There are pains that pass.<\/p>\n
And then there are pains that move in.<\/p>\n
I have lived with chronic pain for more than two decades.<\/p>\n
Not as a parenthesis in my life, but as a part of my everyday.<\/p>\n
As something I live, lead, pray, preach and serve in the middle of.<\/p>\n
What you're reading here is therefore not written from a distant tower.<\/p>\n
It's written from reality.<\/p>\n
And let me say it plainly from the start:<\/p>\n
I have no doubt about my healing.<\/p>\n
Whether it happens here \u2013 or on the other side of eternity \u2013 God knows.<\/p>\n
My job is not to set the timing.<\/p>\n
My job is to hold on to the fact that he is good.<\/p>\n
I have decided to serve him for the rest of my life.<\/p>\n
Not because of the outcome.<\/p>\n
But because of who he is.<\/p>\n
\u2e3b<\/p>\n
When explanations become heavier than the pain<\/p>\n
When sickness becomes long-lasting, the questions start to surface.<\/p>\n
Not theoretical questions.<\/p>\n
But questions born of exhaustion:<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
What does God want with this?<\/p>\n
Have I done something wrong?<\/p>\n
Sadly, the church has often answered too quickly.<\/p>\n
Throughout history, sickness has been given many explanations:<\/p>\n
\u2022 \"God wants to teach you something\"<\/p>\n
\u2022 \"God disciplines those he loves\"<\/p>\n
\u2022 \"There must be a hidden cause\"<\/p>\n
\u2022 \"You lack faith\"<\/p>\n
With explanations that may have been well-meant \u2013<\/p>\n
but that made the pain heavier to carry.<\/p>\n
Some of these statements sound pious.<\/p>\n
But many of them don't survive the encounter with Jesus.<\/p>\n
\u2e3b<\/p>\n
Jesus never explained sickness \u2013 he healed it<\/p>\n
When we look at Jesus, we discover something decisive.<\/p>\n
He didn't use sickness as teaching.<\/p>\n
He didn't use it to teach people something.<\/p>\n
He confronted it.<\/p>\n
Jesus treated sickness as:<\/p>\n
\u2022 something that binds<\/p>\n
\u2022 something that steals<\/p>\n
\u2022 something God's kingdom contradicts<\/p>\n
That's not a small theological point.<\/p>\n
It's a revealing glimpse into God's heart.<\/p>\n
\u2e3b<\/p>\n
John 9 \u2013 when Jesus rejects blame<\/p>\n
When the disciples meet the man born blind, they ask:<\/p>\n
Who sinned \u2013 this man or his parents?<\/p>\n
The question is logical.<\/p>\n
It's also wrong.<\/p>\n
Jesus' answer is crystal clear:<\/p>\n
Neither this man nor his parents sinned.<\/p>\n
Jesus rejects the whole premise.<\/p>\n
He refuses to connect sickness with blame.<\/p>\n
And he moves the focus from explanation to restoration.<\/p>\n
That matters \u2013 especially for those of us who live for a long time with pain.<\/p>\n
\u2e3b<\/p>\n
Sickness belongs in the fallen world \u2013 not in God's nature<\/p>\n
The Bible teaches us that we live in a broken world.<\/p>\n
Sickness is a part of this reality.<\/p>\n
But it doesn't reflect God's being.<\/p>\n
When God's kingdom breaks through, the same thing always happens:<\/p>\n
\u2022 the sick are made well<\/p>\n
\u2022 the bound are set free<\/p>\n
\u2022 life is restored<\/p>\n
Healing doesn't depend on God's mood.<\/p>\n
It's God's will made manifest.<\/p>\n
That God is sovereign doesn't mean everything that happens is his will.<\/p>\n
It means that:<\/p>\n
\u2022 he doesn't lose control<\/p>\n
\u2022 he can bring hope in the middle of pain<\/p>\n
\u2022 and that sickness never gets the last word<\/p>\n
Jesus teaches us to pray:<\/p>\n
Your will be done \u2013 on earth as it is in heaven.<\/p>\n
There is no sickness in heaven.<\/p>\n
That says something about God's will.<\/p>\n
\u2e3b<\/p>\n
When healing doesn't come \u2013 and God is still good<\/p>\n
I live in the tension.<\/p>\n
I pray.<\/p>\n
I expect.<\/p>\n
I serve.<\/p>\n
Not because the pain is gone \u2013<\/p>\n
but because God's goodness is not up for negotiation.<\/p>\n
My healing is on the way.<\/p>\n
Now \u2013 or in eternity.<\/p>\n
That doesn't change my course.<\/p>\n
A healthy theology of sickness does three things:<\/p>\n
1. It removes blame from the one who suffers<\/p>\n
2. It protects God's character<\/p>\n
3. It keeps hope alive without pressure<\/p>\n
Sickness is not a lesson.<\/p>\n
Sickness is not a calling.<\/p>\n
Sickness is something Jesus came to overcome.<\/p>\n
Following Jesus \u2013 even when the road hurts<\/p>\n
I have decided.<\/p>\n
To follow him.<\/p>\n
To serve him.<\/p>\n
To hold on to the fact that he is good.<\/p>\n
Not because I have all the answers.<\/p>\n
But because I know his heart.<\/p>\n
And that heart we see most clearly in Jesus.<\/p>\n
A Jesus who:<\/p>\n
\u2022 is moved by compassion<\/p>\n
\u2022 fights sickness<\/p>\n
\u2022 and carries pain \u2013 without making it holy<\/p>\n
That's where I stand.<\/p>\n
And that's where I invite others to stand together with me!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are pains that pass. And then there are pains that move in.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2793,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fredagsartikler"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2812"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2854,"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2812\/revisions\/2854"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}