~ "and as the sun sets over Thompson Park..."

Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. (James 5:14-15)

In the past 12 hours, I have received 4 phone calls asking me to pray for someone who is sick, 2 of them have cancer. I cannot tell you the number of people on my daily prayer list who are sick. There are just too many! Although we no longer take our sick to the church for anointing, we can ask God to heal them, to bless them, to find them if they are lost and to comfort them. Miracles still happen, its just that the credit is usually given to the doctor and not the Great Physician! There will be a time in each of our lives when the Lord says "no, not this time". Most of us will have lived out a full life and be ready to go. But what about the young children, the babies, the infants who never had a chance to live? How can they possibly have completed their lives?

About 15 years ago, a good friend of mine lost her infant daughter. She had been born prematurely and lived only 4 months. The question she asked herself was "why?" She could not understand God's plan in her daughter's life and in her death. What good could possibly come from this? At that time in my life my focus was on the important matters of maintaining a household, struggling with acquaintances that were bound to destroy my reputation, an unemployed husband, a son in college and a part time job that was costing me more money to go to than I was bringing home. I had forgotten that my responsibility to my children was more important than the other things I worried about. God was not a priority then, but in that moment, God gave my children their mother. In that death, I realized how precious my children were to me and how blessed I was to have them. My devotion to them changed. I became a better mother.

We are called to pray for others, be they sick, struggling, lonely or lost. I pray for healing and for God's will in the lives of those listed on my prayer list, and I pray for each one by name. When I hear of a healing (as I did last night at work), I raise my hand and "praise God" (which I also did while simultaneously slicing roast beef)! I am not ashamed of my God and will praise him no matter where I am or what I am doing! He's merciful and gracious and deserves our praises no matter what he does or doesn't do and no matter where we are when we hear about it!

The "sunset years" of our lives can be anytime - they can be in our 80's and 90's, in our 30's and 40's, in our teenage years or even in less than a day. Our lives are fulfilled when God says they are. I do not fear my "sunset" because the "Son sets" waiting for me!


(Photo by Barbara Berry)