Monday, November 8, 2021

I bear you this testimony : if it had been possible, you you would have snatch your eyes out to give them to me. Galatians 4:15

Bear one another's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6.2

Non-interchangeable proofs

Parents of a sick child go to their doctor. On the way, the father said to his wife : "I would rather be sick myself, rather than our child". During the interview, the doctor said in passing : "You know you don't choose your illness". Indeed, we are not master of the trials that happen to us or reach our loved ones, and we have no capacity to choose them or to exchange them.

The believers in Galatia had the same desire in the face of the apostle Paul. He had a crippling disability, possibly an eye condition. They loved the apostle who preached the gospel to them, so much that they wanted to give him their own eyes ! But it was impossible. A little later in the same letter, the apostle indicates that "each one will bear his own responsibility" (Galatians 6.5). "The heart knows its own sorrows" said Solomon (Proverbs 14:10).

Trials are not interchangeable, and our good Father knows what is "needed" by each (1 Peter 1.6). He knows it in his wisdom taking into account infinitely more parameters than we can glimpse with our limited mind. He knows this in his sovereignty and can interrupt the ordeal, give it a new form or prolong it. He knows it in his goodness : he will never abandon the one who puts his trust in him, he wants him to experience the help of his presence.

The second verse quoted at the top also invites us to help one another, with compassion and love.

Source (The Good Seed)