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The Weekly Winning Thought

Health and Wealth as if There’s Nothing Else

By August 15, 2021No Comments

“What if trials of this life … the rain, the storms, the hardest nights … are your mercies in disguise?”

-Laura Story

 

These following words are from the popular song, “Blessings,” written and performed by Laura Story:

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can’t satisfy?
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise?

These words expressed Story’s personal struggle with trying to understand God’s plan, specifically after her husband Martin, to whom she had been married only two years, was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain tumor. She says it was the beginning of a very long road of the unexpected. He went through many surgeries that initially rendered him unable to walk or read. In a 2012 article, Laura said the song’s message is not just a positive spin on life’s hardships, but it delves into the idea that sometimes health, wealth or prosperity is not what God wants for His followers.

Laura stated that after five years of struggling with her husband’s disability, she and Martin still had more questions than they had answers. She said at that time that on bad days she would question God and ask Him why He didn’t answer her prayers like she wanted Him to. “Sometimes He gives us what we need rather than what we want,” she said.

Today she and Martin are singing the same tune. In a 2020 episode of Focus on the Family, Laura said, “One thing we’ve learned is that it would be easy for us to identify Martin’s disability as the biggest problem in our marriage. But what we’ve learned is that our sin is really the biggest problem in our marriage.” Laura goes on to say that, while the disability was not something she nor Martin asked for, they know that God can redeem it for good, because He uses all things for good.”

I once heard Dennis Rainey ask author and pastor John Piper the following: “If the idol of wealth is the dominant idol in American culture, why has not God stepped in and destroyed it? Why haven’t we had the next Great Depression where God says I will not allow you to worship lesser things?” Piper responded, “If things are going really well it would be a mistake to say this is all a blessing from the Lord, because it may be judgment. The worst judgment America could get is for all people to become prosperous and forget God. And when things are going really bad in the culture, we better not jump to the conclusion this is all judgment, because what could be better than for a father to discipline his children, including the church?”

We Americans are obsessed with health and wealth as if it’s a birthright; a painless life with an overflowing bank account. But as Story sings, what if discomfort and scarcity are God’s mercies in disguise? If health and wealth were entitlements for Christ followers, I think God would have spared the first Christian (Jesus!), from physical pain and would have stuffed His pockets with money so He would not have to live as a homeless itinerant.

Life comes with abilities and disabilities; excesses and shortfalls.

The Bible speaks clearly of the faithfulness of God: “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Ph 4:19).” Did you get that? He meets our needs, but not necessarily our wants. We may have to suffer for a while, but as true believers in the Resurrected Christ, when we breathe our last earthly breath we’ll leave behind our money sack, whether little or much, and put on our new bodies. No more infirmities, deformities, pain or death, and no more need for money.

But we’re not there yet. What about the here and now?

Martin and Laura’s story is real. It’s ongoing. It’s painful. So is yours. It’s not what they asked for, but it’s what they got. It’s not what you asked for, but it’s what you got. God has allowed the less than perfect to enter our lives, not to punish us, but to redeem us (see Jn 9:2-3).

What circumstances are you currently experiencing in your life that are leading to disappointment? Might these in fact be God’s mercies in disguise? As Laura Story said of her husband Martin’s illness, “Sometimes God gives us what we need rather than what we want.”

Is God giving you what you need, yet not what you want? The Apostle Paul reminds us: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Give the Lord an opportunity work through your disappointments; your “all things.” Surrender them to Him, and “Lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh.”

Play to win this week in the game that really counts!

Are you a business owner, executive, or other professional looking to grow your business and improve your life? If so, see how Bill and his firm might be able to help you: Northstar Leadership