Healing from HIV
When we think of a future, we think of the dreams and the ambitions we have. We think of plans of things we want to do for ourselves...
When we think of a future, we think of the dreams and the ambitions we have. We think of plans of things we want to do for ourselves, our family and achieve the goals we have for ourselves in life. What could a person who has an incurable disease such as AIDS say about his future? While governments and scientists around the world try to figure out ways to fight it, it still remains a disease that has no complete cure medically. Having AIDS in itself is a trauma that can kill a person’s hope and will to live. Yet there are instances where such people have found a meaning and reason to live and given those around them a testimony of a well lived life.
Many of those who have tested to be HIV positive have already seen severe losses in their lives, the death of other loved ones due to the disease, the sudden end of relationships, facing ostracisation at public conveniences and places and even at family functions and gatherings. Yet life goes on for them. Though they have no choice but to accept what comes their way, they numb themselves to the pain and carry on.
How can a person who is left with no choice, no hope and no reason to live find a way to continue living inspite of everything? To our mind, it is a question with a dead end, a question that has no answer. Yet it is no so for those who have found refuge in the eternal love of Jesus. Jesus has shown them that the time they are living in now is but a temporary phase, the permanent is yet to come when they will see Him face to face. This gives them hope to endure their pain and suffering. Jesus is their strength in their weakness, He is their comfort when all have left them alone and gone away, He is their present and their future, their joy and their hope. He alone is enough to make them rich since He is their treasure and their gift to others who live loveless and hopeless lives.
In the Bible, there is an instance of the rich man and Lazarus. Luke 16:19-23. Lazarus was a beggar who lived life at the mercy of the others around him, he survived on the crumbs that were thrown from the rich man’s table. The tables were turned when death met both the rich man and Lazarus. This time Lazarus sat next to Abraham in all his finery, having the best with him and burning in the fire was the rich man who had nothing but pain to bear. This shows that the present is not a statement of what the future of a person will be like. In the eyes of the world it may look like the life of Lazarus, the beggar was an utter failure but it was not so in the eyes of God. Even though they are suffering a disease that is said to be incurable, those who are HIV positive can still learn about Jesus, His gift of salvation, His love for them and the eternal hope He has given each of us. In His shelter they will find refuge from the vagaries of life and the world. Through Him they can find the gift of salvation and eternal life and enjoy the bliss of being in heaven after death, a fate that awaits everyone who is born.