1 Thessalonians 5:24 KJV Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
1 Thessalonians 5:24-25 ESV He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
My precious wife Olivia went through a lot physically during her life, and the last two or three years were some of the most difficult, especially the last eight months or so. There were many visits to doctor’s offices and hospitals and even one fifteen-day stay in the hospital in March of 2020. We continued to pray for miraculous healing because we believed that was normal, but at that particular point, supernatural healing had not yet manifested, and the battle continued. It was my privilege to be the caregiver, but it was difficult to watch her suffer daily. We both, at times, were on a roller coaster emotionally as the journey grew longer and was filled with a lot of uncertainties in the natural. At this point in the journey, there is one thing that I do know and can openly declare: God has been, is, and will be faithful.
One day, I had a very dear, dear son in the Lord ask me how Olivia was doing, and then, in sharing his concern for me, he mentioned, “my plate.” He personally was going through some issues but had not told me about them because of his concern that “my plate” was already so full. I love him so much for caring about “my plate,” and my response to him actually encouraged me. I said to him that I didn’t have a plate but that I was on “God’s plate.” I didn’t even think about those words. They just came out of me, and when I made that statement, I was reminded of the extraordinary truth of my union with Christ and His faithfulness. There were times during this journey when I did carry “my plate,” and every time I did the burden and the heaviness of the plate was crushing. Every time I felt overwhelmed, though, Jesus would use the crushing to remind me that the “weary and heavy laden” find their rest in Him. It’s a mystery as we do battle by faith for healing because we know that the devil is real, but until healing is manifested, Olivia and I both know that we are called to walk through this by the One who is faithful to do the walking through us in it. I have to be often reminded that I don’t have a “plate,” but instead, I am to simply rest on “His plate.” As I do, I find rest for my soul. Crushing stress comes when we somehow forget that we are in Christ and He is our life. Everything that involves our lives is on “His plate,” and He is never overwhelmed by what is on HIS PLATE. If we are IN CHRIST, then all of our problems and all of our burdens are ON CHRIST. Our job is to rest in Him, and His job is to DO IT.