God's glory in our weakness

Dear RockSpring Church Family,

By God’s grace, and through your prayers, love, and care, I have now completed my third eye procedure today. The largest surgery took place last year when I unexpectedly suffered a retinal detachment. Earlier this year, I underwent a second procedure, but afterward a layer of tissue inside the eye tore, which required another laser procedure to repair and seal it properly. My vision has not yet fully recovered, but after another three to four weeks of monitoring and with a new prescription for glasses, I am hopeful that this long season of treatment will finally come to an end.

As I was returning home from the hospital today, many of our RockSpring Church members came to my heart, especially those carrying burdens far heavier than my own. Some are walking through the difficult road of chemotherapy after receiving a cancer diagnosis. Others are waiting anxiously for test results, while some continue through long seasons of weakness, pain, and recovery. One by one, I found myself remembering your faces before the Lord and lifting each of you up in prayer. The longer we live, the more we come to realize how fragile our earthly bodies are. Time slowly reminds us that our strength is not what it once was. What older generations often said “No one can overcome the passing of time” is no longer simply a saying I understand intellectually, but a reality I now feel deeply within my physical bodies. Yet even in the frailty of human life, Scripture continually reminds us that God has not ceased to work.

In John 9, the disciples looked upon a man who had been blind from birth and asked Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2) Jesus answered them, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:3) The Words of Jesus were far more than an explanation for one man’s suffering. They were a profound declaration that even in the midst of human weakness, pain, and brokenness, the glory of God can still be revealed. When illness enters our lives, we often ask, “Lord, why is this happening?” Yet Jesus gently reminds us that even through tears, uncertainty, and suffering, God is still present and still at work. The Apostle Paul also came to know the sustaining grace of God through his own physical affliction. Three times he pleaded with the Lord that his suffering might be removed, yet the Lord answered him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) Because of this, Paul learned not to despair in weakness, but to rest in the power of Christ that meets us there. The Christian life is not the absence of suffering, but the continual discovery that the hand of God is able to sustain us even in our most fragile moments. Sometimes it is precisely in our weakness that we come to know His strength most deeply, and in our suffering that the light of Christ shines most clearly through us.

Dear brothers and sisters, please continue to remember those in our RockSpring community who are suffering physically. Remember those spending long hours in hospitals, those waiting through sleepless nights for medical results, and those whose bodies and hearts are weary. Please hold their hands in prayer and walk alongside them. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) The church is not a place where we suffer alone. It is a community that weeps together, prays together, and carries one another together. When we take hold of one another’s hands, the comfort and grace of God begin to flow among us. Though our bodies may grow weak, God continues to reveal His glory even through our weakness. In the middle of treatments, surgeries, waiting, and recovery, we trust that God is with us, sustaining us every step of the way. Please continue to pray for complete healing, for strength to endure, and above all, that the glory of God would be displayed through every season of suffering and restoration. We see you, we think of you, we remember you, and we pray for you. Know that you are not alone.

With respect, and love for you all

Rev. Won Kim

Lead Pastor of RockSpring Church