Three years ago, last month (October of 2017), the life of my wife and I changed. Anneli had a brain aneurysm and October 8, 2017 she went through a five-hour operation where the aneurysm was secured with coils. However, one slipped and went to another part of the brain that caused a stroke affecting her left side-leg, arm, left peripheral vision and short-term memory.
My wife needed 24/7 care and I became the main caregiver. I started to learn what Paul was saying in Ephesians: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.” Ephesians 5:25
Moving from a busy preaching schedule to being house bound became quite a transition. Anneli was learning the lesson to being waited on instead of waiting on others and I was learning what it meant to give myself to my wife. Precious lessons were being learned.
I was asking the Lord how to pray for my wife and the phrase ‘little by little’ came to mind. I thought that was rather strange way to pray that she would be healed ‘little by little.’
Over the next couple of years, I was asking the Lord to heal my wife and He was doing that ‘little by little.’ At times it seemed we moved ahead three steps and then two steps back and even other times it was two steps forward and three steps back. But there was some improvement.
The phrase ‘little by little’ brought to mind the verse in Exodus: “Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land.” (Exodus 23:30) This we know was a reference of the Children of Israel going into the Promise Land and how God would deal with the seven nations that were there.
The verse in Exodus referring to the Children of Israel taking over the Promise land was becoming a more personal verse to Anneli and me in the situation that we found ourselves in. I could not fully understand why the Lord would ask me to pray for my wife to be healed ‘little by little,’ but then He began to show us another part of the verse: “I will drive them out.” What spoke to us and what the Lord was showing us was that in the process of healing Anneli ‘little by little,’ the Lord was wanting to drive things out of our life that was not pleasing to Him.
This became a Rhema word for Anneli and me and we began to pray for the Lord to reveal what it is that He is wanting to ‘drive out’ of our lives. King David said: “But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.” (Psalms 19:12) We were realizing afresh that God wants truth in the inner man. The Lord has been revealing issues (the hidden errors and faults) in our life that need to be driven out. We discovered what a blessing it was to see and understand in the midst of suffering what the Lord was doing.
Later in this journey, the Lord gave more revelation in this verse by the word ‘increase.’ For the Children of Israel, the word increase meant having children (increase in population) in order to inherit the land.
The Hebrew word for increase is: parah (paw-raw’); a primitive root; to bear fruit (literally or figuratively): KJV – bear, bring forth (fruit), (be, cause to be, make) fruitful, grow, increase. So, Anneli and I saw that in her healing ‘little by little’ things in our life that were not pleasing to the Lord could be discovered, confessed, and driven out. Result? That we might be fruitful (both internal fruit of the Holy Spirit as well as external). What did Jesus say? “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” John 15:2
This is a personal journey that Anneli and I are sharing with you. We always have a tendency to look at ‘suffering’ in a negative light and we forget that part of our armor is what Peter said: “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.” 1 Peter 4:1
Suffering is a normal part of life – even a part of a good life, and the suffering teaches us how to be patient, kind, and loving.
However, we live in a world today, especially in the West, that unhappiness is slavery and freedom is liberation from the burden of unchosen obligations.
In the book called “Live Not by Lies” it says: “A 2019 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found a distinct minority of young American adults believed that religion, patriotism, and having children are an important part of life, while nearly four out of five said ‘self-fulfillment’ is key to the good life.”
The question is are we ready when suffering does come our way? Like it says above: “Suffering is a normal part of life – even a part of a good life, and that suffering teaches us how to be patient, kind, and loving.”