God is good.
I met a man at the nursing home yesterday who touched me deeply. He has diabetes and over the course of the last several months has lost several toes and the side of one of his feet. He is currently undergoing intensive IV antibiotic therapy to destroy any lingering infection in the tissue of his feet. The doctor assures him that the infection in his bones is gone. He is not an old man. Just a couple years older than me.
This man has every right to be angry. I would not have looked down on him if he had harbored some bitterness at his condition.
But I didn't sense anything like that in my conversation with him after the worship service.
What I sensed was a deep faith in God's abiding presence and care. Not because he blithely thought that God was going to "make everything work out all right." Clearly things had not worked out the way he had hoped they would, at least as far as his physical health was concerned.
And yet, this man's trust in God was almost palpable.
Some of us lose our faith when bad things happen.
This man's faith was faith in spite of the difficulties he faced.
Pains shooting up his leg when he shifted in his wheelchair may have tried to convince him not to, but he trusted that God loved him. The stumps he looked at when the nurses changed his bandages may have cried out, "you're all alone in this world," but he knew that God was with him.
I'm probably being overly dramatic. I'm sure this guy would be terribly embarrassed by what I've written. He certainly had no intention of trying to be a spiritual show-off!
But I know Jesus put him in my path for a reason yesterday. And it sure wasn't just so he could hear my sorry sermon!
Sometimes my faith seems to disappear at the first hint of discomfort.
"Pain? Difficulty? God must not love me!"
This man showed me something I need to remember: It's possible (maybe not easy, but possible) to trust God when life hurts.
And by trusting God when life hurts, we stay open to God's help in the midst of our difficulty.
The fact is that my acquaintance is blessed. For all the suffering he is currently enduring, he is truly a blessed man. Jesus abides in him. This man lives in God's Word. He knows his sins are forgiven and enjoys a peace and serenity that many people will never experience as long as they live. He is grateful for the healing he experiences. He actively seeks opportunities to share God's love with others, whether it's in the nursing home, or the inner city neighborhood he lives in.
In Romans, Paul wrote, "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose."
I don't know why some rotten, painful stuff has to happen. But I know that when it does, it doesn't mean God is out to get us.
And with God's help, and the help of people like my new friend, I am learning to stay in touch with God...no matter what.
Because when we do, God has a way of taking all of the things that happen-the good, the bad and the ugly--and working them together for good.
Grace and Peace, Pastor Dave