Silas
Beloved of All
The weight of so many blows coming at once is real, and it makes sense that you feel you do not know what else to do. A job loss, a lawsuit over an old debt, the death of your great aunt, injuries that keep you from working, and a difficult diagnosis would overwhelm anyone. God sees each of these burdens and He is not distant from you in them.
That lawsuit and the pressure of debt can make you feel trapped, as if you are owned by what you owe. Scripture says the borrower is slave to the lender, and God does not delight in any system that takes advantage of people and binds them this way. The world often promises that if you just have more things you will finally be satisfied, but those promises are empty. They can never fill the thirst in the human heart for God Himself. They only hide that thirst for a little while. Whatever the outcome of this legal matter, your deepest need is not financial relief alone but the peace that comes from knowing God will provide and sustain you even when resources are thin.
There is a far greater debt that every one of us owed and could never pay. In the ancient world a person who could not pay a debt could be sold, and his labor for years would go to satisfy what he owed. Unless a family member stepped in to pay the price, he had no hope of freedom. That is the picture of what sin does. Jesus said whoever sins is a slave to sin. We were held in that bondage, owing a debt to God we could never repay. But Jesus came as our kinsman redeemer. Out of compassion He paid the price Himself to ransom us and set us free. He was moved with pity and loosed those who were bound, forgiving the entire debt for everyone who asks Him.
Because we have been forgiven so great a debt, we are called to forgive as we have been forgiven for Christ's sake. Jesus told of a servant who was forgiven an enormous sum, millions in today's terms, and then refused to forgive a fellow servant who owed him only a few dollars, throwing him into prison until he could pay. When the master heard, he rebuked that unforgiving heart. The point is that having received such mercy puts us under a gracious obligation to show mercy. Unforgiveness eats away at the heart and destroys peace. If bitterness has taken root toward a former employer, toward the person suing you, or toward anyone else in this season, bring it to the Lord and ask Him to help you release it as He has released you.
Your injuries and diagnosis also bring a trial in the flesh that is hard to bear. The apostle Paul spoke of preaching and living for the gospel even through weakness and infirmity of the body, and he described that weakness as a trial. God does not want you to be offended by Him or to feel He has failed you because your body is suffering. He can meet you in that weakness and use it to draw you closer to Himself, to show His strength and comfort in a way you might not know otherwise.
I am praying for you, that God will give you wisdom for the legal and financial pressures, comfort in your grief, healing and provision for your body, and work that fits your needs in His timing. Above all I pray you will know more deeply that your greatest debt has already been paid in full by Jesus, that you are not forgotten, and that He who redeemed you will carry you through each of these present troubles as you trust Him day by day.
That lawsuit and the pressure of debt can make you feel trapped, as if you are owned by what you owe. Scripture says the borrower is slave to the lender, and God does not delight in any system that takes advantage of people and binds them this way. The world often promises that if you just have more things you will finally be satisfied, but those promises are empty. They can never fill the thirst in the human heart for God Himself. They only hide that thirst for a little while. Whatever the outcome of this legal matter, your deepest need is not financial relief alone but the peace that comes from knowing God will provide and sustain you even when resources are thin.
There is a far greater debt that every one of us owed and could never pay. In the ancient world a person who could not pay a debt could be sold, and his labor for years would go to satisfy what he owed. Unless a family member stepped in to pay the price, he had no hope of freedom. That is the picture of what sin does. Jesus said whoever sins is a slave to sin. We were held in that bondage, owing a debt to God we could never repay. But Jesus came as our kinsman redeemer. Out of compassion He paid the price Himself to ransom us and set us free. He was moved with pity and loosed those who were bound, forgiving the entire debt for everyone who asks Him.
Because we have been forgiven so great a debt, we are called to forgive as we have been forgiven for Christ's sake. Jesus told of a servant who was forgiven an enormous sum, millions in today's terms, and then refused to forgive a fellow servant who owed him only a few dollars, throwing him into prison until he could pay. When the master heard, he rebuked that unforgiving heart. The point is that having received such mercy puts us under a gracious obligation to show mercy. Unforgiveness eats away at the heart and destroys peace. If bitterness has taken root toward a former employer, toward the person suing you, or toward anyone else in this season, bring it to the Lord and ask Him to help you release it as He has released you.
Your injuries and diagnosis also bring a trial in the flesh that is hard to bear. The apostle Paul spoke of preaching and living for the gospel even through weakness and infirmity of the body, and he described that weakness as a trial. God does not want you to be offended by Him or to feel He has failed you because your body is suffering. He can meet you in that weakness and use it to draw you closer to Himself, to show His strength and comfort in a way you might not know otherwise.
I am praying for you, that God will give you wisdom for the legal and financial pressures, comfort in your grief, healing and provision for your body, and work that fits your needs in His timing. Above all I pray you will know more deeply that your greatest debt has already been paid in full by Jesus, that you are not forgotten, and that He who redeemed you will carry you through each of these present troubles as you trust Him day by day.
