March 3, 2023On Wednesday, I got a phone call that there was a cancellation at the Montreal Neurological Institute and that I could have an EEG yesterday. I was very thankful for this, as my scheduled appointment was for near the end of this month. I have just had the electrodes removed and am looking forward to meeting with Dr. Dubeau on Tuesday.
Three weeks ago, I began reading “Providence” by John Piper and have been blessed by his insights. In examining the book of Lamentations, Piper writes: “It will prove true that a season of exile and sorrow will be followed sequentially by a season of restoration and joy for Jerusalem. But it is also true that ‘every morning’ during the worst of horrors God’s mercies were newly present.
One way to see this is to notice that Jeremiah says, ‘The Lord is my portion’ (Lam. 3:24). This remains true for God’s people on the worst mornings. And thousands of saints have witnessed that the Lord not only remains our portion in the worst of times, but becomes most real during the worst of times.
This was certainly the way the apostle Paul experienced the worst of his crises:
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. (2 Cor. 1:8-9)
God’s design (for it certainly was not Satan’s) in bringing Paul and his comrades to the end of their strength, and placing them on the brink of eternity, was “to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” In other words, the misery of those terrible days was simultaneous with a new mercy every morning. The new mercy was Paul’s deeper awareness of God as real beyond the grave and his deeper trust in God’s care through it all.”
May we commit our ways to the Lord and trust Him to lead us as we walk in the light of His Word.
Scripture for the weekend: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” John 5:24 (NKJV)
Thought for the weekend: “The Akan people of Ghana have a proverb: ‘The lizard is not as mad with the boys who threw stones at it as with the boys who stood by and rejoiced over its fate!’ Rejoicing at someone’s downfall is like participating in the cause of the downfall … Jesus tells us that we show His love in action when we ‘love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us’ (Matthew 5:44). By so doing, we imitate the perfect love of our Lord (Matt. 5:48).” – Lawrence Darmani (from “Stand Strong: 365 Devotions for Men by Men” by Discovery House)