Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for sharing this heavy burden and for your faithful love for these dear ones. We are joining you in prayer for this pastor's wife who is so ill with thyroid cancer that has spread to her lungs, and for her husband who serves alongside her, and also for the other loved one facing cancer.
We have been praying specifically for her many painful symptoms, the burning sensation in her skin, the lump in her leg with shooting pain, the numbness in her fingers and toes, the ongoing nausea, weight loss and great weakness, and for the discouragement that comes when she had improved a little and then grew worse again. We are asking the Lord to have mercy, to ease her suffering, to give wisdom to those caring for her, and to strengthen both her and her husband day by day.
We believe with all our hearts that God is the Lord who heals. The Gospels show how much of the ministry of Jesus was given to touching and healing those who were sick and afflicted, and He still heals today. Sometimes He heals in a moment, sometimes healing comes gradually over time. There is even one account where Jesus healed in stages, to show us He is not limited to one pattern. Sometimes He touches, sometimes He speaks a word from a distance, and sometimes He works through the natural healing processes He Himself built into our bodies. That natural process is no less divine, because He is the Creator of nature and of all its processes. He also brings healing to the mind and heart, comforting deep wounds and fears. In every form, healing is His work.
At the same time we do not fully understand why some are healed as we hope and others are not. Scripture is honest about this. Paul prayed three times for his thorn in the flesh to be removed and the Lord did not remove it. Paul, who saw many miracles, also spoke of his fellow worker Epaphroditus being sick nearly to death. Matthew tells us that Isaiah's prophecy about the Messiah bearing our sicknesses points to physical healing as well as spiritual healing, and we hold to that promise when we remember the body of Christ broken for us. Yet healing remains sovereign in God's hands. It is wrong to place the burden on the sick person or on the family, as if more faith would guarantee a certain outcome. We reject that teaching. We trust a sovereign and loving God who does what is right and good, even when we cannot see His reasons.
What we do know is that He is the God of all comfort. Paul calls Him this because he had experienced God's comfort in his own afflictions, in seasons when he was troubled on every side, with conflicts without and fears within, and even in a terrible storm at sea that lasted many days without sun. In those darkest hours the Lord stood by to strengthen and encourage him. That same God stands by those who are going through hard places and dark nights now. He comforts those who mourn and those who are cast down and discouraged. He has promised to be near, to lift us when we feel in deep despair, and to give peace that goes beyond understanding.
The Scriptures were written to give us this kind of learning, that through patience and comfort from the Word we might have hope. We see in the Word that God is patient in working out His purposes and that He has never failed to keep His promises. That gives us hope that He will come through for us according to His perfect will. He comforts us in our trouble so that we in turn can comfort others with the comfort we have received.
So we are praying for this dear sister and her husband that they will know the fellowship of the Spirit, the consolation that is in Christ, and the compassion and mercy of the Father in a very real way right now. We are asking God to surround them with His presence, to calm fear, to give rest in the night, to sustain faith, and to use even this trial to encourage others as they have already encouraged so many by sharing the gospel and leading others to Jesus. We are praying that whether the Lord brings an immediate touch, a gradual recovery, or sustaining grace through the medical care He provides, His name will be glorified and His comfort will be deeply felt.
May the Lord who is our salvation and our healer draw near to this family and to the other dear one with cancer, grant relief where it is His will to heal, and grant rich comfort and hope from His Word until that day when all sickness and pain will be no more. We continue to lift them before the throne of grace with you.
We have been praying specifically for her many painful symptoms, the burning sensation in her skin, the lump in her leg with shooting pain, the numbness in her fingers and toes, the ongoing nausea, weight loss and great weakness, and for the discouragement that comes when she had improved a little and then grew worse again. We are asking the Lord to have mercy, to ease her suffering, to give wisdom to those caring for her, and to strengthen both her and her husband day by day.
We believe with all our hearts that God is the Lord who heals. The Gospels show how much of the ministry of Jesus was given to touching and healing those who were sick and afflicted, and He still heals today. Sometimes He heals in a moment, sometimes healing comes gradually over time. There is even one account where Jesus healed in stages, to show us He is not limited to one pattern. Sometimes He touches, sometimes He speaks a word from a distance, and sometimes He works through the natural healing processes He Himself built into our bodies. That natural process is no less divine, because He is the Creator of nature and of all its processes. He also brings healing to the mind and heart, comforting deep wounds and fears. In every form, healing is His work.
At the same time we do not fully understand why some are healed as we hope and others are not. Scripture is honest about this. Paul prayed three times for his thorn in the flesh to be removed and the Lord did not remove it. Paul, who saw many miracles, also spoke of his fellow worker Epaphroditus being sick nearly to death. Matthew tells us that Isaiah's prophecy about the Messiah bearing our sicknesses points to physical healing as well as spiritual healing, and we hold to that promise when we remember the body of Christ broken for us. Yet healing remains sovereign in God's hands. It is wrong to place the burden on the sick person or on the family, as if more faith would guarantee a certain outcome. We reject that teaching. We trust a sovereign and loving God who does what is right and good, even when we cannot see His reasons.
What we do know is that He is the God of all comfort. Paul calls Him this because he had experienced God's comfort in his own afflictions, in seasons when he was troubled on every side, with conflicts without and fears within, and even in a terrible storm at sea that lasted many days without sun. In those darkest hours the Lord stood by to strengthen and encourage him. That same God stands by those who are going through hard places and dark nights now. He comforts those who mourn and those who are cast down and discouraged. He has promised to be near, to lift us when we feel in deep despair, and to give peace that goes beyond understanding.
The Scriptures were written to give us this kind of learning, that through patience and comfort from the Word we might have hope. We see in the Word that God is patient in working out His purposes and that He has never failed to keep His promises. That gives us hope that He will come through for us according to His perfect will. He comforts us in our trouble so that we in turn can comfort others with the comfort we have received.
So we are praying for this dear sister and her husband that they will know the fellowship of the Spirit, the consolation that is in Christ, and the compassion and mercy of the Father in a very real way right now. We are asking God to surround them with His presence, to calm fear, to give rest in the night, to sustain faith, and to use even this trial to encourage others as they have already encouraged so many by sharing the gospel and leading others to Jesus. We are praying that whether the Lord brings an immediate touch, a gradual recovery, or sustaining grace through the medical care He provides, His name will be glorified and His comfort will be deeply felt.
May the Lord who is our salvation and our healer draw near to this family and to the other dear one with cancer, grant relief where it is His will to heal, and grant rich comfort and hope from His Word until that day when all sickness and pain will be no more. We continue to lift them before the throne of grace with you.
