7/21/12 Am I patient in affliction? Great question for each
of us to ask ourselves on a soul searching Saturday.
For some Memphis business folks, the greatest “constant” affliction
is their weekday commute in the “crazy” Memphis traffic. For parents at St.
Jude, it’s enduring the day- in, day-out rounds of chemo and radiation, as they “fight” for their child’s life.
In these situations, both the “patient” and the parent/caregiver need patience
in such an affliction. Others find affliction in the chair that confines
them---the paralysis that holds them.
Not all afflictions are physically painful---though it often
feels that way. Emotional afflictions of disappointment in a child’s rebellion,
deep regret, fear, rejection by a
loved one, are all equally painful. Heartache.
For Christians,
Romans 12: 12 bookends the term, “patient in affliction”, with two other
phrases. Fervent in prayer, the bookend that closes the verse, provides the
earthly answer---prayers for ones own suffering supported by prayers of others
for them. Intercessory prayer is powerful.
“Joyful in hope
is the first bookend and it is key! Hope for a better tomorrow. For some that’s
possible this side of eternity. For those whose “earthly affliction” is diagnosed as chronic
or terminal, their daily hope is reliance on the rest, strength and grace from the God of all comfort.
This daily hope coupled with their eternal hope provides the patience needed in
the affliction
Many have that patience in abundance. Ohers do not. Do you?
