We Will All be Weighed on the Scales

 

After two surgeries, I was finally declared cancer-free!  It has been a very painful ordeal physically, but also has been a test for me emotionally and spiritually.  I was asking God why I had to go through all this pain and fear.  Whether from my own mind or from the Holy mind of God, I felt very clearly that I was told I was being weighed.  I knew it had nothing to do with the literal weight of my body, but that God was telling me I was being tested. I knew, as with Belshazzar in Daniel 5, that I was being weighed to see how I would fare the trials coming my way. My circumstances were obviously different than Belshazzar, but the concept of being tested by God is the same. My physical trials have been tests of my faith.  I was weighed and tested to see if I would "honor the God who holds [me in] His hand." For this test and all the others that will surely come, I never want to be found wanting/lacking in faith or integrity.     

“But you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven... But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription. “Here is what these words mean. Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting...  That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain. Daniel 5:22-30 

I believe the Bible when it states we will all stand before God and be judged for our actions (And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. Revelation 20:12-13).  That time will host the biggest scales of them all (see also Matthew 16:23) However, for the theme of this particular blog, I am just going to focus on the scales associated with physical, emotional, and spiritual trials.

Did God give me cancer? Probably not, but how I dealt with the diagnosis of the disease these past three months was a test of my spiritual character. Did I pass with flying colors? No!  I felt anger, confusion, and self-pity with all I had to go through.  Yet after much prayer and self-examination, I ultimately decided that if all the pain and suffering I was experiencing could bring glory to God, it was worth it. I would trust God. And like Job, I would not curse God and die, but bless God and live! Even if I had been diagnosed with stage 3 cancer, instead of stage 1, I was  and am determined I will always declare:  

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. Job 13:15

Around seventeen years ago I had a dream that an angel of the Lord was handing me a beautifully intricate gold candlestick.  He said to me, "Through the fire, you will be refined pure as gold."  At the time, I was facing persecution at my job and was eventually forced to resign. I have faced more hardships since then. Facing cancer and two very painful surgeries has been one of my biggest tests.  I suspect the evaluations of my faith will continue throughout the rest of my life.  I want to be refined and made better, not melted down and deemed unusable.

And I will... refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. Zechariah 13:9

So how do we keep the scales from tipping us right off of them?  We focus on the Holy Words of God! Jesus never promised us an easy life, but He did promise to hold our hand through it all.  If we can remember God will never leave us, it gets easier. 

[Jesus said,] “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  John 16:22

The hard times will come to us all, no one is exempt.

For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:45

However, if we refuse to become bitter and trust God in the processes, these difficulties will only make us stronger. 

They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples... strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. Acts 14:21-22  

The words from 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 have become my new theme:

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

For I am learning more and more that the name of Jesus will be best glorified when I am weak. 

Bottom line is that we will all be weighed on the scales more than once.  As for me, I am willing to be weighed and sent through the fire if it means the name of Jesus will be glorified. 

Although I am in the process of healing from cancer surgery, I still have an on-going neurological disorder that is quite possibly Multiple Sclerosis.  Even as I face the weakness with which this condition continues to plague me, I want to always have the same attitude as the apostle Paul:

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:11-13 

And because Jesus Christ gives me strength, may His name be exalted and praised!

From this day forward may my prayer always and sincerely be:

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24