Posted on 01/14/2024 3:05:11 PM PST by RandFan
Watching a film on Stephen Hawking and can there be anything worse inflicted upon us than a degenerative disease?
I pray I never suffer this fate if I do I want my life ended.
I'm talking conditions like: MND, Alzheimer's etc
Truly horrible and makes me wonder how if there is a God how his is allowed to happen.
Maybe some Freepers can answer this questions because I can't...
I'm just thankful to be healthy. It's a Blessing let us not forget.
Old Stevey boy probably had a happy ending at Epstiens Island of pleasure.
Epstein also supported "cutting edge science".
In January of 2020, a chest xray and MRI revealed my lungs were clear.
In April of 2020, after getting hit with Fauci’s bioweapon, my lungs were destroyed.
I’m now living with COPD and permanent scarring.
It will eventually kill me. I will suffocate to death.
Every time I see his name, I get angry all over again. Every time someone says COVID was no big deal, I get angry all over again.
I went from a fit, healthy, active working wife and mom to a housebound invalid in just 3 years.
I’m ready to divorce my husband of 30 years so he doesn’t have to take care of me and watch me slowly die.
Yeah, it socks.
Dear Rand Fan,
I am responding to your honest question: It is long so maybe not everyone will read all of it. I could have just written privately to you but I chose to write to all in case, just maybe my story will give hope to somebody else!
You wrote “....I’m talking conditions like: MND, Alzheimer’s etc...Truly horrible and makes me wonder how if there is a God how this is allowed to happen? Maybe some Freepers can answer this questions because I can’t...”
Your question is not easily answered. Yet, I do believe in God. I do praise Him and love Him even though my precious sister died of early onset dementia.
My beautiful sister went to be with Jesus September 2020.
She leaves behind wonderful memories and many who loved her dearly. She was a loving and adoring wife to her precious husband.
We shared laughter, love, and friendship. It was always fun to be around her and her husband, (both wise, interesting and fun to be around.) They had an incredible marriage, full of life, joy, companionship, and God’s love and truth. Both lived to walk in the ways of the Christian faith and both had a true, sincere love for our Savior, Jesus.
We shared amazing fellowship and family time together. I loved singing with her. We shared the awesome honor of leading worship together and were honored to sing together at a close friend’s wedding. We attended church and Bible studies together. My sister had great wisdom how to comfort and counsel those in need.
Then my sister’s life began to change. Over time, she started having difficulty doing challenging things that were once easy for her…and then lost the ability to do even simple tasks. She was slowly declining. Most people at that age have a few more years with their career and are looking forward to retirement! Instead her husband got the diagnosis of early onset dementia.
As it progressed, I wasn’t sure if she always knew who I was but she was still her sweet, loving self. As time passed, she was losing the ability to hold a conversation. We still enjoyed the garden together.
It was heartbreaking over her last ~7 years seeing her decline in physical health and how it was so painful for her husband. What gave me great encouragement and hope was the truth of scripture. Because my sister put her trust, hope, and faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, I will see her again. Her husband and all her loved ones will see her again. This world is not our home.
Mostly at this point, I would talk to her, pray, and sing songs and she would sing along, not really remembering the words, but singing along in her own beautiful way. She loved her music. Her husband had set up an iPod with all the songs they had loved together. So mostly we listened to music together and I just held her close. At that point I had begun dating the man who is now my husband. He was wonderfully supportive and very loving to my sister though, unfortunately, he never knew her aside from her illness state.
My sister’s amazing, faithful husband lovingly stayed by her side through all of this. He took on the huge responsibility of managing her care. He did this by himself for a long while and then finally sought caregiver help and searched to find the perfect placement for her when that time came. He was devastated! Even when she could not say very much, she still lit up to see him and lovingly embraced him.
Her health continued to decline. I recall seeing her one day and she was not speaking much at all at that point, except for sometimes she would laugh and respond with “Yes,” when we would tell her that Jesus loved her.
I remember hugging her goodbye and even though I could not hold a conversation with her and was not even sure at that point if she knew who I was, when I hugged her, I felt like her loving, warm and long embrace for me was heartfelt and felt like one of the same loving hugs that I got from her pre-dementia!
Those of us who believe and have asked Jesus to be our Saviour, will soon be in heaven along with our loved ones. I am not trying to rush it…but that is what the Lord has told us. This life is but a vapor in comparison to our forever eternity where we will be praising our beautiful God in Heaven.
The evening before my lovely sister’s passing, I got to spend precious time with her. My brother-in-law had called and let me know she may be passing soon! I went right away to see her! Her caregiver had turned on praise music that had lots of the older praise songs she and I knew and sang together when we formerly lead worship together. I prayed over her and was singing songs to God that we once sang together. Then I realized something! She would soon be praising God in HEAVEN! In the presence of Almighty God! I exclaimed in 100% belief, “You are going to be singing and praising God in HEAVEN!!!” During that time my sister was not able to acknowledge by words or eye contact that I was even there, yet I know her spirit was praising God with me (Because the word of God says, “Those who worship me must worship in spirit and in truth.” And she loved the Lord so her spirit (which lives forever) did not have dementia! She passed the next day!
