Encouragement for the Lame

Rom 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

1Cor 15:36 What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. 42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.

2 Cor 4:16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 5:1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

Inspired by God, these words were all penned by Paul, a man who's physical suffering was almost supernatural, he was thought dead and thrown in the morgue a few times. So both you and I can take him seriously when he talks. He was a varsity sufferer, I am merely JV.

These bodies we are in, they aren't the final product. They are just acorns. Acorns are small, plentiful, and worthless to everyone but the squirrels. In the right season, we walk over hundreds of them a week, crushing them beneath our feet. But a few acorns grow into the final product, the tree. And some of those trees grow to be hundreds of feet tall. And those trees are large, prominent, and of great value. No mere human could squash them, they are majestic and towering. But an acorn doesn't just become a tree by magic. It gets cracked, starts to break, sinks into the ground, and the outer shell rots and is torn apart by the life growing inside it. By the time the first shoots of leaves are growing, the acorn is gone, used up, destroyed. But the life that was hidden inside of it is growing exponentially, processing light and CO2 into oxygen, and making the planet a place where humans can breathe.

Our bodies are like that, just acorns. We too have the capacity to grow into something so much larger, but the acorn has to be broken, rot, and ultimately be destroyed. It is no more unnatural than a mother screaming during childbirth. That knowledge doesn't make the pain less, but it gives us hope. If we love and trust in Jesus, the image of the invisible God, then our sin is being killed and our spirits given new life. That new life will quickly expand past the walls of our acorn, and that hurts, but it isn't the end. It is only the beginning.

So be a good steward of your health, surely, but remember that it is temporary. Losing it isn't the end of the world, it is just a part of the process. After you have satisfied the bounds of being responsible, if you aren't healthy, it is time to learn to follow Jesus in this new stage of the process. And oh, how good the end of that process is!

Micah 4:6 In that day, declares the Lord,
I will assemble the lame
and gather those who have been driven away
and those whom I have afflicted;
7 and the lame I will make the remnant,
and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion
from this time forth and forevermore.

Zeph 3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
18 I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,
so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
19 Behold, at that time I will deal
with all your oppressors.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.