Do You Know who I Am

   All was quiet in the darkened room of the isolation ward at a major Christian research hospital, save only for the gentle humming of the monitors. The nurse’s eyes glanced knowingly from one to the next and back again. If the doctor’s predictions were right, the patient would soon recover consciousness. The nurse wanted to be there when he did.

   Shortly thereafter their eyes met, the nurse smiled in relief and welcomed the patient back to the land of the living.

   “Where am I?”

   Yolanda told him. “We can run some more tests now you’re conscious so in a day or two we should have a much better idea of what particular illness it is you’ve contracted. What we can tell you right away is the extent to which you have abused your health will not have helped your cause. It also stands to make your recovery that much longer to achieve, as well as increase the likelihood of your having done even greater harm to yourself”.

   “Do you know who I am?” inquired the patient.

   “Yes, I know who you are. You’re my 99th patient in this particular ward. You’re also a well-known actor of stage and screen whose every performance I’ve tried to see. But what I’m witnessing now is not a performance I or any of your legions of fans ever want to see again. No one can know the extent of another’s pain, but I’m fairly sure the way you’re feeling now must seem like the curtain’s come down for the last time. To me, however, it’s the trumpet sound of victory because I haven’t lost a patient yet and I’m not about to do so now”.

   “What can you do for me I can’t do for myself if I put my mind to it? How do you know I’m not serious about wanting to change the wretched person I’ve become?”

   “I can tell you with absolute certainty that you cannot – will not – get better by yourself. You will have already tried that, indeed told yourself that, times without number. For the moment, while we’ll do all we possibly can to get you well again, you have to know things will get a lot worse before they get better. But if you play your part while we play ours, you’ll pull through, just like all the others. The part we want you to play as a direct aid to your recovery is to strike a strong, positive attitude by seeing yourself - willing yourself – to be well again. Just as good, nutritious food feeds a healthy body, so do positive, uplifting thoughts develop and empower a strong mind”.

   The patient nodded appreciatively.

   “To get you started, because I want you to lie perfectly still for quite some while, I’m going to tell you about some people whose experiences should give you cause for great hope.

   “The first, also from the world of entertainment, couldn’t handle the success he achieved, so he turned to alcohol and drugs. But in a matter of months, he surprised everyone by saying he had embraced Christianity. Today he’s a pastor who has planted many churches but still performs occasionally. We’ll make a date to go and see him when you’re back on your feet again.

   “The next man was the wealthiest, wisest and most powerful in the world in his day. Just to read the account of the provisions for his household on a daily basis is to appreciate the vastness of his empire. And yet when he thought about it all, he realized everything was meaningless, that there was still something missing in his life. He came to understand what he lacked could be possessed by the poorest peasant in the land – a meaningful relationship with God the Father.

   “You referred to yourself as a “wretched person” a moment ago: so did the third man I’m thinking of, and yet he strove consciously not to be so. But he found himself doing things he knew he shouldn’t, as well as not doing things he knew he should. Christianity was also his path to salvation and the speeches he gave exhorting others to turn from sin to Jesus Christ are as meaningful today as they were in his.

   “One speech in particular completely changed my life, as I pray it will yours. It was about the blessings that are in Christ Jesus for those who believe in Him – for those who have put sin and abuse behind them and renewed their life in Christ. Hold still and let me tell you about not one, not two, but seven blessings which are yours for the asking. Listen carefully and be mindful of the circumstances that have brought you here today.

   “First, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ because He and He alone bore the penalty of our sins. That means we will go straight to heaven when our life on earth is through. This is true even if, while we are here, we still fall short of the godly Christian we strive to be and for which we feel guilty. That guilt, by the way, is not God talking to us but the enemy, so don’t pay any heed to this voice. God’s not holding anything against us: He accepts us simply because we are in Christ. As soon as we accept Him, we are as righteous as we can be because righteousness comes by faith in Christ Jesus. It is attainable: it is that close if we will but confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord.

   “Second, we have the blessing of victory over sin and abuse. None of us can conquer sin by ourselves - I told you that moments ago – but God will give us the victory through the Spirit that dwells in us through prayer, fellowship and Christian service.

   “Third, we have the blessing of adoption because we are the children of God. People think God is angry and judgmental towards us but He is not. He pities us. We don’t stop loving our children when they misbehave, so why should we think God would stop loving us when we misbehave? No, we cry out, “Abba, Father”, and He responds with the love for all peoples manifested in His own Son, Jesus Christ. Read the New Testament and you will know what it truly means to be loved by God.

   “Fourth, and you might find this especially appealing, our present suffering is nothing when compared with the eternal weight of glory that is to come. God is praying for us in eternity and He loves us eternally.

   “Fifth, we know that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord. Just look at the life of Joseph in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New to affirm that statement. Through Christ’s death, God brought salvation to all peoples. We should learn to try looking at the vastness of the galaxy and remind ourselves that God is so great there is nothing in our lives He can’t put right.

   “Sixth, if God be for us, who can be against us? No one can ever conquer or defeat us. We are the apple of His eye and more than conquerors through Him who loves us.

   “Seventh, nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. We are in Christ and as such we are justified and glorified. God has saved us and nothing in the created world can ever separate us from the love of God if we are in Christ. God has made a way for all of us to be in Him – out of sin and death – through Jesus Christ.

   “One final word. God will never be a debtor to us: He will never owe us anything. But as for us, as we give, so will it be given to us, and if we give generously we shall also receive generously and vice versa. So the more we give to God, the more He’ll give to us. I urge you, therefore, to give your life to God through Jesus Christ. And to do so willingly and happily, for God loves a cheerful giver. And then see if God will not bring so much blessing into your life you will not have room enough to contain it.

   “There, I’m done with the tests. Thank you for being such an obliging patient”.

   “As an actor”, came the response, “I shall have no difficulty in playing the part you have asked me to do: indeed, for someone as insightful and encouraging as you are, I could do no less. You are truly a remarkable woman”.

   “Do you know who I am?” Yolanda asked.

For further reading: 1 Kings 4:22; Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:24-26; Romans 7:14-25; 8; 10:8-10; Genesis 37-50; Luke 6:38; 2 Corinthians 9:6-7; Malachi 3:10