“The pain I feel now is the happiness I had before. That’s the deal.”
― C.S. Lewis
Even a brief time
in this world confirms these words. Experiencing a great love and
loving greatly is to also risk great pain. To experience a great joy is
to risk a great loss.
Jesus and those he
loved lived this great risk. Meet Lazarus, Maria and Marta the beloved
friends of Jesus. See how they handled the risk and grief of their
great love and joy.
Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It
was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His
feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore the
sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
When Jesus
heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory
of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. John 11: 1-6
We learn from Jesus
and His beloved friends that in the presence of sickness we must stay
still, wait and know we have been loved and are still loved. We must
know that the Will of the Father, the Word of the Son and Wind of the
Spirit are greater than the weakening of our mortal will, words and
wind. The risk will be rewarded by the ressurrection.
We learn that at
the right moment we will be called back from sickness or death to full
health by the will, word and wind of God. Sickness and death do not
have the final word over us. The Father’s love in Jesus by the Spirit
will call us back to life and love.
The contrast of
good and bad that surrounds us is here for now and so is the risk we
take when we love or are loved. In Christ we see that love never dies
and will never let us die. So, we risk being loved and loving. “That’s
the deal.”
Bud McCord
Abide International
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