I like to travel (although one of the ironies of this is that I don't like being away from my family and close friends). Fortunately, my wife Cindy likes to travel, too. One thing we have had to consider when we travel is how easy it will be to get around without relying too much on walking long distances or over rough / steep terrain. You see, Cindy has arthritis, and a form that is frustratingly persistent and, at times, almost crippling.
So we plan accordingly. On trips over the last couple of years, we plan rest breaks, if not for both of us then at least for her. Trips over the last two years to Bavaria and England have included times for her to rest, and I will explore a bit on my own.
Alternatively, we break sightseeing into manageable segments - driving or mass transit for a bit, followed by shorter walks to enjoy the sights or villages. This has w
orked quite well, but took a bit of tweaking to get it right. A few years ago while in Rome, we planned to see the Appian Way and also surviving portions of the ancient Roman aqueducts. The two are on the same side of the city, but required a longer walk than expected to get from one to the other. And it turns out, both the beginning of the walk - the key stops on the Appian Way - and the end of the walk - the aqueducts - were both near the Rome mass transit system. We could have broken this day into two even more manageable segments. Needless to say, Cindy was not very happy with me at that point of discovery. But it has led to better planning since then.Where am I going with this? Sometimes what I end up doing is not the way I would have planned to do it.
Much of our travel includes historical sights. We have seen the amazing results of plans and prayers fulfilled - the Coliseum, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the canals of Amsterdam. On a recent visit to Italy to visit a missionary friend, I stopped at the Bologna San Luca Basilica. In one part of this church (and I have also seen this in other church buildings around the world) are "thank you" tiles or bricks. These are placed there by pilgrims or parishioners who are thanking God for answered prayers. They read something like, "Thank You, Jesus for answered prayers," "Thank you St. ____ for prayers answered in the past and in the future," or "thank you for interceding on my behalf for answered prayers." They approached God with a want or desire and received what they asked for.
But history is also full of monuments to unfulfilled wants and unfinished pla
ns. Battlefield monuments to lost causes and dreams. Memorials to executions and tragedies. Cemeteries. One cemetery in the Cotswold region in England got our attention because of the sadness reflected on one the grave markers. It was a statue of a woman laying on the grave of the one she loved, a look of disappointment and a look on her face of longing for never to be fulfilled dreams. Prayers not answered the way they would have wanted them to be answered.Recently I heard a preacher, Patrick Mead, speak on how we handle prayers and when they are not answered the way we want. He spoke from John 4:46-48 - "As [Jesus] traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die. Jesus asked, “Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?”" (NLT)
Patrick noted that the official didn't appear to be coming to Jesus to follow him but only for what he could get from Jesus - a healing for his son. I understand that - there are few prayers I offer to God that do not include prayers for God to heal my wife and take away her pain. And it is frustrating because I do not understand why Cindy has to hurt, or as Patrick said, "Why doesn't God run the universe the way I think it should be run."
The fact is, from what I learned from Patrick's message, God is more interested in the lives of Cindy and I, and how we live it than in the physical condition of my wife. I understand that, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. The reason God isn't moving like lightening when I pray for something is that He isn't panicked. I'm the one who is panicked. While I am certain that pain is not something God is putting on us, healing of the body is not one of God's highest priorities. Healing of the spirit is.
Right now, Cindy is recovering from a cold and I am trying to avoid a seasonal sinus infection. In his talk, Patrick asked why few of us are upset that God has not answered prayers for a cure for the common cold? Yet, sometimes when I pray for a cold to heal and find it doesn't right away, it can be a bit disappointing. So imagine the frustration when I pray about Cindy's arthritis? A college friend is being treated for cancer - What about cancer? Another friend was laid off at age 65 - What about jobs? Another close friend is married to a loving spouse who is addicted to prescription drugs - What about physical addictions?
God is not panicked.
And so, Cindy and I plan and live our lives with what we have. We live our lives, not as memorials to what we do not have, but as monuments to how God has blessed us.
