Dougly
New member
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2008
- Messages
- 7
- Reason
- PALS
- Diagnosis
- 08/2001
- Country
- Ca
- State
- Alberta
- City
- Ponoka
I thought I would like to share with fellow Christians some scripture which I can really identify with and I wondered if others of you did the same. I say for fellow Christians because one who does not know Christ as his Savior could not identify with these verses at all. But in Christ, we can have great hope not only for our eternity, but also for right now in our present state.
Let me just explain a little bit about myself first. I am 52 years father of two and was diagnosed with this disease back in 2001. Within four years I had lost mobility from my neck level down and my lung volume went down to 47%. My swallowing and speech are still pretty good. I'm able to dictate this message with a Dragon NaturallySpeaking program as my hands and fingers won't type anymore. I went through all the typical stages of grief with this disease from initial denial that I had it at all, through venting anger at the world and especially my friends that they could carry on enjoying the pleasures of this world while I got left in the dust. Yes, definite self-pity. I would scream out in anger at God -- "this is unfair!" Finally I came to the realization I had a choice to make -- either continue being bitter and angry or to accept what was happening to my body and what God had in store for my life.
So here comes that passage that I really identified with: 2 Corinthians 4: 7 -- 18. "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels" -- that definitely describe me, a friable clay vessel that was hardly displaying strong Christian faith and values. But he graciously gave that precious treasure of salvation to this body, "that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us!" Oh what an attitude changer. Taking the focus off myself and putting it on God! Then I can embrace the following verses: "we are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed -- always caring about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body."
The next part feels like is just written for a person with ALS, because his body is literally withering away before his eyes: "therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." God has my focus where it should be now -- on the unseen things and not the seen things! My attention is not on the things of the world that I am missing out on but on the joys there are in Fellowship with Christ Jesus my Savior! I hope there are others of you out there that can identify with this too.
Let me just explain a little bit about myself first. I am 52 years father of two and was diagnosed with this disease back in 2001. Within four years I had lost mobility from my neck level down and my lung volume went down to 47%. My swallowing and speech are still pretty good. I'm able to dictate this message with a Dragon NaturallySpeaking program as my hands and fingers won't type anymore. I went through all the typical stages of grief with this disease from initial denial that I had it at all, through venting anger at the world and especially my friends that they could carry on enjoying the pleasures of this world while I got left in the dust. Yes, definite self-pity. I would scream out in anger at God -- "this is unfair!" Finally I came to the realization I had a choice to make -- either continue being bitter and angry or to accept what was happening to my body and what God had in store for my life.
So here comes that passage that I really identified with: 2 Corinthians 4: 7 -- 18. "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels" -- that definitely describe me, a friable clay vessel that was hardly displaying strong Christian faith and values. But he graciously gave that precious treasure of salvation to this body, "that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us!" Oh what an attitude changer. Taking the focus off myself and putting it on God! Then I can embrace the following verses: "we are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed -- always caring about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body."
The next part feels like is just written for a person with ALS, because his body is literally withering away before his eyes: "therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." God has my focus where it should be now -- on the unseen things and not the seen things! My attention is not on the things of the world that I am missing out on but on the joys there are in Fellowship with Christ Jesus my Savior! I hope there are others of you out there that can identify with this too.
