Descendant of David

 

Romans 1:3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,

I have been sick for most of this week.  I don't know about you, but I absolutely hate being sick!  I turn into one big suck when I don't feel well, especially so when I feel like I can't get out of bed and do anything.  The fuzzy head?  No thanks.  The clogged up chest and sinuses?  Uck.  The hacking and coughing and spitting?  Really, I'm good without all of that.  My wife will tell you that I am one giant baby when I'm not feeling well, and she isn't wrong.  I think that when I'm sick the thing that I despise the most is that I am forced to sit and think, to rely on the kindness of others to care for me.  I don't ask for help well or easily or often.  It's something I am hardwired to not do - lean on others for help. I am the one who helps, not the one who asks for help.  I sure do let my fleshly pride cause me to hurt more than I probably should!  I'm sure I'm the only one out here who does that.

Then I read about Jesus coming to flesh from perfection.  I think about Him being in a perfected Heaven where there is no suffering, no sickness, no disease, no pain, no agony and deciding to be obedient to the Father and descending to our world, out of the spiritual and into the physical, where there is more than a fair share of pain, suffering and agony.  What a great sacrifice that was!  What pure unfettered faith in God's plan for salvation that must have taken.  To descend to be born into a world of darkness, of evil and suffering simply to give us the chance to be saved from an eternal agony of suffering.  That took a pure love.  A pure faith.  I think about all of the suffering I have personally gone through, all the suffering I have personally observed, all of the agony I have heard about from others, and I don't know that I could do that.  

I know that sounds weak, and that's okay - in my weakness, God's strength is manifest.  In my darkness, God shines a light.  It's not just a light though.  It is a light with a purpose, a light with a plan.  Looking at Paul's message to the Romans, that is made manifest in verse 3 of his greeting to them; Christ is not just God in the flesh, but also the answer to all of the prophecies of the Old Testament regarding the Messiah.  Jesus' lineage is carefully and diligently traced back through time to David the King, chosen by God to lead Israel, and that lineage is, in itself an answer to prophecy.  Jesus could not have been descended from anyone but David to fulfill the plan of God.  What precise planning and provision had to happen for Jesus to come to the flesh in just that time and place!  How the universe has been so balanced upon the point of God's will that it spun out a savior into the exact time and place where he was most needed!  In the weakness of our flesh, God's strength is revealed as mighty, ceaseless, infinite.

I am learning to walk in faith in all storms and situations - God's provision has been mighty in my life, this year especially.  We have been walking through this time of unease and anxiety with little to no money, through illness and exhaustion, through strife in our world - even in our family...yet God.  God has provided for us - we have not gone without a single real need.  How glorious is a God who would send a spark of Himself to experience all the suffering and pain that we go through in our lives?  How much more glorious is a God that would witness firsthand all the suffering and misery we as humans put each other through and still choose to hang on a cross for our salvation, pouring out His blood so that we may have our sins covered?  It is breathtaking to think of the sheer force of will it took for God to get us to that point and provide the ultimate sacrifice for our flesh, for our sin, for our weakness.  Glory to God most high, Glory to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  

My Prayer

Dear gracious God, I thank you for your love and provision.  I am in awe of your mighty will and purpose for us, for our world, for me, for my life.  I thank you for the storms in life and will continue to strive to see them as opportunities for growth and understanding, even small storms such as a physical sickness.  I thank you for your love, your Grace, your Mercy in sending your Son Jesus Christ as sacrifice for my sin, so that I may have salvation and one day be in that place of Your presence where suffering is no more.  I thank you for the salvation of my earthly parents, for I know I will one day see them again and I glorify You for that, and so much more.  You are awesome and powerful, You Are.  

I pray for your continued provision as you have promised, pressed down, shaken together and overflowing in my life, may I show your mercy and grace to those who condemn me, to those who need to see your grace and mercy through me.  Thank you so much for your love!  I pray that your Word expands and touches those who encounter it, and I pray for a clear understanding of your will and intent through your Word.  

I love you Father, and know you love me.  It is in the blessed name of Jesus that I pray these things.  Amen.