Chemotherapy is a cycle. You feel bad for a few days; you
get better and then get ready for next time. But in every cycle there are
lessons learned that help you prepare better for the next time. Similarly, our
hearts need to remember the lessons learned. We need to identify and meditate
on the evidence of God's grace in our lives to cope with the new cycles. I’m
sharing today a reflection that I wrote in January of this year and was originally
published on 33dc Ministry Facebook page.
And there we were...on September 26, 2014...listening to the
doctor telling us that our 3 years-old boy had gone into cardiac arrest, that
he had a chronic lung disease, that it was severe. The doctor seemed surprised
that our son’s heart was in a pretty good condition given the severity of his
lung disease. We just needed a few seconds to understand three years of
unanswered prayers. Three years asking in faith that our child could walk. But
that day we understood that the exercise of walking without treating his lung
condition first may have caused greater damage to this heart or may have cost him
his life. There we were…with a “faith mystery” almost solved.
But it's not always like this. From this side we don’t always
get all the pieces of the puzzle. We don’t always understand the mysteries of
faith and prayer. Our problem is that we have too much faith in our
"personal faith". We think that if we pray following a specific
sequence, or if we use certain words, or if we shut our eyes really tight, or if
we have "great faith", everything will be solved.
The emphasis of the Bible is not in the faith as an
object. It is about Who is the object of our faith. Hebrews Chapter 11 is full
of great examples of faith; then Chapter 12 gives us the application by
presenting the greatest example of all. Hebrews 12:2 (NIV) says: "fixing
our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith ". In other words,
we must fix our eyes on Jesus to be saved but we must keep looking Jesus to
live the life of faith that reaches the goal.
The original word used for the word “fixing” means “to turn
the eyes away from other things and fix them on something”. So to “fix” our
eyes on Jesus we need to reject and we need to choose at the same time. Faith
is giving up to what is circumstantial; to our plan A, B and C; to our methods;
and to the confidence in us. Faith is choosing to look unto Jesus, only Jesus...our
faith is valuable and powerful not because of ourselves, it is because of
Jesus!
And here we are, still with "incomplete puzzles"
but because of Jesus and his Cross we have seen the final picture that talks about victory and redemption. That’s why we are filled with
joy and peace as we trust in Him. Here and every day we say: "I trust
you", "My eyes are fixed on you", "I rest in your
love," "I know you have a plan."
May the Lord help us to remember the lessons learned, so
that we may receive with joy and peace the new cycles.
Becky
All rights reserved. Rebecca Parrilla. July/2015
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