Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Compassionate Healing

The Presence of Pain Does not Mean the Absence of Healing

Acts 8:1-13

Jerel Chacko M.D.

Epiphany MTC, NY
7. "for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralyzed or lame were cured."
The Apostle Paul, arguably the most influential apostle, began life as Saul, persecutor of Christians.  Many times, we struggle and ask ourselves, “Why does God allow evil to exist?  Why do bad things happen to good people?”  We cannot comprehend the infinite wisdom of our Lord but we must believe that the universe and all of space and time are within His mighty hands.  Do you think that the early Christians, in their small clusters in Jerusalem, saw Saul as someone who would one day advance God’s Kingdom?  Yet God took Saul and transformed him to the Apostle Paul who did what would have been thought impossible.  His persecution of the church caused the early Christians to scatter into the nearby areas, fueling the spread of the Gospel.  
A light should not be hidden in a clay jar; but when we gather solely in the same group, we are hiding the light of God’s Word.  Instead, the light needs to be shared!  Are we not lighted to lighten?  We see that this initial “bad event” served as a catalyst to bring the Good News out from under the clay jar to the farthest corners of the earth.  Today, we continue to be called to place our light, our community, on a hill where it cannot be hidden.  
Sometimes that calling is the setting of peace, and sometimes that calling is in the setting of tragedy.  From the day that Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were cast from the Garden of Eden, the bond between mankind and God was damaged.  All of human history has been a process to heal that damage with Jesus’ sacrifice serving as the final treatment.  And when there are injuries, many times there can be pain involved in the process that ensures good healing, whether it is fixing a broken bone or cleaning an infected wound; yet withholding life-saving treatment to spare someone moments of pain, would seem unwise.  Likewise, let us trust that the moments of pain we feel in our lives are deliberately permitted by God in His wisdom for our greater good, for the greater good of all mankind.

PRAYER

Father God, You are Holy and all-knowing and all-powerful.  Help us to grow in our faith and rely not on our strength but on Yours.  Remind us to shine our light into the world around us so that others may find their way to You. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
If Saul the persecutor became Paul the apostle, what are we considering impossible that the Lord does not?

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