This week my heart goes out to my sister. Only a few short weeks ago, she found out she has endometrial cancer. She will be having surgery on Wednesday. Only a few days later another friend's son will also have major surgery. Of course we are all trusting the Lord for the best results. Thankfully both families know the Lord and are relying on Him for everything.
I had been reading in 2 Samuel last week about David. Once he was rebuked by Nathan, the son he had with Bathsheba got very sick. David fasted, refusing to eat, hoping to turn God's heart so that the punishment wouldn't be so severe. When I looked at the study notes there was a cross reference to Ezra 8, another place in Scripture referring to fasting. This is what it said,
"Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, 'The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.' So we fasted and implored our God for this and he listened to our entreaty." (8:21-23)
Seeing as we are still in the middle of Lent, it made sense to continue on in whatever form of fasting each one was doing, but then it occurred to me that this could be something I could specifically be fasting for in light of my sister and this friend. Ezra called a fast "that we might humble ourselves before our God". I always tell people who might be questioning the idea of fasting that it is not magic. It is showing our reliance on God. I heard in a message this week that "Have mercy on me" is the most prayed prayer in the Bible. The speaker on the radio said that is shows our reliance on God. God has set it up this way. We cannot do anything on our own, so we pray, we cry out for mercy, we fast.
I cannot do the surgery on my sister, but I can pray. David prayed for his sick son, too. In his case, the Lord had determined that the son would die. As soon as he died, David immediately stopped fasting as he saw that the Lord had decided to not heal him. In our case, we are not sure what God's plan is for my sister and this other friend, so we can still fast. There is still much hope. Like Ezra, we are fasting for a "safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods." The surgery will be like a journey for her and her family. We are praying for a safe journey for the surgeons while they are inside her body seeking to cut out all the cancer. We are praying for her children. She has 5. For her husband, a pastor of a large church, who is being watched every moment to see how he handles this. What a test for their family!
The passage has such a beautiful ending, "So we fasted and implored our God for this AND HE LISTENED TO OUR ENTREATY." With David, it was a different answer. With Ezra, God listened to them. My new favourite word is "implored". I looked it up. It means to "beg someone to do something desperately or earnestly. It also means "have mercy". I'm imploring God, begging Him desperately take care of my sister and her family. We all have a time to die. Even if my sister comes through this with flying colours, one day she will die, as will we all, but we do long to enjoy her on earth a lot longer if possible! We only see dimly now. We only understand with our short-sighted human perspective. We can't possibly see things any other way until we are on the other side. Knowing this, we will be ok with whatever God decides to do as we know all things are in His hand. Yet, Ezra, David, and many others in the Bible still called out to God and implored God for His mercy, so I will as well.
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