My brothers and sisters with chronic illness

Today, my mind and heart have been on those who battle long-term, debilitating pain and sickness. I have had a cold for a week. Granted, it is the worst cold I have had in 3 years. But it is just a cold. I know it won’t kill me. I know there are multiple over the counter remedies for every expression of viral misery in my body. And best of all, I know the pain will end [most colds last about 9 days – 3 days coming, 3 days here, 3 days going].

And I’ve gotta confess – even though it’s just a cold – I have whined my way through the first 7 of the 9 days. I simply haven’t felt good – and I’ve worn it on my sleeve more than once. In fact, I’ve apologized to Carla multiple times in the past week for my lousy attitude.

Which brings me to my friends who live with chronic illness. What about them? Some of them live with illnesses which may shorten their lives. For some of these illnesses, there is no drugstore symptomatic relief. And some of my friends know that until they cross over into eternity, they will battle their disease one moment at a time, day after day, for the rest of their lives.

All this to say – my stupid cold is tuning me into the greater pain of some of my friends. My heart is praying for each of them right now. I pray for strength. For patience. For healing. For symptomatic relief. For a sense of God’s presence. For a vision of their body being whole again. For the courage to face one moment at a time. For the guts to not shrink back and hide but to use the gifts they have been given for the good of others – as they are given strength to do so. For the hope and motivation that comes from trusting that our God is good and present even in what seems so monstrous and bad.

And I pray for the rock-solid foundational encouragement that comes from a deep sense of knowing “the end of the story” – that one day there will be no more tears or heartache or cancer or MS or fibromyalgia or Lou Gehrig’s or cystic fibrosis or paralysis or muscular dystrophy or mental illness or arthritis or amputations or autism…that one day our God will again make His home with us…and all will be new…all will be well.

And God, help me chill on the whining…and to use the gift of whatever health You give me – every moment of every day – for the sake of others and for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.

The Power of Blessing

This past weekend I had the privilege of serving a group of about 500 jr and sr high students at a retreat center up in the mountains about two hours outside Denver. Several things blew me away about the time I spent with these precious kids. First, the pain. The pain. I’ve been around the block a few times and heard many, many stories of wound and hurt – but I was absolutely astounded at the level of pain in these young men and women. Almost every young person I talked to cried and wept and sobbed on my chest as I listened and held them and whispered the love of the Father into their ears. I’m sorry to say that much of the hurt came and continues to come from incredibly abusive or absolutely absent mothers and fathers. When will we get it as parents – that our kids need us to be present TO THEM, not the other way around! We can’t give away what we haven’t received – I know that – so it is up to us to seek our God to fill us up with HIS love [Eph. 3:19] so that we have something to give to our children!

One of the tenderest moments occurred the first night when I sat on the first row of the meeting room in front of a 17 year old young man – and prayed a blessing over him as if I were his father. I got very close to him, looked him right in the eye and told him how much I loved him and how he didn’t need to perform for me because he was my precious son. I told him that the day he was born was one of the greatest days of my life. [He told me later that he was adopted…so when I told him how much his “birth day” meant to me – he lowered his head and began to weep.] I told him that I prayed and hoped that he would continue to develop his character – because it was in his character that he became a true man. I told him I would be there for him as long as our God gave me breath…and that I loved him with all my heart. Then I took his head in my hands and blessed him, and kissed him, and embraced him. And even though I was not his real father and this was simply a role play – this young man melted in my arms – and there were students weeping all over the room.

The rest of the weekend, I had literally dozens of students come to me – and in one way or another – ask me for this same blessing…a blessing they longed to receive from their parents, but never had.

My Father, be with the young men and women I met in Colorado. Stay close to them. Whisper in their ear that you love them, that you are their Abba, that you will never leave them, never forsake them. Hold them close. Give them courage. Give them your guidance, your peace, and your blessing…in Jesus’ name, amen.

Having lost all…I have nothing to lose…

Our men’s bible study is working through Henri Nouwen’s “Return of the Prodigal Son” – Nouwen’s very intimate and personal meditation on Jesus parable from Luke 15 – AND Rembrandt’s famous artistic expression of that same parable. I am in my 5th reading of the book – it is that profound. And today, a line hit me, touched me and moved me…a line I’m sure I’ve read at least 4 times before – but which for some reason found a deeper landing place in my spirit this morning.

This is the line: “The Father has nothing to lose because he has lost all. He has only to give. He can welcome his children home without asking them any questions and without wanting anything from them in return.”

Nouwen’s point is that though we all resemble, at one time or another, both the younger prodigal son as well as the older, resentful brother…God’s goal for us is to become Fathers and Mothers – who can welcome many sons and daughters home, to Him. The key to being an effective Father or Mother? To become one who “has nothing to lose because he has lost all.”

It is only then that we can truly be about giving to our spiritual children. Only then can we truly love our spiritual sons and daughters because true love is never about what we need, but the need of the other. We can only truly welcome home the spiritual kids God might bring to us if we have come to a point where we “want nothing from them in return”. Because this is the way the Father in Luke 15 welcomed home his prodigal son and this is the way our Heavenly Father has welcomed home each of us – without condition, without demand, without expectation, without any hoops to jump through, without any spiritual conditions to meet except that we have decided we want to come home.

He welcomes us freely. He welcomes us by grace. He is a Father who “having lost all, has nothing to lose.” That’s how I want to be…or shall I say, “become”. Father, help me today to continue to become a Father who welcomes home many sons and daughters…just like You. Help me to become a father who “having lost all, has nothing to lose, only to give.”