"... For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor. 12:10, NIV)

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                “Hi.  You’re the chaplain aren’t you?”  I honestly didn’t recognize the person who turned to me to say those words.  Familiar, yes – but a name and where we had met wasn’t coming to me.

               After some conversation and apologies on my part for not being good at recognizing people out of context, memories started to come back along with recalling the trials this person had faced – surgeries, months of treatments, seeming success followed by months of setback.  The struggles had taken a toll – mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  There were times when the outcome wasn’t clear – even whether that illness would take the person’s life.

                Somewhere in the midst of our time together, conversation about the Apostle Paul had come up.  We had talked about Paul’s struggles and prayed for the kind of divine help that allowed Paul to make it through.  Paul was an amazing individual and an indomitable spirit to boot.  My Study Bible has maps of where he traveled on his three missionary journeys.  Look at a map like that for yourself and consider the scale of miles / kilometers.  Fit-Bit fans would have no trouble making their “step total” if they had followed the Apostle Paul around.  Paul called it being “constantly on the move” (2 Cor. 11:26).  Hardships - he was no stranger to those.  In 2 Corinthians 11, we get a sampling of other trials he faced in summary form – imprisonment, flogging to within inches of his life at least five times, beatings with rods, shipwrecked, going without food and warm clothing – not to mention the pressure of being concerned for the churches. 

                The Apostle Paul was an amazing man to have endured all of the things he did in order to share the Gospel message.  His accomplishments were incredible, but he was also honest about his struggles.  When Paul faced an affliction that he called “a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me,” (2 Cor. 12:7-10), he pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away. 

                The Lord chose not to take away the Apostle Paul’s “thorn.”  However, our Lord did give him a priceless gift – a treasure – exactly what Paul needed to make it through in spite of it all.  Do you remember how Paul put it?  “But [the Lord] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’  Therefore, I [Paul], will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Cor. 12:9, NIV).  Christ’s grace is what allowed Paul to press on.

                 “For when I am weak then, I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:10, NIV)  That is how the person I met that day described life since our first meetings.  Christ’s grace is what allowed the person who stopped me that day to keep pressing on.  God’s power had brought restoration in spite of it all.  Indeed, Christ is our strength.  Thanks be to God!

(Note: The above story depicts the kind of interaction that a chaplain may have with an individual.  It is not based on an interaction with a specific individual.)

"Doubting" Thomas

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“A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” (John 20:26, NIV)

“I don’t know what I believe anymore…” Over the years, I have come to realize that statements like that can reflect honest feelings that come from a place of deep despair – a time when circumstances test our faith and leave us shaken to the core.

Life’s tragedies and trials can shake the best of us. The account of Thomas from John 20 is an illustration of that. If you have heard good sermons on Thomas, you may recall that the moniker “Doubting Thomas” isn’t a balanced depiction. In John 11:7, Jesus had told his disciples “Let us go back to Judea.” Most of the disciples respond, “…the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there.” Yet it is Thomas who responds to the rest of the disciples by saying, “'Let us also go, that we may die with him [Jesus]'” (Jn. 11:16).

Thomas’ love and zeal for Jesus had been as great as anyone else’s. Yet the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday had tested Thomas’ faith and had left him shaken to the core.

Thomas’ famous words “unless I see … and touch … I will not believe it” (Jn. 11:25) reflect his honest feelings at that moment. For Thomas, everything changed when his honest feelings were confronted by God’s Truth, i.e. the Risen Lord himself. Jesus was there in person - able to be seen and touched. Like a gentle shepherd, he guided Thomas back to faith. We shouldn’t let familiarity with the story keep us from taking Jesus’ words to Thomas and disciples through the ages to heart, “'Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed'” (Jn. 20:29). 

At LMS, we often meet people whose circumstances and experiences leave them shaken to the core. We allow them to express honest feelings. All the while, our ministry (whether it is sharing Scripture or offering a quiet, reassuring presence) serves as a testimony and a reminder of the Risen Christ’s presence – even to the end of the age (Mt. 28:20). Thank you for partnering with us in this ministry.

–Chaplain Arthur Werzner