I really appreciated the perspective of this article written by Jason Weaver, a man we attended Bible College with, who has been struggling with undiagnosed chronic lymes disease for the past almost four years. This is an excerpt...
"I’ve learned that although we can enjoy a certain amount of victory over sin because of our position in Christ, we will not escape the affects of sin as long as we live in these sinful, infected bodies. I think the greatest victory we can achieve in this present life is to cling to Christ in faith in the midst of life’s violent turmoil. The height of the Christian life is dependence.
Allow me to put this thought into perspective. I used to view the Christian life as a fairly simple process: the more you trust in Christ and allow Him to work in you, the more you grow in holiness. Now, I still think that this is the ideal pattern, but I’ve learned that it’s not always that simple. In the last few years I’ve noticed that basic ‘Christian’ things, like being nice to people, have become exponentially more difficult than they used to be. My disease has wreaked havoc on my emotions and pushed my stress levels through the roof. So I found myself in a difficult situation: I was trusting in Christ seemingly more than ever, but externally my treatment of others didn’t seem to reflect this fact. I finally understand why old people are grumpy! Because they don’t feel good. When these fallen bodies begin to dysfunction, it affects our ability to respond to life appropriately. In these cases, the person’s observable actions do not necessarily reflect their dependence on the Lord. If a strong believer gets Alzheimer’s, the more the disease progresses, the more they will become impatient, irritable, and forgetful. This doesn’t mean they’ve slacked off in trusting in Christ, it means their mental functions are rapidly deteriorating and so they don’t interact with others the same way. As long as we are in these fallen bodies sin will impinge, to one degree or another, on our ability to reflect the character of Christ who lives in us.
This experience has brought me back to anticipating the glorious return of Christ. At any given time our experience of this life may be good or bad. But even when it is at its best, this life “cannot compare to the glory which will be revealed in us!” I praise God that He is with me now through the difficulty, but I can’t wait for the full experience of the salvation He accomplished for me!
I trust that this testimony can be of some encouragement to you all. We all go through trying times (James 1:2-18) and we need to look to Christ in the midst of them and eagerly wait for our final redemption!"
