God is in Control

Carole from ealier years raising her boys

Last night we went to visit Carole. Many of you have prayed for Carole for a long time now. She has been battling MS for ten years. When you remember how full of life and energy she was before, it is difficult to see her in her current condition. Since we believe in prayer and in healing, it's hard to understand why Carole isn't healed. If wanting it was enough she would have been healed long age. It seem that the family has done everything from carry her to the best clinics, to take her to the best know healing crusades. Add to those efforts all the personal prayer, the tears, and the just plain old desperate crying, and you have a picture of how the family has wanted her healing.

I confess that I don't know why, but there are some things I know. Every time I visit Carole at the nursing home, she lifts her hand and praises the Lord. Often she will say, "God is in control." This is one thing I know. I agree with Carole that God is sovereign. The awesomeness of her faith always inspires me. I have never seen her bitter, nor complaining. She just endures with quiet, stedfast, faith. Hebrews 3:14 mentions this kind stedfast confidence,

For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the
beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.

Earlier Hebrews 11 gives us a record of what is sometimes called the "Faith Hall of Fame." In this passage we see as it were a parade of Bible heroes that culminates in these words in Hebrews 11:32-35.

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell
about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel
and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms,
administered justice, and gained what was promised; who
shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames,
and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was
turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and
routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead,
raised to life again.

What get my attention even more are the next comments in Hebrews 11:35-38.

Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that
they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers
and flogging, while still others were chained and put in
prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two;
they were put to death by the sword. They went about
in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and
mistreated— the world was not worthy of them.

The light always shines brightest in the darkeness. As Carole has faced this ordeal with MS for the last 10 years, she has touched so many lives with the beauty of her spirit, and her unwavering faith in her Sovereign God. We still cling to the hope that one day God will raise her up and restore her completely. We still pray, asking God for healing and deliverance. Most of all we still stand in agreement with Carole's awesome declaration, "God is in control.!"