You see, Papa was an extremely talented man. If an instrument had a string on it, my grandfather could play it. From the mandolin to the bass guitar, my grandfather knew how to make an instrument sing. We would often listen to many genres of music, and he would teach me how to distinguish which instrument was being played. Because of this, I now love all types of music. Depending on my mood, I enjoy listening to anything from bluegrass to gospel. I guess that is why my mind is like a radio. Unless I'm asleep, there is always a song playing in my head. During a conversation, I will often have a song pop-in my head that relates to what was just said. For me, life is a musical.
After I was diagnosed with lupus, God kept bringing this song to mind. I suppose it's because I felt like God had abandoned me. In my opinion, since God had allowed me to get sick and He didn't heal me, this must mean He had abandoned me. For a long time, I thought I was the only one to ever have such thoughts, but the more people I've met suffering with a chronic illness, the more I've realized the majority of sick people have thought this at one time or another. Yet the longer I study Scripture, the more I see how wrong these thoughts are.
Philippians 1:6 says God will finish the good work He began in us; He will make us perfect. The original Greek word for perfect means "whole, complete, fulfilled." The tense of the word indicates that God is continually working in the lives of His children. He is always at work in our lives so that we will become the people He created us to be. No, God doesn't abandon His children. He loves us so much that He works to make us whole and complete. If we will allow Him, God can and will use something as difficult as a chronic illness to make us perfect.
So forget the thought that God has abandoned you. Don't believe the lie that He doesn't care. It simply isn't true. He's still working on each and every one of us. The children's song got it right. How loving and patient God must be, because He's still working on you and me.
"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." ~ Philippians 1:6 (NASB)
(c) June 27, 2012