"And say to her, "Is all well with you? Is all well with
your husband? Is all well with the child?" And she answered, "All is well." "It
Is Well" 2 Kings 4:26b
The death of a child is always a sad occasion.
That was certainly the feeling of some Paraguayan parents when their son was
born 16 weeks prematurely.
Without response, hardly any respiratory reflexes, or a heartbeat, the doctors
declared the infant "dead."
The parents received their son in a small box with his name scribbled on the
outside. They took their child home in that box. It was the box that was to
serve as his coffin.
Then, as one of the family members took the child out of his "casket" to prepare
his body, the corpse did a most unusual thing: he cried.
Apparently, he cried very loudly and, along with crying, he began to move his
arms and his legs.
And what was the reaction of the family? One said, "I got scared, we (all) got
scared."
As I think about it, fear was probably the reaction of the religious leaders
when they first heard the crucified Savior was alive.
Just as, probably, on Judgment Day, there will be a lot of unbelieving souls who
will be surprised -- and scared -- to find out that Jesus, just as He promised,
has raised them and would now judge them.
To minimize that fear and to make sure everyone's reaction to Judgment Day will
be a happy one, Christians are committed to sharing the Savior's story of
salvation. We want people to know Jesus' sacrifice and glorious resurrection
over death changes everything.
It most certainly can take their cries of fear and transform them into shouts of
everlasting gladness and joy for the Christ who has given His life so we might
have life eternal.
And before we pray, you might want to know the baby is in a pre-natal unit and
his condition was listed as "stable." As the woman with the dead child said to
Elijah, "All is well." And, because of Jesus, it always will be.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, for Your victory that surprised the world and
defeated humanity's archenemies, we give thanks. May we share Your story with a
lost world so they may not be shocked or lost when You return again. In Your
Name. Amen.
Pastor Ken Klaus Lutheran Hour Ministries http://www.lhm.org/ all rights reserved; not to be duplicated without permission.
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