by Allen Cantrell
During my six days of lying on my back and looking up, I pondered some significant truths. In no particular order, these were:
1. God’s sovereign control–We make our plans but He, at any time, can change the whole course. Without him we cannot even move. This should keep us humble. If you are strong and healthy and don’t identify very closely with sufferers, don’t be haughty. You are only healthy by God’s providential will and if He should bring pain or sickness into your life for His purposes and glory, He is still worthy of all praise and you still have not received what you deserve.
2. God’s chastening hand–God must really love His children–look at how much He disciplines us. It is not pleasant or enjoyable, but He must chasten every one of His own so that we might be partakers of His holiness. (Heb.12) His chastening hand falls wisely and purposefully and lovingly. It is one way he weans away from this world and saves us from ourselves. Without His faithful scourging we might waste our lives on trivial, lesser things. The pain causes us to honestly look at where and what we are and make corrections so as to live for the One who bought us.
3.The blessing of a helper–Gen 2:18 -I appreciate my devoted wife more and more each day.
4. Fear God!! He holds our very breath in His hand (Acts 17:25). He alone has the power to kill and to cast into hell (Luke 12:5). It is He with whom we have to do (Heb.4:13)–that is, He is the one to whom we must explain the way we have lived.
5. Pain is a reality check. It is a slap on the face to awaken us out of slumber. It is a dousing with cold water to get our undivided attention. It is God’s megaphone.
6. Sometimes when pain is prolonged, we can succumb to discouragement or despair. Be sure you are presently building on a good foundation so that when the storm hits, the house can stand. That is, if you try to interpret your pain without a solid foundation of biblical truth already in place, you will likely err. On the other hand, if you have cultivated intimacy with God and have grown in grace, then when (not if) the trial comes you will have a sure and solid place to stand and can actually benefit from the experience.
I’ll stop for now. There are a lot of other things I need to think through.
-Allen
"This & That" 
Leave a Reply