Journey, part 2

One other thing. This reading has been on my mind for months and I shared it on two different occasions just yesterday. It has had a huge impact on where I think God is leading me right now.

From Adrian Plass's When You Walk

God with us

Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV)

'Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does [he will of my Father . Many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and... drive out demons and perform many miracles?" Then I will tell them... "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!"'

A few years ago Bridget and [ met a lady whose husband had recent­ly died after contracting one of those appalling diseases that cause almost total physical helplessness. Mary and Chris (not their real names) had enjoyed a very happy marriage and were devastated. Quite apart from the dread of death, there was the fact that every­day living was now very hard work for Mary, and terribly frustrating for Chris. Two things happened towards the end of Chris' life that have some bearing on today's passage.

First, Chris was taken by a well-meaning friend, in his wheelchair, to a local healing meeting. When he was returned later that evening Mary was horrified to discover that both of his knees were grazed and bleeding. The distraught friend explained that the 'healers' had lifted Chris out of his wheelchair two or three times, and after pray­ing loudly for his healing on each occasion, had dropped him onto his knees, telling him that he was now able to walk. It was an unimaginably awful experience on every level.

The second thing was the arrival on the doorstep one day of another Christian friend, whom 1 shall call Eileen, to announce qui­etly that the Holy Spirit had sent her to help look after Chris for as long as was necessary. Eileen was married and had a family herself, but from that day she was as good as her word. The burden of work was halved, and Chris could stop worrying about his wife wearing herself out. Mary was even able to take a brief holiday.

After Chris' death Eileen continued to support Mary, and was in fact with her when we met at a holiday house-party in Devon.

"Not long after Chris died,' Mary told us, 'my son, Martin, said to me one day, "Mummy, wasn't it good how Auntie Eileen came to be God for us that day?'"

It was indeed good that a true follower of Jesus had heard a com­mand and obeyed it. It was the tougher, more committed way, but it was what God wanted, and that's the point. Of course God does heal in miraculous ways, but if a desire for spiritual gymnastics over­comes the rule of love and obedience—we'd better watch out.

Prayer

Bind us to your will, Lord. Keep our eyes and ears on you.

I wonder sometimes if the time we spend doing things "for God" are things we do simply because they are a whole lot easier than doing what God really wants - to love people in all the messiness of life. Maybe God doesn't heal people as much as we'd like to see - physically and emotionally - because the healing is supposed to come from us - in our presence, our words, our touch, our actions, but most importantly, our time. Instead of prayer for inner emotional healing, maybe a lot of people need about 2 dozen other people who will love them unconditionally over 3 years in order to see the healing that we'd much rather see God perform instantly with someone rolling on the ground in tears. I'm not denying that God can do miracles. But I don't see a lot of them happening and I've stopped believing we just have to press in more and have more faith. I think God wants to change us more than our conditions. The purpose of fire is holiness, not hyperness.

I John 4:
11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.