She was a follower of Christ, and you often hear how believers who are facing illness or other great difficulties or tragedies step up, for lack of a better term, and behave really admirably in the face of their circumstances. I know that was true of my mom. In three years of fighting brain cancer, I didn't hear her complain once. About anything. She was awesome and an inspiration to so many who knew her in that period.
But, honestly, I can't help but wonder if most of us fellow believers would do the same. When faced with some great thing, we would probably become better people. We would act more like God wants us to act all the time.
And, after that memorial service, I started thinking, If I could {theoretically} be the person I should be when facing cancer, why can't I be that person when facing something smaller?
It reminded me of a story from the Bible about Naaman. He was a guy who had leprosy, and he went to Elisha (the prophet, a "man of God") to be cured. Elisha didn't even come out to meet him; he just told Naaman to go wash himself in the local river to be cleansed.
Naaman was insulted for several reasons. But basically he thought Elisha should have come to him personally and should have made a big production out of the healing. But what Naaman's servants said is what has really been sticking in my head...
They asked, "If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!"
I think if, in life, God told me I had to go through some great thing, I would do it. And I would probably do it with the attitude He wants me to have. {I think...I hope.}
So why is it so difficult to have the attitude I should when he tells me...
- to financially support my family in this season of our life
- to make a home in our tiny apartment instead of a house for now
- to give up a few luxuries to learn how to better manage our money
- to give up my time and energy to be available to others when I'd rather be quiet and alone
- to be kind and patient with my husband
- to rejoice with others instead of envying their blessings
- to clean the toilets
I don't want to do any of these things grudgingly! If my memorial service were tomorrow, I would want people to say the same kinds of things about me as they did about my mom and our friend's wife--that I was positive and cheerful and submissive to God's direction and peacefully accepting of difficult circumstances that came my way--no matter how great or small those circumstances might have been.
So, that's what's been bouncing around in my head lately--how God still has so much work to do on me. Thanks for reading!
