Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Jul 2nd, 2011 You Can Take The Fire – Pt2 – The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl

Today’s Reading: Psalm 80-95, Proverbs 2, Matt 3-4

Today’s Passage…

“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.” (Matthew 4:23-24)

Good morning. As I look down at a picture of my daughter, Melissa’s picture that is near my computer, tears start to form in my eyes. As most of you know from her Facebook page that the cancer is back. Last week in the Post, I told the story of the work of a silversmith in the refining of silver. The story told started with Malachi 3:3. The Lord sits as refiner and purifier of silver. It was a beautiful picture painted of our God. The silversmith must place the silver in the hottest part of the flame. It is the only way to burn off the impurities. He must watch the metal every moment it is in the flame. If the silver is too long in the flame, it will be destroyed. He knows when the silver is done when he can see his reflection in it. God allows us to go through the fire to make us more like Jesus.

As I look at the photo, questions fill my mind. Questions I don’t understand. Who is the fire for? Is it for Melissa? My wife? Me? Is it for all three of us? Having had arthritis for almost 30 years, Melissa has been through the fire many times. I remember when she was around seven years old, we were racing into Ocean County Mall. She fell and skinned her knee. Inside the mall we lost track of her. The next thing we see is a group of people standing around looking at something. There was Melissa with store security getting a band-aid put on. Even back then God was keeping His eye on her. Around 2001, her head started slipping down on her spinal cord. We were at camp Aura, and were able to get her to the hospital in time to fix it. The doctor said the operation would take about 5 hours. Ten hours later he made it out of the operating room telling us that she would be okay. God was watching over her. I know that God was watching over her when she had both knees and both hips replaced. When she had her ankle fused; when she had rods placed inside her wrist to straighten her hand, God was watching over her. His eyes were on her all the time she was in the fire. I’m very proud of Melissa. One of the proudest moments was when she graduated Texas Baptist College. Leaving her electric wheel chair at the side door, and with a little help, she was able to walk across the platform to receive her diploma: the whole church gave her a standing ovation. The point is that Melissa has been through a lot, and God knows the beginning and the ending. I don’t. But I do know one thing – it ain’t over till it’s over. David, when the child he had with Bathsheba lay dieing, prayed and fasted, not knowing if God would heal the child. And do you know what? One day she will have a perfect body, relief from all the pain, and no tears to shed.

Pray for us. The date for Melissa’s operation is not set yet, but it will be soon. And thank you for allowing me to share some of the feelings that I am having. I hope this will help someone else who is feeling the heat.

Peace. (John 16:33)