Pillar of Fire

Suffering

We are taught by Jesus:

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”  Matthew 7:13-14

The word narrow above means “crowded” in the original Greek.  It is not being used in reference to many people being on the same path, but instead, it is being used to indicate the difficulty that will be involved for a believer to pass through the tight and almost suffocating path that leads to eternal life with Christ.  The same Greek word used for narrow above is also used for the word afflicted three times in the New Testament.

Isn’t this appropriate?  Doesn’t this illustrate what the Lord meant when He said we are to take up our crosses everyday and follow Him?  Can we recall His journey?

The Temptation

The Opposition

The Blood dripping from His brow in Gethsemane

The Betrayal

The Beating

The Humiliation

The Crowds Yelling, “Crucify Him!”

The Carrying of the Cross

The Nails in the Hands and the Feet

The Death

Yet - He endured through it all.  And He calls those who believe in Him to also endure unto the end.  We have no strength on our own, but when we abide in His Body, we are kept by His Goodness and have His power driving us, feeding us, and helping us.  

We are promised in the Word of God that we will face tremendous afflictions - physical, emotional, and spiritual.  We will.  

We will not read that we are to give in to the affliction - that we are to be driven to commit sin or an act that is against God’s will in order to escape the trial we face, as a result of the affliction.  The flesh will quite naturally want to seek what may falsely appear as “peace” in order to escape whatever plagues the flesh - be it emotional or physical -- the flesh seeks pleasure and strives to avoid pain on most levels. 

 Yet - we are told repeatedly that we are not to allow our flesh to lead us.  As difficult as that may be, we are called to “put on Christ” and allow Him to help us endure the anguish until the trial passes. Even if the trial brings death, we are called to endure that trial in faith and by remaining in the will of God.  

 If a person is a believer, we are promised that the Lord will provide all of our needs, even when we find ourselves experiencing tremendous physical or emotional anguish.

I have an uncle who is in his sixties, and for over a year, he has been enduring a tremendous physical battle.  He has throat cancer.  He weighed approximately 170 pounds, but now he is close to 100 pounds.  Due to the location of the cancer, his ability to eat has been affected.  The pain that plagues his body has also affected his ability to eat.  The size of the tumor has affected his breathing and eating as well.  He visited the doctor about a month ago, and he was told that he had weeks to days left.  

His story is a unique one.  It is my understanding that he stopped attending school in the second grade.  I don’t know all of the details as to why that occurred, but I do believe that his reading and writing skills are very limited, as one would expect under such circumstances.  He was and is very child-like in ways beyond reading and writing.  I know the world loves to label people, but I can’t bring myself to use a worldly label for him.  He was always just Michael.  There was never an IQ test.  There was never a meeting with so-called experts making an attempt to diagnose him as a child.  He was just and is just Michael.

At the age of 62, child-like Michael was faced with a trial of tremendous affliction.  He had never taken drugs, never smoked, never tasted alcohol, yet he was diagnosed with throat cancer.  Michael, who for as long as I have known him, spent his life having one passion →  The LORD.  How many times can I remember as a young girl seeing him dressed for church, Bible in hand,  getting in the car waiting for someone to drive him to church?  Countless times.

Although he is plagued by physical pain, he has remained steadfastly faithful that God’s Will shall be done in his life.  He has not complained.  I visited him ( he lives 3 hours away) a few months ago, and it was very remarkable when I walked into his home.  It is a home that he shares with his older sisters.

Michael never left home.  He stayed with my granny and pawpaw, his mother and father, until they died.  He still lives in the same location with his older sisters.  They have always provided his needs and continue to do so in what appear to be his last days.  

When I walked into their home, he sat on the recliner.  There

was an almost visible peace that seemed to surround him.  I was struck by that.  There were also the visible signs of cancer too, but the peace that was present far outweighed the fragile body weakened by cancer.     

Since then, I have been informed that Michael has awakened and articulated to his sisters that he had been seeing something in his room.  Four times - he has seen an image.  He called it a Pillar of Fire.  

My mother told me this one evening about a month ago.  It struck me as very odd because just an hour before being told this, my son and I sat on my porch, and he used the same phrase.  

The phrase Pillar of Fire is used in the Bible when the Lord is leading the Israelites through the darkness or wilderness.  God’s will was to lead them to the promised land.  They needed to only trust and follow the Light He provided.

Exodus 13:21 - And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.

Even in his darkest hours where he seems to find no physical rest due to pain and breathing difficulties, the Lord is leading child-like Michael through the narrow, crowded, and afflicted way.  Few there be that find it, but those who do find the narrow way will also find the Lord.  The Lord will light the way during our afflictions.   

My mother, his younger sister by two years, visited him a little over a week ago.  Physically, his body is deteriorating very rapidly.  Physically, he appears to have no strength.  Physically, he appeared too fragile to even hug.  But spiritually, his faith was strong.  While there, he indicated that he wanted to buy food for his visitors (my mom included). He cannot speak clearly at this stage and be understood without a great deal of questions from others and nods from himself. 

 Yet - he insisted that he wanted to buy food for those who were visiting him that day.  My mom, very instinctively, declined, for she did not want to eat in his presence when he consumes little to nothing each day.  She felt that would have been disrespectful to him, but Elizabeth, one of the sister’s who has always taken care of him, insisted that they allow him to do that for them.  It was his desire to feed them.  

I tell you that I weep as I type those words above.  He weighs 100 pounds and drinks a few ounces  of liquid a day, and his heart’s desire in that moment was to feed healthy people…  When my mom shared this story with me, I thought of our Lord the night before he was crucified.  Did he not wash the feet of his disciples knowing that His crucifixion was at hand?  Did he not sit before his disciples and serve them bread hours before hanging on a cross?  Did he not share his love for them moments before sweating drops of blood in Gethsemane?  Love.  Death to Flesh.  Servitude.  

Child-like Michael has spent 62 years living a relatively secluded life - never taking part in the so-called “pleasures” and “necessities” that this world has to offer - educational systems, workforce, wealth,  etc.  Yet, this seemingly unknown person is spending what appear to be his last days enduring in the faith and, as a direct result, showing the character of the Vine he is abiding within - the Vine of Christ.  

Affliction, although so very difficult, is not to be escaped by the flesh.  It is to be endured IN Christ.  Affliction is an instrument used to mold and shape a believer into the image of Christ.  

Paul teaches us words to live by, literally, when we are afflicted:

2 Corinthians 4:17

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

Peter also teaches the believer that we are to endure by placing our faith in the Lord, and that after we have endured, the Lord’s Grace will guide us to true, sinless freedom.  

1 Peter 5:

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.

No matter the affliction we are called to endure IN Christ, may we always keep our eyes on Him, believing and knowing that He will guide us with a PILLAR OF FIRE so that we can journey through the narrow way to HIM!   

GLORY TO GOD!  

Michael standing beside his sister, my mother.  There are afflictions to endure, and with child-like faith we are called to BELIEVE that the Lord will carry us through.