Why? Why? Did This Happen?
Greetings, The following are personal comments that have been running through me and I shared with our staff here at CBN a few days ago.
Many people have asked me what my almost dying with cancer last year and then being restored was all about.
Part of it was God dealing with my impulsive, independent nature, my self-will, my self-strength, was literally "being killed." Here's a Scriptural verse that I think applies and was spoken to me by a friend here when I entered into this life, death struggle:
"I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked... "When you are older, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go." (John 21:18 NLT)
The others dressing me was the thousands who prayed and brought me out on the other side, "up from the grave!"
While we are on the theme of this sometimes difficult "journey" understand that... God's ways are very practical, and He teaches us by experience. That experience is sometimes very difficult but recognize that He is training us to be conformed to the image of His Son.
And God is still speaking in His Son, and He is speaking in order to get companions with His Son. We will go into the hard school and have to learn many hard lessons, but in learning them we will come to understand how great is our inheritance in the Lord Jesus!" (Gleaning from T.Austin Sparks)
In this journey you may often feel inadequate in being useful to God...but remember this: Moses' said "I am not eloquent" (Exodus 4:10), and Jeremiah complained "I am a child" (Jeremiah 1:6), and Paul' the Apostle said “that we should not trust in ourselves" (2 Corinthians 1:9).
As this applies from the personal to big picture stuff. This election was a real wrestling match for me, and I can’t say I was overjoyed with our choices and the outcome, but here is a comment from Peggy Noonan - in The Wall Street Journal that really helped me:
"God is in charge of history. He asks us to work, to try to pour ourselves out to make things better. But He is an actor in history also. He chastises and rescues, (see the above) He intervenes in ways seen and unseen. Or chooses not to.
2016 looks to me like a chastisement. He's trying to get our attention. We have candidates we can't be proud of. We must choose among the embarrassments. What might we be doing as a nation and a people that would have earned this moment?" (Peggy Noonan)
So no matter what you think of the outcome, be encouraged and pray for our nation, it’s leaders, our churches and our families and we all press on together!