So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” [2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (ESV)]
But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world… [C.S. Lewis]
During that dark time about which I recently wrote, I was in intense pain and it seemed like God had turned His back on me. When I confided to a friend that God seemed deaf to my pleas, she asked the simple question, “Have you turned it over to the Lord?” I assured her I had but, as the day wore on, I wondered if that were true.
In my prayers for relief, I was telling God the outcome I desired, but that really isn’t “turning it over” to Him. If any human had a direct line to God’s heavenly office, it would have been the Apostle Paul and yet God didn’t relieve him of whatever his thorn was! Instead of demanding the result I wanted, I had to place myself in God’s loving hands as did Paul and pray for God’s grace and the power to accept what He’d placed in my lap.
Each morning, I prayed for grace enough for the day—for the strength, endurance, peace, patience, courage, and joy needed to get through the next twenty-four hours. I asked God to reassure me of His lovingkindness and to protect me from the doubt, fear, and negativity Satan was whispering in my ears. The hardest thing, however, was to hand the outcome of my upcoming surgery into His loving hands. I had to trust in His plan and presence regardless of its outcome. The physical pain remained but, with the power of the Spirit, I dealt with it.
I don’t think God decides our fate with a toss of the dice and, while a quick view of my MRI told me the why of my present physical pain, I asked God to help me understand its purpose. Paul knew his thorn was to keep him from being conceited; what was my pain telling me? In The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis points out how easy it is to ignore God when all is well. “We will not seek it [our happiness] in Him as long as He leaves us any other resort where it can even plausibly be looked for. While what we call ‘our own life’ remains agreeable we will not surrender it to Him.” Admittedly, I’d been in a state of “meh” and become self-sufficient rather than God-dependent and lax in my spiritual disciplines. Like the Apostle Paul, perhaps I’d become too sure of myself; the intense pain reminded me of my need for God!
As C.S. Lewis wisely pointed out, an intellectual understanding of pain is far easier than the fortitude, courage, and patience needed to endure it. It’s far easier to talk the talk than walk the walk! Nevertheless, endure it we must and through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can!
By the time this devotion is published, I will have had the surgery that, God willing, will relieve my pain. While I don’t know what my future holds, I do know who holds it in His loving hands and I trust that He will supply me with all I need to face whatever it may be.
When I first started reading the psalms, I suspected David might have been bi-polar—his highs seemed so high and his lows so very low; now I understand that he was just being truthful. In his psalms, David unabashedly expressed his deepest feelings to God. Pouring out his soul, he openly shared his emotions—whether anger, disappointment, sorrow, regret, shame, joy, love, fear, doubt, or even his desire for vengeance upon his enemies. No matter how troubled he was, David never was afraid to speak from his heart. I’m not sure we are willing to be as vulnerable and straightforward in our prayers as was David.
In Psalm 23, the King James version translates the original Hebrew “gay tsalmaveth” as “valley of the shadow of death.” A more accurate translation, however, would be a dark valley or a valley of death-like darkness. While people often associate this psalm with death, it uses the metaphor of sheep and their shepherd and sheep have no concept of death. But, because of their near-sightedness and poor depth perception, they are reluctant to move into dark places. Nevertheless, whether referring to the unknown, danger, or even death, David’s words are ones of comfort and hope to all who read them—we are not alone as we travel through the dark valleys of life.
Today’s verses are from the Tree of Life Version (TLV) that was produced by a diverse team of Christian and Messianic Jewish scholars. With the possible exception of the book of Job, all the Bible’s writers were Jews and Jesus was a Hebrew-speaking Jewish rabbi. No matter how good the translation, there are times English doesn’t capture the fullness of the original words used and this translation embraces the rich Hebrew roots of Christianity. To help the reader better understand the intent of the original manuscripts, some original Hebrew names, like Adonai (Lord) and Elohim (God), Ruach ha-Kodesh (Holy Spirit), and Messiah Yeshua (Jesus Christ) were used and some Hebrew terms, like shalom, amen, hineni, matzah, and mikveh (ritual bath), were restored. Fortunately, this translation offers a glossary for its Gentile readers.
When considering Solomon’s excess and riches, I recalled comedian George Carlin’s “Stuff” routine. First performed for Comic Relief in 1986, Carlin made fun of our obsession with having stuff. Along with being the King of Israel, Solomon was the King of Stuff. Denying himself nothing, along with his elaborate throne of gold and ivory, he displayed 500 ornamental gold shields on the walls of his palace. Rather than silver, all the king’s goblets and eating utensils were made of pure gold. He had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horseman.
Devotions of the Heart 