Developing a Sustaining Spirit
A man’s spirit sustains him in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear? Prov. 18:14, NIV.
Why is it that some people are so strong when pain, disease, and disability rob them of what we might call the good life? I’ve observed this many times in my ministry. For example, I’ve seen the indomitable spirit of my wife, Ruth, as she has suffered excruciating pain for the past 10 years. What gives a person the strength to endure that which the rest of us are quite sure we wouldn’t be able to survive?
Proverbs 18:14 indicates that it is possible for people to develop a living connection or faith in God that brings them the spiritual strength necessary to sustain them when everything seems to be falling apart. It’s a special quality of life nurtured only by a saving relationship with Jesus.
The Holy Spirit’s “plus factor”—that extra Holy Spirit “horsepower”—is available to all during tough times. Without it the pain, disease, or disability would quite likely crush one’s spirit.
I visited a Christian woman in the hospital several times. She had terminal cancer. One morning I asked her if she had a favorite Bible chapter that I could read for her, and she requested the twenty-third psalm. When I read the verse that says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (verse 4, NIV), she stopped me and said, “Chaplain, this is where I am right now.” She looked up at me from her bed of suffering with incredible confidence and assurance in the Great Shepherd. God was with her. All was well with her soul. Her sustaining spirit ministered to my weak one. I was in the presence of a woman who was at peace with her God as she traveled down that one-way path. I am certain that the relationship she had with the Saviour and her testimony did more for me than what I had to offer her that morning.
Yes, “a man’s spirit sustains him in sickness.”
Remember in times of adversity, when accidents or diseases come your way, God will give Holy Spirit power to sustain you.
Why is it that some people are so strong when pain, disease, and disability rob them of what we might call the good life? I’ve observed this many times in my ministry. For example, I’ve seen the indomitable spirit of my wife, Ruth, as she has suffered excruciating pain for the past 10 years. What gives a person the strength to endure that which the rest of us are quite sure we wouldn’t be able to survive?
Proverbs 18:14 indicates that it is possible for people to develop a living connection or faith in God that brings them the spiritual strength necessary to sustain them when everything seems to be falling apart. It’s a special quality of life nurtured only by a saving relationship with Jesus.
The Holy Spirit’s “plus factor”—that extra Holy Spirit “horsepower”—is available to all during tough times. Without it the pain, disease, or disability would quite likely crush one’s spirit.
I visited a Christian woman in the hospital several times. She had terminal cancer. One morning I asked her if she had a favorite Bible chapter that I could read for her, and she requested the twenty-third psalm. When I read the verse that says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (verse 4, NIV), she stopped me and said, “Chaplain, this is where I am right now.” She looked up at me from her bed of suffering with incredible confidence and assurance in the Great Shepherd. God was with her. All was well with her soul. Her sustaining spirit ministered to my weak one. I was in the presence of a woman who was at peace with her God as she traveled down that one-way path. I am certain that the relationship she had with the Saviour and her testimony did more for me than what I had to offer her that morning.
Yes, “a man’s spirit sustains him in sickness.”
Remember in times of adversity, when accidents or diseases come your way, God will give Holy Spirit power to sustain you.
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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