27 August 2007 Devotion for Today "Is Anyone Sick?" James 5:13-18

27 August 2007  Devotion for Today  “Is Anyone Sick?”  James 5:13-18

 

It was a sense of being in the center of God’s will that gave Luther his great boldness in prayer. In 1540 Luther’s great friend and assistant, Frederick Myconius, become sick and was expected to die within a short time. On his bed he wrote a loving farewell note to Luther with a trembling hand. Luther received the letter and instantly sent back a reply: “I command thee in the name of God to live because I still have need of thee to survive me. For this I am praying, this is my will, and may my will be done, because I seek only to glorify the name of God.” The words are almost shocking to us, as we live in a more sensitive and cautious day, but they are certainly from God. For although Myconius had already lost the ability to speak when Luther’s letter came, in short time he revived. He recovered completely, and he lived six more years to survive Luther himself by two months

 

I have to tell you, I am struggling to maintain my faith in the medical system as it is practiced in our country.  I have lived in other parts of the world where the cost of medicine is proportional to what the average person can afford.  People are scared to get sick.  What I mean is, people are afraid to be without medical insurance in the United States, and yet when someone gets sick and has to use it, the costs of the ten or twenty percent cause some to have to mortgage the homes they have been working for thirty years to pay for.  Then there are outrageous deductibles and drug costs.  When someone comes down with a disease- and it doesn’t necessarily have to be catastrophic- the thought that crosses many people’s minds, especially when they think of the costs to their family is this “Is it really worth it for me to stay alive?”  More and more people fear going to the doctor- not because they are afraid of hearing the news of some dread disease, but because they are afraid that once glance at the doctor bill will cause them to drop dead from a heart attack.  I wonder how many cardiac care patients got that way by opening up their statements from the insurance company?

 

In reality, Christians have the best medical care, life insurance, and disability plan all rolled up into one.  The problem is that we are so focused upon what the world offers that we seldom see what God has been offering us since the time of creation:

            13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses[e] to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.”  James 5:13-18

 

            Remember, these words were written millennia before there was medical insurance.  There were doctors, but only the top ten percent could afford them and even then the knowledge to prolong life was minimal.  When people got sick, many times they died.  That may sound horrible to our modern minds, but that is what we are returning to.  But there are worse things than dying.  There is living an existence with no life’s meaning or purpose- which is what people have outside of Christ.   There is living with the constant fear that one is going to be financially ruined for generations.   There is living with constant pain and agony.   But we have a resource of prayer that most people do not have.  In addition to our medical insurance, we can apply to the Great Physician to heal us and give us the strength and hope that we need .  Now, we may not always be healed, but we will with certainty be cured.  As Christians we have eternal life in heaven to look forward to where we will never have to pop another pill or go to the emergency room.  We will be with Jesus and will never be sick again.

 

It is never a trivial thing to call for prayer if you are sick.  Do not discount it.  Time does not permit me to testify of the remarkable or miraculous healings that have taken place because people took time to pray.  James says that effectual, fervent prayers are the ones that avail much. You may be suffering from no more than a sniffle.  Take time to pray for that, too! 

 

Have a blessed day!

 

*From Dec 7 2005)

 

 

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@embarqmail.com

jcrussell@liberty.edu

 

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