Him through whom,
extraordinary miracles were wrought,
by the hand of God;
so that even remotely, by handkerchief,
illnesses are cured, demons exorcised.
Must now leave behind, a trusted associate,
sick in transit.
The Ephesian Asian,
one of a dwindling number of associates,
fellow servant in the cause of Christ,
fellow traveler on the journey to Rome,
and to do so knowing, he would never see him again.
Makes you wonder;
why did Paul not heal him?
It does not say.
But then you consider,
the instrumentality of Paul,
and the sovereignty of God,
who ultimately decides, in His wisdom,
who gets healed, when, and how.
Who must thus be; the focus of petition,
the target of adoration,
in the event of restoration.
Category: Perplexity
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The Sickness of Trophimus
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Whatever? Anything? Really?
13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. - John 14
Promise as irrefutable, as it is unqualified,
(only that we ask in his name).
No ‘if’s, no ‘and’s, no ‘but’s.Then there’s the lived experience,
of many a Christian,
who has asked and not received,
what they have asked for,
in Jesus’ name.And not just new converts:
making sincere, if immature requests,
to spend on their desires;
seasoned saints, earnestly seeking,
the good of others, downtrodden and infirm.
or just seeking, patent good.Whatever? Anything? Really?
How do you begin? To square this circle?
the quick and easy way out?
fault the supplicant, dodge the issue;
‘your request was compromised, by a deficit of faith,
unconfessed sin, wrong doctrine, or other technicality.’Really, how do you begin? to square this circle?
in humility, you can start,
by considering what all have,
who have asked for it believing:
the gift of salvation.Then you try,
to understand the enormity,
of the sacrifice behind that gift,
and maybe you consider,
the transience of this broken order,
of even the deepest of human afflictions.
In contrast to the future,
salvation guarantees, into perpetuity.
Alongside his promise to be there,
even in the roughest of places.Then perhaps by considering also,
the height of His ways above ours,
His majesty, His mystery, our humanity.Acknowledging He stands apart from time,
while we, circumscribed by our finitude,
see dimly as though looking,
through cloudy lens.
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Cold Trail
Sometimes our present coordinates make sense,
we are where we are as a matter of course,
where we expected we would be.
We believed His leading, followed His precepts,
so here we are, where our faith has led us,
in the ‘thick of things’, where ‘it all makes sense.’We may even be mildly impatient,
with those less certain, of their station and direction,
‘of course you will receive guidance, if you ask for it..’Then there are those times,
when we are less certain,
and it’s been a minute, since we last heard,
‘in 500ft turn right.’
So we wonder if we missed a turn,
We should have gotten ‘there’ by now.The trail goes cold.
Our days, the actions within them,
feel detached from anything bigger,
losing consequence, serial chores is all they become.Here we must stop.
Backtracking as needed, to our last certain location,
that place of conviction without ambiguity,
that last thing we heard to do, last place we knew to be,
then probe for the usual culprits;
like disobedience –
that nemesis of many a walk of faith,
destroyer of destinies,
that point at which we frequently part ways with certainty.
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Righteous, Blameless, but…
Luke 1:6
When you live by the precepts of the faith,
noteworthy in your pursuit,
of what is right before God and man.Then concurrent to your devotion,
a very obvious ‘unmet’ need.
Meeting what need, will take an act of God.And all your petitions to that point
yield little in response. As you run out of time.
So you trudge on,
faithful to religious duty,
serving the one who is able,
to bring joy and delight to you and to many,
and glory to His name,
through that which now causes you pain.