Jesus, our Mainstay

 

December- Messiah

                     

                       

                        “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Joshua 1:5

           

 As children of God, we learn that Jesus upholds us as we go through the ordeals of life. This is something we learn mostly by experience. It seems that those trying times come our way in order to make us stronger in our faith.

 Some friends of mine have learned this quality of Jesus in very personal ways. A woman goes in for joint replacement surgery that went awry. She was in and out of the hospitals for slightly over a year. In the process, she had to change doctors and hospitals in order to get through her ordeal. For her and her family, Jesus was their mainstay.

 Another friend has a daughter who is pregnant. The daughter has had some difficult issues with carrying her son. God has been with this friend as she tries to be there for her daughter and unborn grandson. Lots of prayers have gone up for this daughter and her husband as they await the arrival of their son.

 When our son lived in Kansas, one summer he chose to camp in Rocky Mountain National Park on his vacation. On the day he arrived, a forest fire started in one part of the park. Hubby was worried. I was concerned for our son and for my hubby. Prayers of God’s people went up for our son. God kept him safe. God brought us through that time.

   I know several couples where one is seriously ill: a wife, mother, and grandmother who is a stroke victim, another wife, and mother requiring dialysis three times a week. In both of these families, the husband has been there to care for the wife as he can with some supplemental help. I remember a neighbor who took care of his wife for ten years, nine and a half of those years not knowing the name of what caused her to be ill. In each of these instances, Jesus has been their mainstay.

           

 Twenty years ago when my dad received a cancer diagnosis right after Thanksgiving. I could not think about Christmas coming in one month. I was puzzled about all the preparations people seemed to be making. Had it not been for my church family and their prayers, I don’t believe I would have been able to get through that time. Jesus was my mainstay.

 What I am trying to say is that Jesus, our Messiah stands by us during those hard and distasteful times of our lives.  Because of our humanity, we sometimes forget that He is in control. We also forget that He stands with us as we face trying times.

            As I sit here making this input, I realize God has all things in His hands. The book we are studying in Sunday school,”Think, Act, Be(lieve) Like Jesus,”: has a section made up of short chapters on the Fruit of the Spirit. I have read ahead. In the chapter entitled Self-Control the author says something that I had never thought about. Self-control for a Christian is God-control. Having been under the weather (read sick) all of this advent season, I have had time to think deeply about godly things, especially about this issue of God’s control of my life.

  The Messiah came in order that we might live in freedom from our sins. He came to save us and to heal us from our diseases. 

            I have heard it said that we should observe Christmas all year round. By this, I have come to realize that we should honor Jesus by how we live every day.