"We groan earnestly, desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven" (2 Corinthians 5:2)

Pastor Dennis Broxton is going home to be with the Lord. We’ve been visiting him on Friday afternoons since his return to the VA Hospital and his condition has been worsening.

You may recall from previous sermons that Pastor Dennis has been paralyzed since 1976, when he was injured in a fall. His wife went to be with the Lord ten years later and then his son died. A few weeks ago, this quadriplegic man lost his voice when they did a tracheotomy in order to save his life.

I’ve never met anybody more full of the Lord than this man, and I confess that it has been increasingly stressful to visit him. How could someone like him be in that bed and for this long? In many of these visits I have been accompanied by Dennis Stinson, who is also a quadriplegic. When Dennis Stinson and I were talking on Friday afternoon, both of us related that our grief has troubled us during these visits.

We love him and don’t want him to be in that condition. Our grief also makes it difficult to pray effectively for him.

When we were in the "V" Ward on Friday afternoon, the doctor told us his kidneys have failed, his lungs aren’t working, and "his heart is at 28%". It’s time for him to go and be with Jesus and I guess our main question has been, why did he stay here so long? After all, it’s been more than a quarter century since he became a quadriplegic.

I can see the RESULTS of his life in that time. He certainly enriched Dennis Stinson’s walk with the Lord. Mr. Stinson has become a man who admittedly and openly wants to be like Pastor Broxton. And the medical personnel can’t say enough good about him, for he has blessed everybody who came in contact with him.

I guess our concern is simple distress at the suffering of this very good man.

A large multitude of people (Luke 12:1 & forward) had gathered to listen to the words of Jesus. Some of them told Jesus "about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices" (Luke 13:1). Apparently those Galilean people were involved in religious activities at the very time they were killed.

Jesus replied, "Do you suppose that those Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered such things?" (Luke 13:2). He continued by raising another question: "Or those eighteen on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwell in Jerusalem?" (Luke 13:4). The onlookers didn’t say anything, and Jesus answered both questions with the same answer: "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3 and 13:5).

Interesting. To "repent" in this context, much like our concerns for Dennis Broxton, is to learn to TRUST in the God who allowed the circumstances. It’s easy to trust God when things go "well" from our perspective. But what about those times when life doesn’t go the way we want?

Peter reported "you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:6-7). Your faith will be tested and so will mine. Sometimes the testing is in relation to the suffering of others, when we can do nothing for them.

There is a character in the Old Testament named Habakkuk, who was concerned that his people had become a nation of sinners and he prayed to God about the problem. God replied "I am raising up the Chaldeans, a bitter… nation…" (Habakkuk 1:6). Habakkuk’s people were to be overrun by a nation that was even worse than his; and this man (God’s prophet) was greatly troubled. He did not understand how God could allow such a thing!

But Habakkuk’s faith in God was true, and he came to the place where he was able to say, "though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls – yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation" (Habakkuk 3:17-18).

Though the religion of those "Galileans" (whether good or bad) was mocked by the soldiers of Pilate... Though the "eighteen" were killed by the fall of that tower... Though a nation was to be taken into captivity by the godless Chaldeans... Though Dennis Broxton was a quadriplegic for over a quarter century & still continues to suffer physically... Though over six thousand were killed when terrorists took airplanes and flew them into the hearts, lives, and buildings of American people... Will you trust in Him?

What is YOUR problem right now? We’ve all got them. There are areas in our lives that are like aches that never seem to go away.

Note that when Jesus talked about the "Galileans" and the "eighteen", the solution to ALL problems of life was in their midst right at that moment. Jesus had come to this earth to DIE for them, for you and for me. We are all sinners and from God’s perspective, unable (and even unwilling) to save ourselves. Yet "by His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5) and Jesus showed His sovereignty and His intentions, by saying to an onlooker, "Woman, you are healed of your infirmity" (Luke 13:12). And she was healed.

Why did He not heal Dennis Broxton during all those years, just like that woman? We do not know. But we do know that we have the opportunity to look to Jesus and be healed for all eternity. God will bring GOOD from all of our grief. Will you trust in Him now?

Ron Beckham, Pastor
Friday Study Ministries
www.fridaystudy.org
Ron@fridaystudy.org