There I was, snuggled in comfy and cozy in my adjustable bed, in zero gravity position, all tucked in with blankets, pillows and throws. Sounds like a perfect Sunday, Christmas-movie-watching afternoon. Suddenly…. Leg cramp! Leg cramp! LEG CRAMP! So, have you ever been entangled and trapped in an adjustable bed, in zero gravity position, all tucked in with blankets, pillows and throws with a raging leg cramp that is attempting to twist the muscles in your thigh into knot after knot? The longer you take to get untangled from the snuggly bed, the tighter the leg cramp winds into the muscle! Yes. That hurts!
The actual reason I was snuggled in comfy and cozy…. was because I was dealing with, most likely, the flu. I’d been in bed for a couple of days, probably a little dehydrated. I thought about going to the clinic, when I first started feeling bad but heard that one clinic here in town saw 58 flu patients in one day. The way I look at it, I would have had to tough it out anyhow, and I didn’t want to add any additional germs to what ever was going on with me. So my leg cramp and I got through the best we could. The muscle is still sore.
I think we can find other areas in life where a quick hit of pain, whether physical or emotional, will leave a bit of soreness or sorrow that we must heal from or come to grips with to be able to move on. There are the literal physical pains that we have to sometimes heal from. Then there are emotional and spiritual hits that leave painful scars we must get through and learn to cope with. God’s Word really is a one stop shop for guidance on how to cope.
The Apostle Paul wrote the Romans an organized and carefully presented statement of his faith. (1) It seems that he was introducing himself and telling the church at Rome what his beliefs were in the hopes that it would encourage them.
I find, myself, that in Romans 8:26-28, Paul was telling them how to deal with limitations they faced and how to handle disappointments and sorrows.
He tells them that the Spirit would help them in their limitations. Sometimes for reasons beyond control, they would not be able to put their desires, wants or needs into words. Ah, but the Spirit that lived within them, would know the desires and wants and needs of their hearts. So, even when they could not put words to their prayers, the Holy Spirit would intervene for them, pass them along to God as communications that they could not even comprehend.
Paul told them that God intimately knows the human heart and also knows what is in the mind of the Spirit. That same Spirit would make intercession for them according to the will of God. He wanted them to understand that everything that happens will work for the good of what God has planned for everyone that loves God and are called to live as God desires—to His purpose.
No, we are not promised a perfect life as a child of God. The thing we can take to heart is that any circumstance within our lives can be used by God to the good of the plan He has for this world.
What is the challenge we can take away from this passage? I believe to qualify for this particular passage, we must first be a child of God and have been called to His purposes. I think one challenge for those that belong to God is to give control over to Him, to trust His plan before our own, even when God’s plan may look a little bumpy and possibly painful.
How can we apply this to our lives? I believe that God always wants us to come to Him with all our desires, wants and needs. Sometimes our desire is so strong, our want so great and our need, hurt and pain are so deep that we have no way to express that to God. Even when all that we are is a big ole jumbled mess of emotion, hurt and pain and we can’t figure out what to lay down before Him, we should just lay ourselves down. He and the Holy Spirit will sort it all out.
What does this mean to my faith? My faith is absolutely strengthened from knowing (and experiencing) that God will work out all situations to advance His plan. He can use us and our sorrows or mistakes over here to strengthen someone else that is struggling over there—where ever the over here and over there are. I wish one thing that Christ’s followers could grasp when dealing with the “whys” in this life is to understand that there may be someone out there that could be helped eternally from hearing about their experience, and that by sharing our pain we may find that our pain may diminish.
Lord, I am so grateful that You are always there, even when all I can do is cry out Your Name. You always know my heart. You have diminished pain in my life so many times when I have been obedient in sharing with others to help lift them up.
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“26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:26-28 (KJV)
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I feel that since God has given me the gift of this platform, I must always tell you about my Jesus.
What is your relationship to the all-knowing God of the universe? Do you know Jesus? Do you know the peace that can come only from an intimate relationship with Him? You can know Him. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, born into human flesh, sinless, crucified and giving His life freely, buried, arisen on the third day, will come into your life and change the outcome of your eternity. You just have to be willing to believe and accept His truth.
Here is an excellent website that can give you additional information about making your decision for Jesus Christ! PeaceWithGod.net
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(1) The Life Application Study Bible, King James Version, The Life Application Study Bible, 3rd Addition, Tecarta. Inc., 2021, Romans
Restricted Vision, Unburdened Sight 