancer. And there must have been hundreds, thousands,
of people around the globe praying for this wonderful boy. But the disease
had its way, and he was finally laid to rest. Many of you have heard her
sing right here on The Voice of Prophecy, so you know her testimony.
Yesterday we discussed the plain reality that here in this world, people
do die. And even when there are miracles, when young people almost magically
lose their tumors, or when a bleeding disorder suddenly and mysteriously
clears up after a prayer session, we continue to live in this sin-stained
world. Cancers may leave, and then they may return. And more than one
faithful Christian has heard those words from the doctor: "The tests
show that it's back."
I mentioned Oliver Sacks yesterday, and the painfully temporary miracle
of "awakening" that some of his patients experienced with the
drug L-Dopa. More recently, the film story has been told of a young man
who miraculously got his sight back due to an experimental kind of eye
surgery. As a small boy, maybe three years old, he had completely lost
his vision. He had just this vague, happy, infant memory of something
soft and fluffy, like a cloud. As he miraculously gets his vision back,
and walks the streets of New York City, and reads books, and goes to New
York Rangers hockey games, he suddenly remembers that it was cotton candy
he'd seen as a tiny little boy. Cotton candy, and now the vision of a
pretty girl who says she loves him.
And then, just as in the other story, there's an abrupt fading to black.
This new thing called sight goes blank — just for a moment. A few hours
later, there's another dip, a flash of darkness. And in panic, he goes
to the eye surgeon. "What's happening? I thought I was cured."
The doctor hears the symptoms and sadly shakes his head. "I was afraid
of this." The cure is only temporary; in a few weeks, total darkness
will return.
Well, friend, you might be thinking to yourself that you're never going
to read books or rent videos with these Dr. Oliver Sacks stories in them.
Because the cure never lasts! Healings are here today, and gone tomorrow.
But let me say again: wasn't it that way even for Jesus, the greatest
Healer in history? He healed cripples, and kids threw away their crutches.
But they still lived in an accident-prone Jerusalem, where they might
still break their leg again. A woman who had a bleeding disorder for 12
years was healed by Jesus. You can read the story in Matthew 9; maybe
you remember the scene about her wanting to touch "just the hem of
His garment." And she was instantly well. But as the years went by,
I have no doubt that other maladies and problems came back. Eventually
she died. Lazarus died again. The son of the widow from Nain — he died
again. The "(quote) signs and wonders" of the great miracle
worker from Nazareth all came with limited warranties.
I think there are several things we can learn from what seems to be painful
reality in these stories. First of all, you and I are living in a world
still ruled by sin. And because of sin, there is pain. And sickness. And
suffering. And death. Non-Christians get sick; so do Christians. Bad people
die; so do good ones. As one preacher observed recently, the mortality
rate around here is still 100%.
And even while Christ was on this earth, He was subject to the RULES that
bind this planet in sin. His own relatives and friends got sick and died.
What we have to keep in mind is that sin and the chief sinner of them
all — Lucifer — aren't going to rule this planet forever. Dr. Oliver Sacks
couldn't offer people permanent healing, and while quarantined here on
earth, neither could Jesus. But friend, the Bible points us to a time
when Christ WILL be empowered to fully and completely and PERMANENTLY
provide the healing which is consistent with His nature. Here's Revelation
21:4:
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old
order of things has passed away."
In the next chapter, the final in the whole Bible,
we find this:
"On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve
crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the
tree are for the HEALING of the nations."
And of course, back in the Old Testament prophetic
book of Isaiah, borrowed so beautifully by George Handel for his oratorio,
the Messiah, we read more about healing:
"Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy."
Now friend, THOSE healings are permanent! Those new
eyes will be 20-20 for all eternity. Those crippled legs will empower
former wheelchair occupants to run three-and-a-half-minute miles . . .
and keep on running them for the next fifty millennia.
Well, you know, that is wonderful news. And it's news that I know my friend
Sandy Richert clings to every hour of every day. The Resurrection was
Trevor's hope, and it continues to be hers. But it's our task now to realize
that THIS is NOW, and that THAT is THEN. Permanent healing and eternal
life are God's guarantees for THEN.
In a way, that helps us to pray appropriate prayers. Should we pray for
healing when we're sick? Yes! By all means. The Bible teaches us to do
this. Many Christians, though, have stumbled over the scriptural passage
found in James five where it says this:
"Is any one of you in trouble? He should
pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you
sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint
him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith
will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up."
And that sounds so clear. If you're sick, bring all
the deacons and prayer warriors over, and you will, guaranteed, 100% of
the time, get well. Friend, in this world of sin and sickness, immediate
healing is simply not going to happen every time. Many, many good believers,
whose faith was abiding and strong, have had to bow down and realize that
God was going to answer this prayer IN ITS FULLNESS only when Jesus returns
and sweeps away the ground rules put in place here by Lucifer. For now,
people get sick; people die. Some get well; some don't.
There's a very challenging book making its way around our office, entitled
For Those Who Can't Believe. It's written by the well-known Rabbi Harold
M. Schulweis, a great thinker, and also the founding chairman of the Jewish
Foundation for Christian Rescuers, which honors and pays tribute to Holocaust
heroes.
He has a chapter entitled "To Whom We Pray and for What?" And
Schulweis affirms the reality of this world, of the laws which govern
it. And also the reality of sin and pain, which are part and parcel of
Satan's domain down here. So our prayers need to reflect the reality of
NOW and the hope of THEN.
Here's a bit of what he writes. See what you think:
"There are religious limits to prayer: we
may not pray for just anything we desire." Now, here's his example.
"Susie may not pray for an ‘A.'"
Now, my name's not Susie, and I confess that I have
prayed for a few "A"s in my lifetime. But he continues:
"Not getting an ‘A' does not mean God said
no, nor does getting an ‘A' mean that God said yes. To pray for an ‘A'
is outside the proper domain of AUTHENTIC prayer. What then can Susie
properly ask for? She can pray for the patience and discipline to study.
She can be taught to appreciate that knowledge, not grades, is the goal
of education, and of prayer. Susie is not too young to be taught the tradition
of RESPONSIBLE prayer."
I suppose there are times we can all remember, where
for God to give us an "A" in a certain class would have been
the height of divine irresponsibility. It would have reinforced wrong
habits; it might have given us a "something-for-nothing" mentality;
it might have steered us into wrong careers. Much better, as we sense
the reality of what education is all about, to pray instead: "Lord,
I've done my best. Now please allow my performance in this class to honor
You — and also to give me guidance into whatever field of labor You know
is where I can best serve You and Your cause."
And then someday soon, friend, we'll be in that better University where
we all have 4.0 GPAs.
|
