Dana's Christian Journey

musings of a thankful cancer survivor

Author: Dana

  • faithful

    —

    Dana

    “Here is a trustworthy saying,
    ‘If we died with him, we will live with him;
    If we endure, we will also reign with him;
    If we disown him, he will disown us;
    If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot deny himself.’” II Timothy 2:11-13

    So often I have been a faithless child who looks to a Father who continues to be faithful. When I look back over eight years of dealing with cancer, I marvel at the ways of God. Each one of us has his own journey… a race God has given us to run. We are instructed to keep our eyes fixed on the One who saved us, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Often God chooses not to reveal much of the path ahead so we can learn to walk by faith. Though I know this to be true, I still sometimes express my disagreements:

    “Lord, why do I have to deal with all this? Why can’t you just take the problems away?”

    “Do you trust me more now than you did eight years ago or do you trust me less? Do you believe that my strength can be seen in your weakness?”

    “I trust you more, Lord, but I’m not too sure about the matter of my weakness. I will admit that on every occasion it seems you give me just what I need. I needed energy to run camps again this past summer and you supplied. When I’ve gone to other countries, you’ve always given me great health for the trip. Why can’t those high-energy, healthy times continue year round? Why do I have to deal with the lows?”

    “I taught my children in the desert to depend on me for their food each day. Some wanted to gather extra manna to store up for the future, but I always made the surplus rot. I want to teach you the same lesson. Will you trust me each day?”

    “I’m trying to learn, Lord, but there’s so much I don’t understand. Why did John die of cancer, Lord? He was just twenty-five years old and had only been married a couple of months. And why has twenty-year-old David had such a rough battle with leukemia? And what about Jane and Henry and Dick and Holly and…”

    “Do you really think you can handle the details of the suffering of others? You can’t. But you can share this: God is for his children; He is not against them. Then you can practice what so many have given you… my love. My love is often best understood in the hard times of life. You don’t need to figure everything out, but you can be my hands and feet on the earth.”

    So here’s my confession at the beginning of another school year: I don’t want to be faithless, but if I’m honest, sometimes I am. I don’t want to doubt, but sometimes I do. I don’t want to complain, but sometimes I’m pretty much a wimp. The truth is: God is faithful. He rescues, he overcomes, and he gives peace in the storm. He cannot deny himself, and his children are a part of him. Even if it is time to pass from this life to the next, he is with us… for he is our faithful Shepherd.

    “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” II Corinthians 12:9

  • victory

    —

    Dana

    Some thought I was quite humble last week, writing about coaching without sharing that our tennis team won the state championship. Actually, that ‘journey’ was written before we played and got hung up in cyberspace. As we’re in the final week of school, this will probably be my last writing until after summer.

    As a coach, I’ve sometimes struggled with the quest to win. Jesus said if you want to be first then you must be last. How does that work in athletics? Paul helps a little by writing: “If anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.” (II Tim. 2:5) And “Do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” (I Cor. 9:24) Of course, it is evident as you read these verses in context that Paul desires his readers to gain spiritual understanding, but I’ve concluded that in athletics God wants us to do our best, to represent Him, and to keep all things in His hands.

    Caedmon’s Call sings this song: “The Lord is a Warrior; the Lord is mighty in battle. The Lord is a Warrior; Lord of Hosts is He.” Is this true? Did Jesus of Nazareth fight? On earth, was He concerned with winning? In Heaven, is Jesus looking for victory? How can the One who teaches us to turn the other cheek be described as a Mighty Warrior?

    Jesus came to earth as God’s strategy to win the ultimate victory: “‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Corinthians 15:55-57) Jesus knew He was in a battle on earth and He knows He will ride the white horse as the victorious King of Kings on the last day, but He only fights with His Father’s weapons… and so must we. Jesus said some harsh things to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law in Israel, but He knew his enemy was not flesh and blood. His Father created all human beings; the devil captured all human beings with sin; and Jesus came to set the captives free. Jesus’ words often aimed to jolt a person the Father loved into the Truth that would bring freedom. Only those who have ears to hear and a heart to believe can be brought into the Kingdom of Light.

