I was amazed by the reaction to two Facebook Posts this week.  I appreciated the response to me finally being able to eat a little bit of yogurt.  After more than 2 months of nothing but feeding through a nose tube it was great to actually taste something and I’ve been able to add to that by eating applesauce, pudding, ice cream and even mashed potatoes.  I still have a way to go but encouraged to finally have some progress.

 

The other post was Mark 13:31
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

33 likes and 6 comments is more than 3 times more than I normally get for a verse – so I know that this struck a chord.  

But what does it mean?

It is comforting to know that with all that is going on in the world today that one thing remains constant.  One thing remains that we can count on and that is the Word of God.  We have been through a global pandemic, political, social and racial unrest.  Some of us have faced sickness, either ourselves or loved ones. Others have faced job losses or other unexpected financial troubles.

Where is God in all this?

Where He has always been.  Ever present, always unchanging, never shaken.

If it were not so, what hope would we have? 

In Genesis 1-2 God created a world that was good.  When he added man and woman His creation was “very good”.   But sin came on the scene in Genesis 3 and we have been suffering the consequences ever since.  But God has never changed.  His desire for His creation has not changed and the Bible is His redemptive story to draw us back to Himself – culminated by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 I don’t know how I could have gone through the last few months without the certainty of God’s love for me. A brain tumor, like cancer, or a job loss, or something equally devastating that you might have gone through, is all part of a fallen world. Not part of God’s original design in Creation and not part of the end state – but we go through it now to (hopefully) realize our dependency on Him. Because ultimately His concern for us is not in the here and now, but in eternity.

No matter what you and I are going through, and no matter what is happening in the world – God’s love for us is unchanged. His desire for us is unchanged – that we will accept the fact that we are sinners and in need of His salvation – and realize that we are totally dependent on Him – whether things are going great right now or if we are struggling.

The context in Mark 13 puts it all into perspective.  Jesus is talking about the tribulation and His second coming. Despite all that will be happening during that time God’s words will not pass away.  After all the uncertainty, struggling, calamity, sickness, and disease – Jesus will come back and restore all things to the original creation design. That is where my hope is.  That is why we can go through what we are going through now, with Jesus’s help. Because we know what is waiting for us.

So, the progress in my swallowing is very welcome.  The renewed strength I have in my body is very welcome.  I do have a way to go and I look forward to being restored to greater health (and maybe running that half-marathon).  But in the meantime, I have comfort in God’s love and care for me.  I have comfort that He is preparing me for something far greater – and that even now He is using me to bring Him glory and maybe a few people closer to Him.

I hope that in whatever you are going through right now you will also find comfort and strength.  God's words will not pass away. We can count on that.

Time for some applesauce.