The Days of Your Youth

I came across a picture of my wife a few weeks ago as I was packing for our move.  I don’t remember taking the photo that seems to have been shot in the parking lot of the old El Rancho Tropicana Motel when we attended church in a rented room there in the early eighties.  It could also be when we did a weekly service in Napa California during that same time period.  There is very little of the background that is shown in the picture.  But it is easy to date from my wife’s haircut and the outfit she is wearing as well as from the unique print paper that came from a lab I used back then.

Even though she was in her early thirties in the photograph, she still retained her teenage young looks and displayed that special vibrancy, health and strength shining through her lovely brown eyes.  It reminded me of one of our healing scriptures that I confess over her on a daily basis.  The confession is from a personalized combination of Job 33:24-25 where I declare the Lord’s statement to her saying: “I have provided Jesus as a ransom for you, therefore your flesh is becoming fresher than a child’s and you are returning as unto the healthy days of your youth.”

The cool part of this particular scripture truth is that I had the privilege of knowing Piper as a youth as we started dating when we were in our teens.  Therefore I can easily relate to the spunkiness she possessed as a young High School student and envision that same zeal for life returning to her as promised by the Lord!

This morning as I studied out 2 Thessalonians 3:3, I discovered another fact in God’s Word that cemented my belief in my wife’s total recovery.  The 1899 Douay-Rheims Bible translates this verse as: “But God is faithful, who will strengthen and keep you from evil.”  What caught my attention was the original Greek intent of the word “evil.”  Strong’s defines the word as anything “hurtful, evil in effect or influence, malice or the devil himself” and “also ill, that is diseased.”  Thayer’s agrees saying that “in a physical sense: diseased or blind.”

So this verse is another of many within the Bible that define anything evil which includes sickness and disease, as coming from the devil.  It also directly backs up our confession from Job 33 where we have taken the stand that the Lord is not only strengthening my wife but is keeping her safe from the effects of this disease… and as part of that process, she will fully recover and return as unto the healthy days of her youth.

So that picture that I came across is not just a remembrance of times past, but is an ever present reminder of the Lord’s promise of healing and restoration to us His children.  I related some similar thoughts as these to my wife when we were out on a walk around our new community yesterday.  When I asked if she remembered a particularly funny incident that occurred on a family camping trip a few years back where she demonstrated her uncanny ability to surprise us with her spontaneity and spunk, she suddenly started laughing!  And while she was not able to express her thoughts in words, she definitely showed comprehension and remembrance to the experience.

Then when I shared Job 33:24-25 with her, she again laughed a giggle of solid agreement to the truth and faithfulness of God and His Word.  How is your commitment to the truth that is to be found in God’s Word?  Can you laugh along with my wife in agreement with Him and then solidly stand until you see the physical manifestation of that which you are in faith for?  I bet you can!  If not, the solution is simple, as “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17 KJV)  Just spend more time in the Word and allow yourself to be built up in Him and develop your faith at the same time!  Have a great weekend.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What or Whom am I expecting today?”