We sang the familiar old hymn, “‘Tis so Sweet
to Trust in Jesus”, last Sunday morning.
I’ve sung that song over and over in my lifetime, but this time somehow
the words rang clear and true in my heart.
’Tis so sweet to
trust in Jesus,
And to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus says the Lord!”
And to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus says the Lord!”
Refrain
Jesus, Jesus, how I
trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!
O how sweet to trust
in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
Refrain
Yes, ’tis sweet to
trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.
Refrain
I’m so glad I
learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.
I have been “proving” Him in the past
year. And He is ever faithful! And it is sweet. But it is a painful sweet. Hard Things are hard.
About five weeks ago I went off the prescription
medications and antibiotics I’ve been on since November, and my Lyme symptoms are
returning slowly and surely. (I’m still taking plenty of stuff – it’s just more
natural herbal stuff. Plenty as in 48
capsules each day!) This isn’t something
I was hoping to have to deal with.
A dear friend who has had her own times of
learning to trust God in hard things gave me a copy of a book by Joni Eareckson
Tada called A Place of Healing. It’s a stark and genuine writing of Joni’s thoughts
and the reality of dealing with chronic pain after already coping with being a quadriplegic
for over forty years. I admit it shook
me when I read the words in her book “Lyme disease” right in the midst of a
list with “cancer, Down syndrome, and Alzheimer’s”. That’s me. Can that be me?! Joni wrangles with the questions we all
have. Why!? Why no healing? How do we deal with hard things?
So many of us long for healing in one way or
another whether it’s physical or emotional pain.
But now, back to last Sunday morning and the
hymn. The words “and in simple faith to
plunge me ‘neath the healing, cleansing flood” grabbed me. “Healing”, there it is again! It’s a word on the tip of my brain. As I stood there though, I contemplated on
healing - how most of humankind longs for it in one way or another. We can become consumed our desire for
it.
But there is another more significant and
crucial healing that I need. It’s the
healing that the song is talking about.
Do I long passionately for this healing of Jesus in my life? The taking away of every trace of cancerous
sin? Sin that is easily covered and glazed over so no one even knows about it
and I can then blockade it from my own mind? “But He was pierced for
our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was
whipped so we could be healed.” Isaiah 53:5 (NLT)
This is the
healing I long for and that I’ve been granted!
I pray that it is the healing that will always matter the most to me.
And he will destroy
on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is
spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God
will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will
take away from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken.
Isaiah 25:7,8
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