Was I happy to lose my sister? Absolutely not at all! Did I grieve? Yes, incredibly so! Did I ask God why he had to take my sister? YES! Did He answer...Not audibly. But when I realized my sister went to heaven...and truly believed that she did...That is how i was able to get through the pain. I believe she is now without pain. God has wiped away every tear. That is what He promised to his faithful believers! We who have Jesus as our Lord and Savior are the blessed of the blessed because of our hope we have in Him. May all believers always shine the light and love of Jesus. My sister was that beacon of light to all who knew her.
Have I at all answered your question, How could a good God let this happen? Everything that God has made is good. However people have sinned. People have done evil things and done bad things to this earth and sin has consequences. Even sometimes God fearing people who love Him still suffer because of what the evil has done! But God says this world is not the end!
Life is precious! Eternity is forever! Think of that! This world is but a vapor.
I pray that you will search with all your heart and find the true and loving God. No matter what happens to any of us on this earth, if we call upon the name of the Lord Jesus and confess our sins, he promised in His Word that He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. He was the spotless lamb who died in our place. He was the Only One who never sinned! Yet he experienced the most persecution of all! And He freely gave His life so that we might live! Those of us who have trusted in Jesus and asked Him to be our Lord and Saviour, have assurance that we will have everlasting joy, and be with Him for eternity in Heaven.
Did you ever wish God would write you a letter?
Here is HIS WORD:
And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. Jeremiah 24:7
But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:29
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” King James Version (KJV)
In Revelation 21:4, we see that the eternal state will have “no more sickness, crying, or pain.” What is the opposite of these? Perfect health, joy, and pleasure. In God’s presence, there are “pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11, ESV). Lovers of God will find that the pleasures of heaven eclipse their wildest imaginations (1 Corinthians 2:9).
( https://www.christianity.com/wiki/heaven-and-hell/what-is-heaven-like-according-to-the-bible.html)
Truly horrible and makes me wonder how if there is a God how his is allowed to happen.
Maybe some Freepers can answer this questions because I can't...
I used to struggle with that question because of the suffering of loved ones. At one point I 'confronted God' about it and despite my 'attitude' He answered with profound Grace.
In some corner of my heart I feared that my loved ones were not receiving His care, were unimportant in the grand scheme of things, and were left to suffer alone (without God's mercy) with their pain and illness. In our confrontation, God reminded me that Christ suffered supremely on The Cross, and it wasn't because His Father didn't care what happened to Him. Christ sufferings weren''t because of any sin or fault.
God reminded me that He didn't leave His Son's side, or turn away, but actively suffered every grievous wound and betrayal Christ experienced on The Cross. So too God bore the agony and pain with my loved ones, knew their thoughts, and even knew in their pain that they doubted Him, but He never left their side and never stopped loving them. When they were no longer able to speak but were still living, He held them and reminded them He was there.
It is God's nature to remain with us- the Psalmist described in Chapter 139.
(Psalm 139:7-10) (NASB1995)
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
I believe 'make my bed in Sheol' could apply to medical suffering - nothing is ruled out when it comes to His presence. He WANTS to comfort and accompany us no matter the circumstances. If a loved one were to die in a horrible car accident or house fire, we can at least know God was there beside them.
But why should they suffer and die at all?
Why should Christ suffer and die? He died for us -well what of the car accident victim? Who did they die for?
Suffering and sickness were never part of God's desire for us. He created Eden for us. We're the one who destroyed it and left, chosing the hardest paths for ourselves. It grieved Him greatly. The pastor of my church described The Fall of man as an explosion - a sin bomb that blanketed the earth, damaging heath and quality of life for us all. As with most things - we didn't see the consequences of exerting our will over God's.
In death, God wipes away every tear so that the sufferer no longer endures even the memory of what they went through.
In life, whatever their circumstances, they experienced God's love and made choices, exerted free will so that we are not puppets or carved images, but people given the (painful) life all of mankind chose, and some endure life more painfully than others. It says in the bible that our pain becomes the crafting of our character (I really can't articulate what I mean here - let's try a verse instead).
What does the Bible say about finding joy in suffering?ÂÂRomans 5:1-5
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.I said above, "and some endure life more painfully than others."
To battle through that portion of life's 'unfairness', I had to turn to Job, over and over and over again because I couldn't wedge it into my heart the first 20 or so attempts.
Job demands to know why he has suffered so much. At first God answers Job from the position of Creator of the World, seemingly asking, "How can my creation demand accountability from Me, the ruler of all that exists, who is and always was, the Great I Am?
2“Who is this who obscures My counsel
by words without knowledge?a
3Now brace yourselfb like a man;
I will question you, and you shall inform Me.c
4Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
5Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know!
