I need a favor! I need you to pray for my friend, Mike Temple.
Yesterday Mike had a massive heart attack. They had to do CPR and use an AED to bring him back. He was airlifted to a hospital in Bismark, North Dakota, for further evaluation and a heart catheterization.
Please lift Mike up in your prayers today. He is a special man who has dedicated his life to sharing God’s love and an encouraging word with others on a daily basis. Mike’s Open Word e-devotionals, which were the inspiration for this EncouragingWordsForToday blog, have become an important part of my daily routine. His insights have many times been just what I needed to get me through a difficult day.
It is so hard when something like this happens to someone you care about, especially someone who is making such a difference in the world. Sometimes we can’t help but ask, “Why?” “Why would this happen to someone like this?” The only answer I can find is that we are each citizens on a sick planet, where bad things happen to even good people.
Jesus warned us it was going to be this way. In John 16:33 He said, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.” That’s just the way things are. Being His follower is no guarantee we won’t have bad things happen to us. But there is good news! Jesus went on to say, “But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
No matter how bad things get, how many setbacks we have, we can find comfort in this – Jesus has “overcome the world.” Good will win in the end. Someday soon Jesus will come to take us home. On that day “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain.” (Revelation 21:4 NLT). No more heart attacks. No more illness. No more broken dreams. I can hardly wait!
But until then there is something we can do for Mike and his family and our other loved ones and friends who are experiencing illness or other hardships. We can pray!
Sometimes people, when facing illness or other setbacks, sigh and say, “I guess all we can do is pray.” But, the thing is, prayer is the most important thing we can do, because “prayer offered in faith will heal the sick” and “the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” (James 5:15, 16).
So, please pray for Mike and his family. Pray also for your other friends and family facing illness. Lift them up to the only one who can truly help, to the One who loves them with an everlasting love. Pray for restoration and for healing, but pray most of all that they may have “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding…”, knowing “that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Philippians 4:7, Romans 8:28 NKJV).
Thank you and have a wonderful Sabbath!