THE SHEPHERD’S CORNER

As Santy shared in the Bible Study Fellowship a couple of weeks ago, she has been ministering to a friend who is embattling cancer. This dear friend is actually the wife of my friend—someone that I have known since childhood. We went to the same church and attended the same high school. He and his wife served the Lord faithfully in our home church in Jakarta before they moved to North America. Here they also serve the Lord. Santy and I were privileged to be invited to their church and stay in their house some years ago.

As I reflected upon her illness, my memory went back to the time we knew them in Jakarta. I remembered how fervently they served God and how lovingly they ministered to the others, and how happy and healthy they looked. The past few years have been difficult for them. She has had rounds and rounds of therapy, and he has, on top of working full-time and ministry at church, always been there for her—in pain and in tears. Because of what they’ve gone through they have not looked the same. Pain has a way of disfiguring us!

I think we all can relate to them. We have had our share of pain and disappointment; consequently, we, too, have changed. Pain has a way of disfiguring us. But, that’s OK. God has never meant for us to preserve how we look—forever unscathed. If that were so, He would have reined in suffering from coming. But, that He does not do. He permits pain to visit us and at times, even to disfigure us.

I am sure we have been to a tires store. There we see stacks of new tires—clean and shiny—and smell rubber. But, the intended place for tires is not in the store but on the road. Over time and miles, they will not look or smell the same anymore. We’re like old tires—worn and dirty—but that’s OK. It shows God has driven us a lot.

Pastor Paul