You cannot fully understand what other people are going through unless you have been there yourself. I have over the course of a ministry heard the experiences of many people who have been in hospital. These experiences become familiar through repetition, and you think you know what to expect if ever you are a patient yourself.
Yet, without actually being there, there is much you don't realise, like the way time stands still as you are waiting for things to happen and your turn never seems to come round. There are good reasons why there aren't too many clocks up on the wall in hospitals, because it would just make matters worse. And then there is the experience of uncertainty - the care plans which seem to change from one minute to the next as as one consultant or specialist arrives with a different view of how to treat your case. There are the many anxieties that can accumulate about the future. Without having been in the midst of it all, you possess at best a second-hand understanding.
A second-hand understanding is certainly better than none, especially if it comes with a listening ear. Many good counsellors are quite young, with very little experience of life, but they can listen well to older folk, pick up where they are anxious or troubled or angry, and sympathetically explore that with them. On the other hand, if it's a shared experience, you take that sympathy on to a new level. One blessing and comfort for the Christian is that God shared our experiences in the form of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was born into our time. The clock ticked for Jesus as He experienced the pain and anguish of waiting for His dreadful end on the cross. He knew and experienced uncertainty: He became totally helpless, without any control over events, as the authorities pushed Him around. If only people could see how God entered our time and shared our experiences in Jesus Christ, it would bring real comfort. After all, He created the time in which we live, and that time is just a backdrop to an eternity which He also created, where He will rule unchallenged and no evil thing will ever come to pass.
Tuesday 24 January 2012
Wednesday 11 January 2012
Two places at once
Poor apostle Paul! He spent much time wishing he could be in two places at once.
In a famous passage (Philippians 1:21-24) he exclaims to his readers: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body."
On the other hand, he had the frustration of being often hindered from seeing the very churches that were keeping him earthbound. Of course, transport in those days wasn't what it is now, and the mobile phone with its instant communications was unheard of. So Paul would announce plans to visit the churches - each journey a major and lengthy undertaking - and then for various reasons have to postpone them.
This gave his enemies ample time to do mischief and spread suspicion among the churches. In 2 Corinthians 1 it is painful to read Paul having to defend himself against a charge of saying "Yes" to a visit while at the same time muttering "No"! To his credit, even in the midst of protesting his innocence, he puts in a word for the Lord Jesus. Jesus, whom Paul preached, was God's "Yes" to all the promises He ever made. He is completely consistent and we are the gainers. "Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."
In a small way I feel the same tensions as Paul as I face surgery. In one way I sit lightly to life. I look forward to being in my Saviour's nearer presence. On the other hand, there is a work still to be done, a church to be nurtured and shepherded. There again, I shall be unable for a while to give the leadership I would wish. What might unravel as a result? I trust nothing will, but there is always that anxiety.
Bless God, Paul very likely saw the Corinthians again and any ground lost was made up. Where relationships are concerned, God has His ways of spanning hours of time and miles of distance.
In a famous passage (Philippians 1:21-24) he exclaims to his readers: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body."
On the other hand, he had the frustration of being often hindered from seeing the very churches that were keeping him earthbound. Of course, transport in those days wasn't what it is now, and the mobile phone with its instant communications was unheard of. So Paul would announce plans to visit the churches - each journey a major and lengthy undertaking - and then for various reasons have to postpone them.
This gave his enemies ample time to do mischief and spread suspicion among the churches. In 2 Corinthians 1 it is painful to read Paul having to defend himself against a charge of saying "Yes" to a visit while at the same time muttering "No"! To his credit, even in the midst of protesting his innocence, he puts in a word for the Lord Jesus. Jesus, whom Paul preached, was God's "Yes" to all the promises He ever made. He is completely consistent and we are the gainers. "Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."
In a small way I feel the same tensions as Paul as I face surgery. In one way I sit lightly to life. I look forward to being in my Saviour's nearer presence. On the other hand, there is a work still to be done, a church to be nurtured and shepherded. There again, I shall be unable for a while to give the leadership I would wish. What might unravel as a result? I trust nothing will, but there is always that anxiety.
Bless God, Paul very likely saw the Corinthians again and any ground lost was made up. Where relationships are concerned, God has His ways of spanning hours of time and miles of distance.
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