Or who stretched a measuring line across it?
6On what were its foundations set,
or who laid its cornerstone,d
7while the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
In those chapters God is gentle and tender, explaining with great beauty and patience that to understand such questions, we'd have to be God. See the examples our Father in Heaven gives His children throught the rest of Chapter 38 and 39, to help us understand why we often struggle with the question trials and human suffering.
Our level of comprehension would have to rise to His level for us to understand how he uses His strength and omniscience. He knows where we are, what we feel, and larger topics like how the entire fabric of live on Earth works together for His will, and that His will is always good - there is no darkness in Him so whatever He allows, He will make good eventually.
1 John 1:5 King James Version (KJV)
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
In Chapter 40, God reminds Job of their separate stations - that of creator and creation, and that this results in so much of life that Job will not understand.
We don't despise children for not understanding adult concepts; but the desparity is unshakably there and we try to help them understand that we WOULD explain what they want to know, if they could understand it, but until they are older, they must wait.
For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then shall I know, even as also I am known.It's not that I am now impervious to the question of suffering - sometimes I still have to trace my way back to the questions I put before God which He has already answered.
One 'confrontation' I tried to have with Him was about the promises He made that He is our protector and fortress - how could that explain the worst experiences in life. How can I be completely protected and go through such extremes (IMHO).
For this, the pastor of our church said one day, that we are protected in our relationship with God. He would never allow anything to separate us from Him. We may suffer, but never so much that we can no longer choose Him and His will. Again, I am struggling to articulate what is meant - I have to find the notes I made wherever they may by hiding. But it meant life happens but His promises to be with us through it all, for us, loving us, never forsaking us - and that is our safety and protection. Yes, I've been spared horrible experiences through prayer, but not always. Yet His perfect will and His unfailing love have been my companions always - He keeps His promises, but sometimes I misunderstand them.
Thank you for this lovely post.
For example, your choice to use the word “moss.”
Dear silent majority rising,
I agree with Ge0ffrey.
Your post is inspirational!
Thank you!
The one set of laws we cannot break are the laws of nature.
Everything dies.
MS is one of those which should only be given to the most evil of evil.
The sad part is the number of good people who live with it.
Thank you.
My sister lost two of her children at age 10 from Neimann-Pic. It’s a terrible genetic disease where the children are completely normal at birth but from about age 3 on their bodies and minds degenerate. She and her husband have never blamed God and are two of the most Christian people I know. They always go out of their way to help others. They truly live their faith.
Thank you, grammar nazi.
You are welcome. I understand how people get despondent when their health fails. But in the big scheme of things, It happens to all of us at some time or another. When I hear folks blame God or ask why bad things happen to them if God really loved them, then I like to remind folks that look at their parents or other loved ones. Why did they have to go through the bad things? If you truly believe, then you realize that every thing is in its place and has a reason to it. God is not some omnipotent bully that likes to see suffering, but is a benevolent creator that weaves our lives together for the ultimate purpose of our place to come. I had the great privilege of becoming friends with a Holocaust Survivor, and we had many discussions when I was going through my tribulations. What I learned was that he treasured every single second here on earth, and that he took all of his experiences, good and bad, and tried to examine the purpose of them. In other words, “How can I take this experience and magnify it for the glory of God?” Every time that I undergo a treatment or a scan, I have that thought. I have learned to replace that fear with the idea that we all know the ultimate destination in the world to come, so why not realize that even if you die, what can I carry with me? The answer is that you get to keep ALL the things that are really important. You get to take the love, experiences, and knowledge you accumulated in this life with you to the world to come. At the Final Judgement, all of the fear, the loathing, the darkness (in other words, all of the sin) will be taken away. Now that is something to look forward to!
In other words, “How can I take this experience and magnify it for the glory of God?”
Many ask this, especially after big earthquakes, etc..
But that would presume one believes that God exists to serve us - His job being to make us comfortable and cared for.
That's would be getting it backwards. If anything, it'd be that people serve God, not the other way around.
When strife appears, it's our job to help out and make it better. The way people act in such circumstances reveals their nature and character defects, if any.
Sending a check to a charity, or figuring the government will deal with it, is a sort of a sell out.
If you find yourself perturbed by events, it's just God's way of reminding you to lend a hand.
Another inspirational post by you and something my husband and I can truly learn to apply!
I especially loved this:
I had the great privilege of becoming friends with a Holocaust Survivor, and we had many discussions when I was going through my tribulations. What I learned was that he treasured every single second here on earth, and that he took all of his experiences, good and bad, and tried to examine the purpose of them. In other words, “How can I take this experience and magnify it for the glory of God?” Every time that I undergo a treatment or a scan, I have that thought!
Keep sharing your thoughts. I believe you have so much to offer a hurting world!
God bless you and you are a true gem!
Thank you for sharing that. Very timely and appreciated.
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