This morning as I entered the VA hospital at Aspinwall, a young amputee veteran was leaving the hospital. He was in a wheelchair pushed by his wife and he was holding his prosthetic leg across his lap. I held the button to keep the door open and he and his wife both thanked me as they passed and I said to him jokingly, “Watch that thing doesn’t get away from you and run off.” They both chuckled at my dumb attempt at humor and stopped for a moment to chat. We talked for a few minutes and as he was leaving, he accepted a gospel tract. After checking in for my appointment, I realized something. The only reason that injured vet and his wife were not offended at my dumb remarks and why they were willing to pause and chat with me for a minute and take the tract was due to the fact that I, too, am an amputee. And, that I knew somewhat of what he is enduring and was truly in sympathy with him. There is a spiritual application of the above incident for those Christians who are enduring some great suffering or sorrow. It is this. It is in a time of great suffering, and, when every possibility of human help is exhausted, that a real intimacy with Christ is most likely. So often the sufferer thinks that no one can possibly know the depth of their sorrow or suffering. They wonder if God knows the situation, and if so, does He even care? But God does know and He does care about the affairs of His children. “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;” [Phil 3:10]. The suffering of Christ was much more than the unspeakable physical torture and pain of crucifixion. He had been betrayed by a friend, tried illegally by religious courts, and condemned unjustly by Roman officials. He endured, alone, the bitterness and despair of complete rejection by God. But there is more. Not only was Christ utterly forsaken by God, but also, abandoned by His followers. He is denied and deserted by His closest friends and His earthly family. Little wonder that the Lord was overwhelmed with sorrow and loneliness. But need we limit the benefit of the suffering and sacrifice of the Savior to that of redemption and justification and the other glorious aspects of our soul’s salvation? It is clear that there is also the blessing of a present and caring Friend. A Comforter that is able to succor us in our suffering. He is the One that has been through what we are going through and knows what it is that we are suffering. It is Christ who will not forsake us and will walk with us even through the valley of the shadow of death. He does understand and He does care. “For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points temped like as we are, yet without sin, [Hebrews 4:15]. WEN 8/13/13
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 02:55:32 +0000