Two Tracks

When something tragic happens, our human minds try to make sense of it.

Some have said to me, “I’m really angry at God that he would send such a terrible disease to you. You have served him faithfully and now he gives you this? I don’t get it!”

Another person said, “This disease is from Satan. He’s trying to stop you because you’re a threat to him.”

I have another perspective. I don’t think this is from God or Satan. We live in a fallen world; therefore, we all have pain, loss, death, suffering, and disappointment. These things go with the territory.

BUT!

In walking through this broken earth, if we have chosen to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, we have access to the grace he gives which is always in perfect balance to the pain we’re going through.

This diagnosis is the toughest thing we’ve ever encountered, but the grace God is dispensing is also enormous--more than we’ve ever experienced.

Last year we received an e-mail “forward” about an interview with Rick Warren during the time his wife Kay was battling cancer. He put it this way:

“I used to think that life was hills and valleys—you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness [your problems, your issues, your pain]. But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundred of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, and drawn her closer to God and people. You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life….”

We received that piece months before the doctor said that I had ALS, but I have never forgotten the picture. Two rails on a railroad track. The good and the bad. Side by side. Always together.

What’s your left rail? Mine is my ALS. What’s your right rail? Mine is the abundance of God’s grace expressed in dozens of ways. The love of my family, the outpouring of love from you, God’s love which bursts forth daily through illumination of certain passages of scripture, and even through songs on the radio. It’s everywhere. God’s grace. Enormous. Just the size of my problem.

I saw my neurologist on Tuesday. He said that my body doesn’t seem to have changed in the three months since he saw me last. He’s going to do an MRI on October 2 to make sure that there’s not some other illness that could be causing my symptoms. We are praising God!

This past weekend we helped our grandson Levi celebrate his third birthday. He loves trains so his mommy and daddy arranged for a ride on an old-fashioned train pulled by a steam engine. It was a delightful day!

Now don’t forget this: Life has two tracks, the good and the bad. Accept God’s help in balancing whatever pain this fallen world has handed you. His grace is always enough!