Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Scripture- “ Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.”- 2 Thessalonians 1:4-10
Insight: Theologian and Professor John Piper is one of my favorite Christian minds. He has a way of explaining complex concepts in the Christian Faith in a way that many times I had never considered or came close to looking at from a similar viewpoint. This last week, my family and I got hit hard by Covid and the last few days have been miserable at best. When you don’t feel good physically, and you are weak, it is hard to find silver linings in much. But I listened to a sermon by John Piper yesterday during the height of my discomfort and it really grabbed my attention. He was teaching on the above Scripture from 2 Thessalonians 1:4-10 when the church at Thessalonica was suffering under all kinds of persecution and trials because of their faith in Christ Jesus. Piper made the following statement as to why the persecutions were really to their benefit because they were being proven “worthy” of their faith and their suffering was actually drawing them closer to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He said “Our afflictions are God’s infirmary to heal us from the disease of worldliness, and to prepare us to marvel at Christ when He comes again.” At first this was a bit of a shocking statement. How could our afflictions be viewed as God’s infirmary? It didn’t make much sense. But then I saw it clearly by listening again to the 2nd part of the sentence- “to heal us from the disease of worldliness, and to prepare us to marvel at Christ when He comes again.”
So what did this really mean specifically and how could I apply it to my current situation, and hopefully you can see how to apply it to your life and situation as well? It meant that any of our afflictions, if they turn us away from something lesser and back to Christ, are ultimately for our good, and thus they do act as an infirmary for our souls. I was sick, and feeling bad, but in my physical illness it gave me a chance to remember how fleeting this life is and to spend time focused on Jesus, asking Him to help me to heal and to focus on His strength because mine was lacking. It allowed me time to think about all the things I was thankful for and for a moment anyway to turn away from thinking about anything other than my relationship with Him. This was the point Piper was making exactly: Any kind of affliction that takes us away from worldliness and gets us focused back on Christ is ultimately for our benefit as a Christian. Is it a benefit to be sick with Covid? Absolutely not! But if during my illness, the affliction draws me closer to my realization of how important Christ is to me, and to realize again how much I need Him above all else, then it has some tangible benefit. It could be the same for any of the other afflictions or persecutions we will encounter in our lives because of our belief in Jesus Christ, be they financial, medical, social, relational, reputational or anything else. If they help us to turn away from worldliness and get us back focused on Christ, then our souls will be more closely aligned with the anticipation of the joy and splendor that will be ours as believers when we see Him face to face. So in that sense, just like the Church of Thessalonica that Paul is writing to above, our afflictions can absolutely be seen as God’s infirmary for the wretched disease of worldliness, where we mistakenly substitute lesser things in place of the glorious thing of putting Christ first before all else. By putting Christ back in His proper position, we will then long for His return with more energy and expectancy than ever before.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we are sorry when we substitute lesser things in place of knowing You and seeking You above all else. Therefore, any affliction or persecution or trial or tribulation that brings us back to relying on You alone is indeed a good thing for our soul, even when it doesn’t feel good going through it at the time. This takes proper perspective to see the truth in this thought. Help us to clearly see all things through Your eyes. Amen!
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