Every Misery Has an Answer

Thank you all for your kind concern for our welfare over this past weekend. We were both down with the flu - thankfully Lynne's case was mild, but my case was perhaps the worst I've ever experienced. Many of you posted, texted, IM'ed, emailed, and called to offer prayer, comfort, and assistance. Steve Reitz was called on Saturday evening with an urgent request to preach the message Sunday morning, and we are particularly grateful to him. Thanks for being family.

Without giving a descriptive narrative of our year-end "adventure," suffice it to say that I faced a long, varied sequence of miseries. But now in the aftermath, I realized that every misery had an answer. The misery of nausea had an answer - meds to fight it, and facilities just hurried steps away to relieve it. The misery of chills so strong they caused seizure-like shaking had an answer - blankets, thermal clothing, space heater, and even a household furnace. The misery of a desperate desire for it all to just go away had an answer - prayer to the God who is there. And so on. As the illness progressed into new miseries, each misery had an answer. Lynne's care was the answer to many miseries.

The answers to the miseries didn't always make the misery go away instantly. But there was an answer - something available, something to turn to, something that helped. There was no misery, no matter how uncomfortable, that lacked an answer.

Then I thought of those who don't always have answers to their miseries. It was easy for me to imagine what it would have been like if I did not have those answers available.

Some people don't have answers for their physical miseries. Whether we talk about our friends in Kenya or our friends across town, some don't have the blankets or the space heater or the furnace or even the facilities. Some don't have the meds. The answers exist, but some don't have access to the answers. Even if the answers don't immediately eradicate the misery, having access to answers brings hope to the misery.

More importantly, some don't have answers to their spiritual miseries. I always had access to God in prayer (and when you're sick, you tend to pray more raw, more honest, more prayerful prayers than when things are going well). There is the great answer we need to our misery of sin and its penalty, and there are ongoing answers to the full variety of spiritual miseries. But those who do not have a personal relationship with God through Christ don't have that Answer at hand. The Answer exists, but some don't have access to that Answer. Even if that answer doesn't immediately eradicate every spiritual misery, having access to the Answer brings hope to the misery.

Everyone you know has spiritual miseries - perhaps evident, perhaps hidden, but certainly present. However, every misery does have an answer. Our access to the Answer to our spiritual misery is found only through Jesus Christ. A weekend bout with the flu makes it easy to imagine what life would be like without access to the answers to our miseries. Make sure your neighbor knows where to find that Answer.