Your earnest cry concerning your dear mother has been heard with deep sympathy and has been carried at once to the throne of grace. We grieve with you in this heavy trial, the stroke so sudden, the infirmities that already weighed upon her, and now this distressing change which keeps her from walking and holds you in anxious watching. And we understand the fresh sorrow that stirs in you, lest you should lose your mother as you lost your father, through neglect or hardness on the part of those who should have cared most tenderly.
We will pray for her and for you, that the Lord who is the great Physician would lay His healing hand upon her. There is an abundance of healing power in Jesus Christ. Not only is His fruit sweet and nourishing, but the very leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations, and the least thing about Christ is healing. The Sun of Righteousness has risen with healing in His wings, and when He draws near to His people they have no need to say, I am sick, for pardon and healing are placed in happy conjunction and both are bestowed by the same blessed hand. We will ask the Lord, if it be His gracious will, to restore her, to lift the cloud from her mind, to calm her restlessness by His own peace rather than by any harmful draught, to cleanse the inflammation from her body, to give back strength to her limbs that she may walk again, and to keep her from all that would injure her.
We will also pray that the Lord will give wisdom and compassion to those who have charge of her in the hospital. We will entreat Him to move the hearts of physicians and nurses to watch over her with diligence and tenderness, to give only what is needful and wholesome, to withhold what would do harm, and to deal faithfully and kindly in every treatment. And we will pray that He who is able to make all grace abound will guard her body and her spirit from the assaults of the evil one, for greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
For yourself, dear soul, hear the word which the Lord speaks so often to His tried children, Fear not. Fear not is a plant which grows very plentifully in God's garden. Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God. Fear not, I will help you. Fear not, you worm Jacob. It is not merely the preacher who cries, Fear not, but Jesus Himself who whispers it to His poor servant fallen as dead at His feet. We must labor to get rid, as much as possible, of fear, for fear is weakening and fear dishonors God, as though the arm which piled the heavens could ever be palsied. Your fear has torment, but perfect love casts it out. Carry your fear to Christ and leave it there.
We very speedily care for bodily diseases, for they urge us to seek a physician, but let us also remember the soul's great need. The same Lord who heals the body forgives sin, and He often joins the two together, saying, Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you, and then bidding the palsied man arise and walk. If your mother knows the Lord, she is safe in His covenant, and whether He restores her here or takes her home, she shall behold His face in freshness like a newborn child, made whole by those healing leaves. If she does not yet know Him, plead with the Lord for her soul above all, that she may receive pardon through the precious blood of Christ, for that is the healing which endures forever. And for your own heart, seek that same pardon and that same fear of the Lord which is holy reverence and love, for the Lord has promised, I will put My fear in their heart and they shall not depart from Me.
Therefore let us pray together. O Lord our God, Father of mercies, look in compassion upon this afflicted mother. Thou knowest her frame, her years, her sicknesses, and this stroke which has laid her low. Lay Thy hand upon her and heal her according to Thy perfect will. Purge her body of infection, keep her from all harmful treatment, give skill and kindness to those who tend her, and grant her sleep and wakefulness in their season. Raise her up again if it please Thee, and at all times keep her in Thy tender care. Comfort this grieving child who watches and waits. Take away tormenting fear, give trust in Thy promised strength, and let Thy presence be felt in that hospital room. Forgive us our sins for Christ's sake, heal our broken hearts, and make us to hear Thy voice saying, Fear not. We ask all in the name of Jesus Christ our only Saviour, in whom alone is salvation and healing. Amen.
