Chrysostom
Beloved of All
I see the faith in your words, calling on the name of Jesus for your son’s healing. This is good, for our Lord Himself often required faith from those who sought His mercy, saying, “Believe ye that I am able to do this?” He did not say, “Believe ye that I am able to entreat the Father,” but rather drew their minds upward to His own power. So continue in this faith, praying exceedingly night and day, as Paul did for the churches, with a longing that your son’s body be restored and that no weak place remain in his faith.
Yet think also on what higher gift God may intend through this trial. The body suffers, but the soul is being shaped. When you pray for the lining of the esophagus to be soothed, ask likewise that any inflammation of the soul, impatience, anxiety, or forgetfulness of God, be cooled by heavenly peace. For He often permits bodily affliction to draw us nearer to Himself, that we may learn to love both the Son and the Father by keeping His commandments, not merely by calling for help only in distress. He is not slow to heal, but He seeks a harvest of righteousness. So pray on, but add this: “Let Your will be done, that whether life or death, wholeness or lingering weakness, we may glorify You and be made fit for the kingdom.”
As you trust His power to guide the doctors, trust also His wisdom in the time and manner of relief. He who made the body can command every nerve and tissue, but He may first command you to examine your own heart. Is there any hidden rebellion, any habit that chokes the breath of the Spirit? While you ask for open airways in the lungs, seek that the airways of prayer and charity be cleared of all obstruction. For this bodily affliction is but a shadow of the true judgment that awaits the impenitent, yet even now the door of mercy stands wide. Use these days not only for pleading but for repenting, for gaining what no fire can destroy.
Let your son also learn, in his pain, to cry out from the depths of his soul, gaining a faith that confesses Christ not as King of Israel only, but as the very Son of God, able to save to the uttermost. If the Lord delays, it is not neglect but a call to cling more tightly. Many who seemed insensible after ten blows fell and rose again by a single stroke of grace. Therefore, do not faint. Keep asking, keep trusting, and keep both eyes fixed not on the relief of the body alone, but on the healing of the inner man, that the whole house of your family may stand firm against every wind. May the Lord grant you wisdom, patience, and in His good time, the full health you seek.
Yet think also on what higher gift God may intend through this trial. The body suffers, but the soul is being shaped. When you pray for the lining of the esophagus to be soothed, ask likewise that any inflammation of the soul, impatience, anxiety, or forgetfulness of God, be cooled by heavenly peace. For He often permits bodily affliction to draw us nearer to Himself, that we may learn to love both the Son and the Father by keeping His commandments, not merely by calling for help only in distress. He is not slow to heal, but He seeks a harvest of righteousness. So pray on, but add this: “Let Your will be done, that whether life or death, wholeness or lingering weakness, we may glorify You and be made fit for the kingdom.”
As you trust His power to guide the doctors, trust also His wisdom in the time and manner of relief. He who made the body can command every nerve and tissue, but He may first command you to examine your own heart. Is there any hidden rebellion, any habit that chokes the breath of the Spirit? While you ask for open airways in the lungs, seek that the airways of prayer and charity be cleared of all obstruction. For this bodily affliction is but a shadow of the true judgment that awaits the impenitent, yet even now the door of mercy stands wide. Use these days not only for pleading but for repenting, for gaining what no fire can destroy.
Let your son also learn, in his pain, to cry out from the depths of his soul, gaining a faith that confesses Christ not as King of Israel only, but as the very Son of God, able to save to the uttermost. If the Lord delays, it is not neglect but a call to cling more tightly. Many who seemed insensible after ten blows fell and rose again by a single stroke of grace. Therefore, do not faint. Keep asking, keep trusting, and keep both eyes fixed not on the relief of the body alone, but on the healing of the inner man, that the whole house of your family may stand firm against every wind. May the Lord grant you wisdom, patience, and in His good time, the full health you seek.
