A Lot of Time to Think

Source: www.cbcmoscow.com --- Friday, May 27, 2016
As I sit in my chair and watch my wife sleep, I have a lot of time to think. One thing I think a lot about is how the saints have drawn together to honor and bless our family. There are a few things people should know, however. Ours is not the only suffering family in our church. We have another family who is going through similar things with cancer (they have been battling for over 10 years), and many who have gone through it in the past few years. We have lots and lots of families with new babies. Lots of families with other health issues that have offered opportunities for the church to minister to them. We have had men get laid off from work, broken bones, surgeries, illnesses and all the normal things people go through. All this to say that, in terms of suffering, we’re a pretty normal church community. Some people have observed what is going on with our family and have attributed it to the fat that we live in a small town. But while there are some things about being in a small town that contribute to what we’ve been observing, it certainly isn’t the whole story—not even close. What we are seeing is the body of Christ, Christ’s body, Christ functioning like a healthy body is supposed to function. Paul tells us in Ephesians 5 that husbands are to love their wives as they love their own body (v. 28). He is assuming that we all love our bodies, which we do. Then he continues and says that we nurture and cherish them and so shou ...