The armor of light 3

Sometimes the armor of light is put on us directly by God. Some years ago I got really sick. Go to the hospital and stay awhile sick. I spent 13 days in the hospital in two stretches. In between my hospital stays I was home for a few days getting sicker. I was terribly anemic. I hadn’t ever been anemic before, so it really caught me off guard. I am normally a pretty energetic, go and do, kind of a person, but I could barely move. I don’t think I had any iron in my body at all.

One afternoon I was home alone for a few hours. Somehow I managed to get into a big blue chair in our living room. I sat there for a bit, then decided I wanted to get up, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t move a muscle. I couldn’t wiggle my fingers. I was so weak. I remember thinking to myself, I can get out of this chair. I know I can. I am going to get up…right now. But I couldn’t move. I tried for one hour to move. Couldn’t do it. Another hour passed. I thought, Surely I can get out of this chair. Couldn’t do it. Then another half hour passed. Two and a half hours in I said, God? Now, I don’t know why it took me two and a half hours to bring God in on the situation, but it did. 

When I said, God? I felt a subtle presence stir inside my body. I thought it might be Jesus so I said, Jesus, do you think I will ever be able to get out of this chair?

Jesus said or I felt him answer without words, I don’t know. But if you can’t get out of this blue chair I will sit with you forever. 

You’ll sit with me here forever?

Yes, I’ll sit with you forever.

And with that I felt my armor of light being wrapped gently around my weak frame. Jesus wasn’t going to heal my anemia. Unexplainably I felt like he was giving me something even more precious and valuable. He caused me to know and feel that no matter what he was in full solidarity with me suffering by the strange power of his unrelenting love. I’ll sit with you forever, he said. What more could I ask for?

When Kristin got home she helped me get out of that chair. I was glad to get up, but I will always look fondly on that time I sat in deep weakness as the time I sat with Jesus and learned of his willingness to sit with me forever. That knowledge is my armor of light.