The last couple of vacations have been really hard. In January there was some awful thing I caught from our grandson. Then there was the spring vacation … shingles.
We have been joking that maybe we should forget the V-word and just schedule two week’s sick leave. Anyway, in the midst of suffering, I have been thinking. The Lord protects His children, so if something reaches me, He let it through His defenses for a reason.
So what have I learned?
I spent more than a week using ice to deal with the facial spasms and shooting pains into my eye. What I thot about was a verse that used to confuse me but has come to mean a lot to me … Paul wrote: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” (Colossians 1:24)
Fill up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. Jesus would return if all His people have believed. That means they haven’t. The Lord knows what suffering means – He knows exactly what He asks of us. He asks us to continue in this broken world and suffer pain and sorrow because some of His children don’t know Him yet.
I started thinking about that each time a spasm hit. I would think about the Lord with me helping me through it. Hurting with me and supporting me. And I would think about those who came to believe during that space of time.
His children’s suffering is not for nothing. We are a part of the work He’s doin