Chrysostom
Beloved of All
The body you carry now feels to you a heavy weight, a vessel of many pains, and you cry out for relief as any soul would. Consider, then, that even as you bear this burden, you are not bearing it alone, for He who fashioned the eye and knit together the frame in the womb knows every part that has gone awry. When the man at the pool could do nothing for himself, having waited so long, Christ came and his first word after healing was this: It is Jesus who made me whole. Fix your mind there, not only on the cataracts and the lens and the mass and the cancer, but on the One who is able to make you whole in whatever manner He chooses. Sometimes He works through the hands of physicians and the blade of surgery, and sometimes He works in ways that confound them altogether. Do not dictate to Him the path of healing, but trust the Healer.
You speak of wanting to eat, to gain weight, to be free of the acid and the gas that torment you. This is no small trial, for food is the daily mercy that sustains the body, and when it becomes a source of pain, the soul grows faint. Yet I would have you remember that we do not seek all at once, but gently, and by little and little, ascend the ladder that leads us upward. The covetous man inflamed his lust by casting more wealth upon it; so too the anxious heart can inflame its fear by demanding a complete deliverance in a single moment. Ask daily for the grace to take what nourishment you can, and let each small mouthful received without pain be a cause for thanksgiving. The burden shared is lightened, as the Apostle says, and I weep with you in this struggle.
You have named the sugar and the cholesterol, the mass in the intestine, the cancer in the breast, and you ask for supernatural removal before the knife falls. I would not diminish your hope for a sudden work of divine power, for the Son quickeneth whom He will, and nothing is too hard for Him. But mark this also: the same Lord who has authority to execute judgment has appointed a day for every purpose, and His delay is not His refusal. If the surgery comes, let it not be to you a sign of His absence but of His presence in another form. He who made clay and anointed the blind man’s eyes still uses earthly means for heavenly ends. The skill of the surgeon is His gift no less than the sudden word of command. Do not let fear of the procedure rob you of the peace that comes from yielding yourself entirely to His wise love, whether He removes the mass before the surgery or through it.
I hear in your words the cry of faith, for you have sealed your request with the strong name of Jesus. Hold fast to that confession. The war you face is threefold: the assault of the body, the dread of what lies ahead, and the whisper of the enemy that God has forgotten you. But the resurrection and the judgment are the great anchors. If you are persuaded that you shall rise again and give account to Christ, then even this suffering body will one day put on incorruption. In the meantime, walk with the meekness and lowliness of those who hear reproach and revile not again, even when that reproach comes from your own flesh. Do not rail against your body as an enemy, but care for it as a servant that is worn down, and look always to the Master who will restore it in His time.
Continue to ask, continue to trust, and do not measure His love by the speed of the answer. The One who made you whole in the inner man by His own blood will not neglect the outer frame that houses His Spirit. Whether by gradual mending or by a sudden touch, He will do what is best, and you will say at last, “It is Jesus who made me whole.”
You speak of wanting to eat, to gain weight, to be free of the acid and the gas that torment you. This is no small trial, for food is the daily mercy that sustains the body, and when it becomes a source of pain, the soul grows faint. Yet I would have you remember that we do not seek all at once, but gently, and by little and little, ascend the ladder that leads us upward. The covetous man inflamed his lust by casting more wealth upon it; so too the anxious heart can inflame its fear by demanding a complete deliverance in a single moment. Ask daily for the grace to take what nourishment you can, and let each small mouthful received without pain be a cause for thanksgiving. The burden shared is lightened, as the Apostle says, and I weep with you in this struggle.
You have named the sugar and the cholesterol, the mass in the intestine, the cancer in the breast, and you ask for supernatural removal before the knife falls. I would not diminish your hope for a sudden work of divine power, for the Son quickeneth whom He will, and nothing is too hard for Him. But mark this also: the same Lord who has authority to execute judgment has appointed a day for every purpose, and His delay is not His refusal. If the surgery comes, let it not be to you a sign of His absence but of His presence in another form. He who made clay and anointed the blind man’s eyes still uses earthly means for heavenly ends. The skill of the surgeon is His gift no less than the sudden word of command. Do not let fear of the procedure rob you of the peace that comes from yielding yourself entirely to His wise love, whether He removes the mass before the surgery or through it.
I hear in your words the cry of faith, for you have sealed your request with the strong name of Jesus. Hold fast to that confession. The war you face is threefold: the assault of the body, the dread of what lies ahead, and the whisper of the enemy that God has forgotten you. But the resurrection and the judgment are the great anchors. If you are persuaded that you shall rise again and give account to Christ, then even this suffering body will one day put on incorruption. In the meantime, walk with the meekness and lowliness of those who hear reproach and revile not again, even when that reproach comes from your own flesh. Do not rail against your body as an enemy, but care for it as a servant that is worn down, and look always to the Master who will restore it in His time.
Continue to ask, continue to trust, and do not measure His love by the speed of the answer. The One who made you whole in the inner man by His own blood will not neglect the outer frame that houses His Spirit. Whether by gradual mending or by a sudden touch, He will do what is best, and you will say at last, “It is Jesus who made me whole.”
