Grace is more than goods

Do Christians get sick?  Do Christians experience physical difficulty? Do the chosen children of God suffer under the effects of this fallen world?  

What interesting questions.  Especially coming from someone who’s wife is in a battle with cancer.  But I want to ask it just the same.  While the answer may be for me a foregone conclusion there is a subtle teaching within broad Christianity that somehow a favored child of God is more exempt from the struggles of this fallen world than someone outside of the grace of God.  

What stimulated this thought today?  
A couple days ago my wife and I, while sitting in the living room together, were listening to a well-known televangelist (not something we often do) who began to tout his wealth, his health and the blessings of this life that God had given Him as a result of his faith and standing with the Lord.  He spent considerable time describing his “mansion”, a home he described as the “largest preachers home in America.”  He described his wealth as providing for he and his wife the ability to do “anything, at anytime, as much as they desired.”  And then he said, we “haven’t been sick one time in 40 years”.  He then went on to describe how those listening could experience this kind of life.  

Quite a list of bold statements by this man.  While I don’t doubt his wealth or the size of his home or even that he has had amazing medical care that has enabled him to live a fairly healthy life, I absolutely doubt his theology, It is neither Christian or Biblical.  I have no doubt that this man has, through his religious shenanigans, made a good living, but I also know he is laying up treasures on earth, not in Heaven.   His teaching makes a mockery our of every martyr in church history and is disputed over and over again by the scripture itself.  

The scripture is abundantly clear that real treasure and blessings are not found on this earth.  Actually Jesus tells us that while we live in this world we will “have trouble” (Jn 16:33) but there is something more powerful than earthly possessions for the Christian.  That is we possess vibrant spiritual life and blessing while remaining in these broken bodies.  

The apostle Paul in II Corinthians describes this truth this way from the example of own life

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

He sums up his teaching on the simultaneous existence of earthly struggles and spiritual victory in verse 16 by saying, 

 Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

What was interesting about the timing of this televangelist message for us was that Janel and I were at that moment both sick.  She was laying there under the effects of her cancer and chemotherapy and I have been battling a serious cold/flu/something for several days.  

Actually this man did help us though, while we found no comfort in his heresy we did find a bit of humor in his statements.  Our help came from God. We found great comfort in knowing the words of scripture, receiving the ministry of the Holy Spirit and believing the promises of God.  

This morning I praise God that Grace is more than Goods.  Holiness is a greater gift than Health.  And the Promises of God are still good in the midst of the Problems of this life!    

So today for only the 3rd time in 29 1/2 years I missed a Sunday morning service due to sickness. 

Yes, we may be feeling under the weather, and we may even be feeling this way while we sit in our small and modest home,  yet we are blessed.  We have been renewed by the grace of God, the Word of God and the Spirit of God.

Yep true Christians get sick and they know that grace is sufficient for every battle and it is certainly more than a temporary blessing! 

BE ENCOURAGED, WE’RE CHRISTIANS!

PT