5-21-2018

Good Morning All,

          Jeremiah 17:14; “Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed.  Rescue me, and I will be rescued.  You are the one I praise”

     Have you ever had someone tell you to eat or drink something because “it’s good for what ails you?”  It is really amazing all the things they tell you to try to fix whatever is wrong with you.  I think what fascinates me the most is how the advice about what is and what isn’t good for you changes from year to year.  A few years ago I had a heart attack.  I was put on fish oil pills, 4 a day.  They told me that the omega-3 was good for me.  Now I read where omega-3 may cause some types of cancer.  Coffee was good and then bad but now is sort of ok again.

    Who really knows where eggs are?  They jump from good to bad like some version of a tennis match.  If you add in all the “folk” remedies, it would seem that everything is both good and bad for you at the same time.  No wonder I get a headache but I am told chamomile tea will fix that.

    While some of our physical ails might be helped by a little herbal tea, the contentment of our heart and soul cannot.  When it comes to our soul and to our heart the only real healing comes from God.  The pain that exists in our heart is not easily soothed.  It takes a lot of care and a loving touch.  This we receive only through Jesus.

    We see and experience so much pain in this world.  Some seems so chaotic, such as a child that falls of a bike and dies of a brain injury.  Some seems almost too cruel like the man in Cleveland who held those three women hostages for so many years.  Some seem so self-destructive we wonder why we even do them.  Yet all these actions cause a tremendous amount of pain and doubt, both of our own worth and of God’s love.  We wallow in self-pity and in pain.  Yet the biggest effect is that it erodes our relationships.  We are no longer able to trust our family and friends, our selves or God.  We see all these as enemies because of the pain which we endure.

    Despite all of our efforts, we find no comfort; we find no healing.  There is nothing in this world that is “good for what ails us.”  Our only source of comfort and hope comes from Jesus.  It is only through his redeeming sacrifice that we are truly healed.  It is through his grace that we are rescued from the pain that the devil inflicts upon us.  Through all the pain of this world we must always remember that we are God’s redeemed children and that the plight of this world will pass but God’s love will not.  Our only hope is in Christ; hold onto to that everlasting truth as it will cure what ails you.

   Dear Father in heaven, you give us healing in your Word and the soothing balm of your love.  Give us that sense of your touch in our lives.  Comfort us and give to us the assurance of your everlasting love.  Be with those who especially are struggling with health or family struggles.  Give them your comfort and move us to be your arms and loving hands.  In Jesus precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret