“Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you,
which is your glory.” (Eph 3:13 AV)
Going through hard times
is part and parcel of service in ministry.
It is important the servant of God share his trials while in the service
of the King, but in such a way these trials do not become a source of discouragement
on those whom his is trying to minister the truth of who God is and what God can
do. What is interesting is Paul’s time
in Ephesus was brief. While he was
there, he suffered persecution and almost went to trial. This church grew and matured rapidly to the
point they could survive and thrive without the present leadership of the Apostle. Upon their request, he left Ephesus for the
time being. For his own safety, they asked
that he journey on and return as some later date. Paul’s desire here, obviously written after
the event described above, is they would not allow the problems of the missionary
to keep them from fighting the good fight.
The affect our afflictions have on those who depend upon our faith is up
to us.
My mother is a great
example. She was a type II diabetic that
required both types of insulin. She was
then diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
This us what eventually took his life.
I remember going to see her at one of her treatments. It was just a few months before she
passed. We had a great visit. There she sat, with a tube of chemo emptying
into her veins. Never did we discuss her
situation. She wouldn’t have it. We talked about family. She wanted to know how my family was doing. We reminisced about days of old. Camping adventures, the holidays, living in
our home town, etc. We laughed at things
we as kids did which she never knew we did.
Like sabotaging a Christmas tree.
Or running a fun house business in the basement for our
neighborhood. Of getting sick on a pack
of her cigarettes in the tree fort one afternoon. One story after another brought smiles and
laughter. After those two or three hours
of fellowship, we forgot why she was there to begin with. That was my mother. Never a complaint. When she had back surgery, we all pitched
in. But she never complained. When there was one rocky patch and my mom was
pushed to great concern for our family, we knew something bad might happen, but
she relieved our fears even though she was still filled with doubt and fear.
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