A Closer Walk
''Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved," Helen Keller 1880-1968. We remember Miss Keller as having been both blind and deaf. This was the result of some unknown illness she contracted at 19 months of age. Modern doctors believe it was likely a form of meningitis. Some doctors have said it could have been a type of influenza which produced the same symptoms but this type had a 97% mortality rate during that time period. Other doctors seem to believe that was unlikely due to the extremely high mortality rate (sourced from Wikipedia). Miss Keller knew trial and suffering. She lived it every day. Yet with the help of a young woman named Anne Sullivan Miss Keller overcame her disabilities and eventually became a writer and speaker as well as an advocate for the blind.
I personally believe that the single most taken for granted blessing that our God gives us is good health. We take it for granted that we can get up in the morning, get dressed and go about our business and our day. But when we see someone with impaired abilities for one reason or another, we should be reminded to thank our God for the health that we enjoy. Modern medicine is another taken for granted blessing that we have been granted. In some places and countries that is not so. But whatever our burden or ability Jesus told us to “take up our cross daily” and follow Him.
“You have power over your mind-not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength,” Marcus Aurelius. “That which does not kill us makes us stronger,” Friedrich Nietzsche. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength,” Arnold Schwarzenegger. “Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strengths,” Charles H. Spurgeon. “Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm,” Abraham Lincoln.
These quotes from a number of different people, including one Roman Emperor and a movie star who was a governor of California, talk about strength and struggles. Each and every one of us has trials, hardships, and struggles, to varying degrees and intensities. Yet in one way or another we, with our God's help and guidance, are able to continue moving forward and either overcome or work through each struggle, hardship, or trial. Or in a few cases our Lord helps us to learn how to live with situation.
Please remember these two passages from God's Holy Word. “That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these,” Isaiah 45:6-7 NASB. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose,” Romans 8:28 NASB.
These two passages inform us that 1. There only one God. And that is the Lord God Almighty. We sometimes refer to Him as Elohim or Adonai. And that is the God whom we serve. 2. This God causes (makes or commands) that all things, ALL things, will work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. We may not understand why He is doing what He is doing, but we can have assurance that whatever it is He is doing it for our good and His glory. “God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.” Charles Haddon Spurgeon, 1834-1892.
“I Don’t Know About Tomorrow, I Just Live From Day To Day. I Don’t Borrow From Its Sunshine, For Its Skies May Turn To Gray. I Don’t Worry Over The Future, For I Know What Jesus Said, And Today I’ll Walk Beside Him, For He Knows What Is Ahead. Refrain: Many Things About Tomorrow, I Don’t Seem To Understand; But I Know Who Holds Tomorrow, And I Know Who Holds My Hand. Every Step Is Getting Brighter, As The Golden Stairs I Climb; Every Burden’s Getting Lighter; Every Cloud Is Silver Lined.
There The Sun Is Always Shining, There No Tear Will Dim The Eyes, At The Ending Of The Rainbow, Where The Mountains Touch The Sky. I Don’t Know About Tomorrow, It May Bring Me Poverty; But The One Who Feeds The Sparrow, Is The One Who Stands By Me.
And The Path That Be My Portion, May Be Through The Flame Or Flood, But His Presence Goes Before Me, And I’m Covered With His Blood.” From “I Don't Know About Tomorrow,” words and music by Ira F. Stanphill, 1914-1993. Although he was born in New Mexico, Mr. Stanphill spent his younger years in Coffeyville, Kansas. He was an ordained Minister for the Assembly of God denomination and wrote over five hundred gospel songs. He was living in Overland Park, Kansas, when he passed away and is buried in Johnson County Memorial Gardens.