Bladder Transplant? God's Got That Beat!
My on-line IC (interstitial cystitis) friends often joke about needing a new bladder. When you are in chronic pain 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (366 on leap year) joking about things is sometimes the only way that you can have some semblance of sanity in your life. The day when they will be able to replace our bladders with pig bladders or regrown bladders (which may be a possibility someday) will be a happy day indeed.
This morning I was reading 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 and I gained a renewed hope that one day, even if the FDA never approves a real bladder transplant, I will actually get a new bladder.
It says, "For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."
I love how God doesn't just tell us, "Follow me, give your life to me, because I said so." The Bible actually gives us reasons why we should press on and fight the good fight. This entire section is all about that. In fact, in the previous section (Chapter 4:16-18) Paul tells us our earthly troubles, which whether you feel it or not, are light and momentary. Not only that, they are achieving a eternal glory that outweighs them all.
In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul tells us that on this Earth we live in a temporary tent that causes us to groan and long for our eternal tent, one that God has "fashioned for us." I'm not going to lie, I love fashion. I read the "who wore it best" articles and long for the day when I can buy the clothes I see in InStyle magazine. (Whether they know it or not, even their "affordable" clothes aren't affordable to most of the American populus.) Paul says God has fashioned for us a perfect eternal tent that one day he will clothe us with. Quite honestly I would take that any day over a Christian Siriano concoction.
The groaning and the pain is only temporary. And these bladders are only temporary. These backs are temporary, these legs are temporary, these joints are temporary, these bones are temporary, these veins are temporary, these hearts are temporary. One day, they will all be renewed. The old and crusty will be gone and the new will come.
So, whether you wish for a new bladder, a new heart (physical or emotional), a new back, a new -fill in the blank- you can look forward to the day when we will receive just that because of what Christ did for us some 2,000 years ago on the cross. Because he died for us we can have true life while we live in this age. Because he died there is also a better, more perfect life waiting for us.
Until then I will cling to the verse where God told Paul that he wasn't going to take away the thorn in his flesh. I identify with Paul all too well because quite often I do feel like I have thorns being thrust into my body. But God has promised, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." God's power is made perfect in weakness until he clothes us with the eternal tent that he has perfectly fashioned for us.
This morning I was reading 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 and I gained a renewed hope that one day, even if the FDA never approves a real bladder transplant, I will actually get a new bladder.
It says, "For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."
I love how God doesn't just tell us, "Follow me, give your life to me, because I said so." The Bible actually gives us reasons why we should press on and fight the good fight. This entire section is all about that. In fact, in the previous section (Chapter 4:16-18) Paul tells us our earthly troubles, which whether you feel it or not, are light and momentary. Not only that, they are achieving a eternal glory that outweighs them all.
In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul tells us that on this Earth we live in a temporary tent that causes us to groan and long for our eternal tent, one that God has "fashioned for us." I'm not going to lie, I love fashion. I read the "who wore it best" articles and long for the day when I can buy the clothes I see in InStyle magazine. (Whether they know it or not, even their "affordable" clothes aren't affordable to most of the American populus.) Paul says God has fashioned for us a perfect eternal tent that one day he will clothe us with. Quite honestly I would take that any day over a Christian Siriano concoction.
The groaning and the pain is only temporary. And these bladders are only temporary. These backs are temporary, these legs are temporary, these joints are temporary, these bones are temporary, these veins are temporary, these hearts are temporary. One day, they will all be renewed. The old and crusty will be gone and the new will come.
So, whether you wish for a new bladder, a new heart (physical or emotional), a new back, a new -fill in the blank- you can look forward to the day when we will receive just that because of what Christ did for us some 2,000 years ago on the cross. Because he died for us we can have true life while we live in this age. Because he died there is also a better, more perfect life waiting for us.
Until then I will cling to the verse where God told Paul that he wasn't going to take away the thorn in his flesh. I identify with Paul all too well because quite often I do feel like I have thorns being thrust into my body. But God has promised, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." God's power is made perfect in weakness until he clothes us with the eternal tent that he has perfectly fashioned for us.
Thank you for such a timely post Dorothy - too many I care for (yourself included) have such a hard road as they press on in these bodies of flesh.
ReplyDeleteOh and you have always been quite fashionable - Christian Siriano concoction or not!!
Thanks Aunt Tammy :) I just remember our "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" photos. I wonder if that's where it all began...
ReplyDelete