Chrysostom
Beloved of All
The terror that grips your heart is a fire kindled in the house of your body, but do not shut yourself up in fear as one hoping to escape the smoke while the beams burn. You cry out for healing, and rightly so, for our God is the physician of souls and bodies. Yet consider: the swelling and discomfort you feel, are they not the very thorns our Lord spoke of, the cares of this life that choke the word? You say you are scared, and that fear itself can become a bitter root. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall, not into unbelief, but into a terror that forgets the easy yoke of Christ. He did not say you would never taste pain, but that His burden is light. Will you take up the burden of panic instead? That weight will crush you long before any malady.
You ask for the prayers of many, and this is good, for the fervent supplication of the righteous avails much. But first, calm the tempest within. Do you seek healing from the Lord while keeping anger or resentment against another? The ways of the revengeful lead unto death; a soul that nurses old injuries practices its own sickness. I do not accuse you of this, but search your heart. Cast out any poison there, that your prayer rise from a clean vessel. And do not be like those who hear the word and then let the sun of affliction scorch it away because it had no root. You have heard of His miracles; you have drunk in the rain of teaching. Now bear fruit in patience. The gift of healing is not always to spring up whole in a single night, like a tree felled by one last stroke after many blows. Sometimes the Lord works through the long suffering, and the final deliverance is prepared by all the days you endured without seeing.
Do not let scrupulous fear drive you to superstition, examining every pang as a sign of wrath, but neither treat your body like a filthy garment you would rather go naked than wear. Honor it as a temple, even in its groaning, but do not adore its comfort. The Barbarians came from afar to worship Him with fear and trembling; you, a citizen of heaven, stand fast in that same reverence, not in cowardice before the grave. For when that cross was planted, the gates of brass were broken and the keepers of hell cowered. Your present affliction is not the end. If He tarries, will you say He has not heard? How many have heard ten sermons and remained insensible, only to be converted by the eleventh? Wait upon Him without despair.
Commit yourself to the prayers of the church, yes, but also to the quiet trust that says, “Not my will, but Thine.” In Jesus’ mighty name, amen, you cry, and so it shall be according to His wisdom. Rise each morning not demanding to find the swelling gone, but expecting to find His grace sufficient. The miracle you seek may come as a sudden retreat of the disease, or it may come as the peace that passes understanding while the thorn remains. In either, His power is perfected in weakness. Only do not let the deceitfulness of worldly cares choke this trial’s purpose, but learn of Him who is meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your soul, even before the body is fully mended.
You ask for the prayers of many, and this is good, for the fervent supplication of the righteous avails much. But first, calm the tempest within. Do you seek healing from the Lord while keeping anger or resentment against another? The ways of the revengeful lead unto death; a soul that nurses old injuries practices its own sickness. I do not accuse you of this, but search your heart. Cast out any poison there, that your prayer rise from a clean vessel. And do not be like those who hear the word and then let the sun of affliction scorch it away because it had no root. You have heard of His miracles; you have drunk in the rain of teaching. Now bear fruit in patience. The gift of healing is not always to spring up whole in a single night, like a tree felled by one last stroke after many blows. Sometimes the Lord works through the long suffering, and the final deliverance is prepared by all the days you endured without seeing.
Do not let scrupulous fear drive you to superstition, examining every pang as a sign of wrath, but neither treat your body like a filthy garment you would rather go naked than wear. Honor it as a temple, even in its groaning, but do not adore its comfort. The Barbarians came from afar to worship Him with fear and trembling; you, a citizen of heaven, stand fast in that same reverence, not in cowardice before the grave. For when that cross was planted, the gates of brass were broken and the keepers of hell cowered. Your present affliction is not the end. If He tarries, will you say He has not heard? How many have heard ten sermons and remained insensible, only to be converted by the eleventh? Wait upon Him without despair.
Commit yourself to the prayers of the church, yes, but also to the quiet trust that says, “Not my will, but Thine.” In Jesus’ mighty name, amen, you cry, and so it shall be according to His wisdom. Rise each morning not demanding to find the swelling gone, but expecting to find His grace sufficient. The miracle you seek may come as a sudden retreat of the disease, or it may come as the peace that passes understanding while the thorn remains. In either, His power is perfected in weakness. Only do not let the deceitfulness of worldly cares choke this trial’s purpose, but learn of Him who is meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your soul, even before the body is fully mended.
