Philippians 2:27
“For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow.”
God’s mercy is wonderful and unending. Epaphroditus was sick to the point of death. Yet God restored him. This is amazing. Doctors could have had a hand in it, but in the end it’s God. He is the one who puts the healing agents in creation. He gave the scientists the brains and the drive to find cures. He gives doctors wisdom to prescribe medicines and so on. He can also heal outright.
We go through phases, ups and downs. He uses those to form character and trust in us. While we are in the midst of those, times can be hard. We cry out for His assistance. He answers.
In time we don’t take them so hard. We’ve had Him rescue us so many times we know He will do it again. Things may not work out as we had hoped, but they work out according to His plan. We also learn that He works it out for the best (Romans 8:28).
Philippians 4:6,7 share a great truth, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”. We aren’t to be anxious as believers. Here Epaphroditus is sick to the point of death and he isn’t to be anxious. God will restore us as He chooses. Maybe we needed some down time and us being bedridden was the way to do it. Maybe it was a trust lesson.
Paul pushes it further in this passage. It’s not only that we aren’t to be anxious, but we are to let God’s peace reign in us. He admits that it is beyond our understanding. Logic might tell us to be concerned, but God will is beyond understanding. Amazing!
As we look back at the course of our lives we will see many unfortunate parts. Yet we will also see how God delivered us. It actually is viewed as a triumph. David said in Psalm 30:11, “You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have untied my sackcloth and encircled me with joy.” This happens repeatedly. We begin not to fear problems. Sure we wish they didn’t come, but we learn to trust Him. “No problem”.
God wants to do this with all of us. Ecclesiastes 3:11a says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time”. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” The word workmanships is the greek word poema from which we get the word poem. He is making something beautiful in our lives. Some of the artists work is difficult, but in the end it’s beauty.
It’s ironic as when He found us were in bad places. The lyric of a popular song says, “You picked me up and turned me around placed my feet on solid ground”. We’ve went from instruments of destruction to those of healing. Thank You, God.
Lord, thank You for this wonderful life, the artwork that You’ve made of our lives. We were wrecks to worthwhile. We don’t need to fear the downtimes. He will work it out. Thank You.