DARK DAYS ARE FOR HIS GLORY!

(by E. H. Maze)

 

Chapter 10

 

The Great Physician 

 

There is something about Jesus that everyone should know (regardless of how they might feel about Jesus' other character traits).

 

He may not be your friend.  

It may be that you do not turn to Him for counsel or just to have someone to talk with.  You may not be willing to give the commitment it takes to walk in “Friendship with Jesus.” 

 

He may not be your Lord.

Are there other things that invade the place in your heart where He longs to dwell?  His Lordship is subject to your obedience to His commands and commandments - again, something you may not be ready to do.  You may not consider yourself a part of His Kingdom.  You may feel distant, perhaps a million miles away - whether you feel a million miles away from Him or feel that He is a million miles away from you.  Being a part of the Kingdom of God is to dwell in a place that, just like you, seems to be a million miles away in some land of Oz.

 

Jesus may be neither your Lord nor your Friend (or so you cannot imagine it so).

 

So, we dare not ask from a stranger something that only a friend can provide. 

So, we dare not expect His Lordship to rule until we are totally surrendered to Him. 

So, we dare not expect the doors of heaven (or the windows) to open to us His kingdom when we are constant in our insistence to live in this world.

 

But, one thing is for sure - He is the Great Physician to all!

 

There is no one to whom He will not administer His power to heal the broken-hearted.  This part of His divinity requires of us nothing, except to be so overcome with the pains of life that we just can’t go on:

 

When we collapse along the way;

When we come to the end of ourselves;

When all earthly friends are powerless to help;

When the lords of this world are powerless to destroy the enemy that attacks from every angle;

When the powers of this world have finished with us and tossed us from their domain -

That is when the Great Physician appears.

 

Talk to the Doctor about it.  He will answer quickly:  “I know what you need,” says the Great Physician.  “Your heart is broken.  Anger burns in you and disappointment rules your every waking moment.  You are addicted to hate and despair and anxiousness.  But, I have come to heal that.  I bring peace, healing of broken hearts, release of the prisoners, and freedom to the oppressed.

 

"Don't come to me with your status; your good works; or, your money.  Your status isn’t important to me,” he says to you.  “I just want to take a look at your wounds.  Lie down so that I can repair all that is broken in your life.  Your closeness to me is secondary while you lay bleeding to death.  I will heal you, and then we can talk.

 

“I am not intimidated by your refusal to bow to me.  You are too sick to bow.  Just lay there - I will take care of this.  Then, we can talk.

 

“Your circles of influence are weak domains, a society without the medicine available to help you.  But, I have it all.  You will find a place to dwell in safety.  I will bring you to my house of healing.  Then, we can talk.”

 

 

Here is the Most Important Miracle:  (if you miss everything else I have written to this point, DO NOT MISS THIS!)

 

God hasn’t called you to handle those things that weigh you down.

 

 

 

 

We breakdown because we are burdened with things that God has not called us to carry.  That is why His burden seems so heavy.  We need to put down those “things” that so easily beset us (upset us), then the things He has actually called us to bear will be easier to bear.

 

Jesus isn’t as in love with our sicknesses as we are.  He has come to do surgery - to cut it out and throw it in the dumpster.  The only medication we need is the pre-op pain killers that get our minds off the pain long enough to allow Him to operate painlessly.  I suppose, that would be the work of the anesthesiologist - "My Word and My Spirit," says the Lord.  So, let go of it long enough to give it to Him.  See if He gives it back.  Remember, He is the Great Physician, not the next virus that is looking to infect us further.  He will not participate with the ugly masses of cancer running rampant in our spirits.  He desires to remove it entirely.

 

Nor, does He concern Himself with what we have done or what’s been done to us - He can fix that, too.  Don‘t look around for help.  No one else is the Great Physician - especially any of us.  At best, we could be described as triage nurses - looking each other over and trying to decide who needs the most help the most desperately. 

 

We don't need a superhero, either.  Those superheroes can't help us.  My wife describes the difference between Jesus and a superhero like this:  A superhero can only be in one place at one time, helping the person most desperately in need.  But, Jesus can be everywhere, helping everyone at any time.  That may sound simple, trite and, perhaps, a little childish, but remember - He uses the simple things to confound the wise. The truth is, Jesus is right here, right now, ready to cut you open and heal you completely.

 

That sharp pinprick that you feel in your heart is His preparatory formula - preparing you for surgery.  Are you ready?  

 

Don't be afraid that it is going to hurt?  Let me show you the procedure.

 

How does He operate on us?  Well, actually, He doesn’t.  According to Galatians 3:13,  "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, 'Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree.'"

 

You see, He took our pain and sickness upon Himself and He became the sick one, on our behalf.  He died there on the operating table.

 

Come on, admit it, you know that there is really no hope for your sin and sickness - you know that you deserve to die and don’t deserve to live.  That’s why you have fought it for so long.  We are all hopeless - without help - without faith.  But, He became cursed with all of our infirmities (including our lack of faith).  Now, that’s a Great Physician!

 

We were not worthy.  He could have gone on being God of a wounded and dying world.  He owed us nothing; except to let us die in our sin.

 

Personally, I had to admit that, although I had made Him Lord, I had not let Him be completely Lord.  I had suffered some (no, a great deal of) loss in that, for His Lordship is vital to my walking in wholeness. 

 

And, I have abandoned His friendship too many times, trusting in other things and clinging too tightly to those things and too loosely to Him.  For that, I have also suffered.

 

But, in all my days, I have always counted on Him as the Great Physician.  Yes, because of my “self” I have needed to come to Him repeatedly for check-ups and, sadly, He always finds something wrong - something I have messed in and allowed to live in me - though I know better.  And, He always fixes it without hesitation.

 

You have crawled through the desert on your belly, seeking water.  You keep going because, “by God” you will make it.  But, it is not “by God” that you continue to crawl, but by your own stubborn refusal to die.  Well, today, at this moment, you have crawled to the feet of the Great Physician.  You must crawl around Him if you want to go on with the life-threatening struggles.  Or, you could look up into His eyes and recognize that you will never make it without Him.

 

Go ahead!  Cry!  Surrender!  Let Him pick you up from the scorching sands of this world's ways and let Him carry you to a place where you can be made whole.  Perhaps, there you will find a friend above all friends - and, a Lord ready to crown you with His glory - and, a place (a kingdom) to call home.

 

 But, let's take care of the surgery first.  Now, are you ready?

 

“I know what you need,” says the Great Physician.  “Your heart is broken!”

 

 

end of Chapter (click here to go to Chapter 11) - if link is not active, the chapter is not yet ready.  Check back later, please.

Please let me know if you have read (and enjoyed) this chapter by sending me a quick email to:  ehylandmaze@aol.com

bless you.....................................Eugene H. Maze

This chapter and all chapters related to this website book entitled "Dark Days" (copyright 2004) was written and published by Eugene H. Maze.  No portion of this book may be copied, sold or distributed either by electronic or other means in any fashion whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the author.  Permission for distribution may be obtained by contacting the author at ehylandmaze@aol.com.  Links to this and all previous and subsequent pages of this book entitled "Dark Days" may be distributed freely without permission.

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