"We are all invalids in God's hospital. In moral and spiritual terms we are all sick and damaged, diseased and deformed, scarred and sore, lame and lopsided, to a far, far greater extent than we realize. Under God's care we are getting better, but we are not yet well. The modern Christian likes to dwell on present blessings rather than future prospects. We need to realize the spiritual health we testify to is only partial and relative, a matter of being less sick and less incapacitated now than we were before. Measured by the absolute standard of spiritual health that we see in Jesus Christ, we are all of us invalids in the process of being cured. The church is God's hospital. No Christian, and no church, ever has the clean bill of spiritual health that would match the total physical well-being for which today's fitness seekers labor. To long for total spiritual well-being is right and natural, but to believe that one is anywhere near it is to be utterly self-deceived. It is not always easy to grasp that one is ill. Pride and complacency blind us to this reality. We decline to be told when we are slipping; thinking we stand, we set ourselves up to fall, and predictably, alas, we do fall.
In God's hospital the course of treatment that the Father, Son and HS, the permanent medical staff, are giving to each of us with a view to our final restoration to the fullness of the divine image, is called sanctification. It is a process that includes medication and diet (biblical instruction & admonition coming in various ways to the heart) and tests and exercises (internal & external pressures, providentially ordered, to which we have to make active response). The process goes on as long as we are in this world, which is something that God decides in each case. "How come it's taking me so long to get better?" is often our heart-cry to God. The truth is that God knows what He is doing, but sometimes, for reasons connected with the maturity and ministry that He has in view for us, He makes haste slowly. That is something we have to learn humbly to accept. We are in a hurry; He is not."
2 comments:
The most difficult part is letting go and letting God have His time schedule. I want things answered my way. If I want it a certain way then why am I asking for His help? I don't go to the doctor to tell him what is wrong with me and how to treat my ailments, so why would I expect that of God? But when I look back I see that He has guided everything in my life with purpose that is necessary for me to heal and be what He needs me to be.
The way you learn patience is by remembering who God is, specifically relying upon His omniscience and goodness. That's very hard for us to get deep into our minds, so deep that our actions and attitudes reflect it. And I think we're able to do so with varying degrees of success... but it should always be our goal. Today... today I will trust God.
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