    So Jesus was the greatest Warrior… and He still is. As His followers, we must hear and obey His unusual, but powerful strategies. The enemy hits us with meanness, anger, deceit, slander, and all types of evil. Our human nature says: “Strike back harder! Defend yourself vigorously! Bring out the faults of your accuser…” But these methods only result in Satan’s tighter grip. Man’s ways do not bring God’s victory. Jesus taught: “Love your enemy. Pray for those who do you wrong. Give a gift to someone who steals from you. Be merciful as your Father in Heaven is merciful. This will bring the victory that really counts.” It is only the courageous man or woman who is bold enough to live this way. “This meekness seems like weakness! I will look like a fool! What about justice?” All the natural questions arise as we find ourselves in difficult spots, but Jesus simply smiles and says, “Follow Me… I know the true enemy and I know how to win.”

    “I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues – last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name.” Revelation 15:1-2

    “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” II Corinthians 10:3-5

  • coaching

    —

    Dana

    Our tennis team won a big match Tuesday and this weekend we hope to compete for a state championship. The young coaches get on the courts with the players and work them hard. I’m an old coach. I gather the team at practice and say, “OK guys, listen up. Friday we play __________ in the semi-finals. I know our opponent because we’ve faced them in past years. This is what they are going to do: 1 – ____________, 2 – ___________, 3 – ______________ Understand?” I filled in the blanks and gave this speech because I know if we are caught off guard by the things our opponent usually does, we’ll be at a disadvantage.

    It should not surprise us that a couple of thousand years ago, God had His apostles write similar encouragements to Christians, knowing full well we would need important warnings and wise council. You’ll want to read the entire passage below, but if you just examine the first four statements and think about the world of sports today, you’ll recognize the power of prophecy. The stakes are much higher than a tennis match…

    “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud…” II Timothy 3:1-5

    “Listen up, friends. The devil is going to hit you with all his might as his time draws to a close. Recognize his tactics! Selfishness, greed, pride… these are a few of his weapons. My Word and My ways defeat the enemy. Remember My teachings: Die to yourself. If you want to be first, choose to be last. Don’t save up treasure on earth… its not going to last. Lay up for yourselves treasure in Heaven! Give… be generous… think of the needs of others. Be humble… as I am humble. Don’t puff up and brag about things you do or what you know. Instead, take up the towel of a servant and be content to wash feet. If I, your Master, lived this way, shouldn’t you?”

    “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Ephesians 6:10-11

  • Stephen

    —

    Dana

    “I wrote many novels without being aware that they reflected my quest for meaning in a world without God.” But after deciding later in life that Jesus is who He says He is, Anne Rice dedicated herself entirely to Christ. “Now what happened in 2002 was this: I was praying, I was talking to the Lord, I was discussing my writing with Him, and what came over me was the awareness that if I believed in Him as completely as I said I did, I ought to write entirely for Him. Anything I could do ought to be for Him. I told Him so. I set out to put this into practice. The day I told the Lord I’d write for Him, and Him only, I now see as the most important single day of my entire life. Truly not the simplest things have been the same since.” These words come from the Author’s Note at the end of “Christ the Lord – Out of Egypt,” Anne Rice’s first novel about Jesus. Before reading it, on the long flight from Washington D.C. to Johannesburg, I read her second book of this series, “Christ the Lord – The Road to Cana.” These books, written from Jesus’ perspective, are quite remarkable… and powerful.

    As a writer, Anne Rice is not only known for telling great stories, but for being historically accurate in the details of setting, culture, and community. We all know Jesus grew up in Nazareth with His mother, Mary, and her husband, Joseph, a carpenter. What we rarely think about, because of Scripture’s silence, is what exactly Jesus did from age twelve to thirty.

    In Namibia I met someone that made me think of Jesus, the Carpenter. His name was Stephen and he was a brick mason. We helped him build a wall and after two days of working with him, I thought to myself, “I’ll bet this is the way Jesus worked.” Stephen worked from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm in the hot African sun without complaint and without fanfare. If he knew I was writing this, he would probably laugh and say, “I just worked the way I always do.” He was honest; he was diligent; he did excellent work; he did not desire any glory… he was just determined to do a good job.

    I don’t guess this is an overly fascinating point, to focus on an unknown laborer on the opposite end of the earth… except to remember that that’s what Jesus was for most of His life. Aside from the three years of ministry, His death, burial, and resurrection (the Gospel), we know about Jesus’ birth and an episode at the Temple. Everything else is hidden. But we know Jesus’ character, so it is not hard to propose that He simply worked hard every day of His carpentry career… except on the Sabbaths and festival days, since He was a Jew. Do you think Jesus complained? Do you think He loafed? Do you think He cheated His clients? We would never consider these possibilities. I wouldn’t be surprised if, every now and then, He talked to His Father in Heaven about God’s plans… but not in a wrong way. “Father, how long until Your reason for sending Me unfolds?”

    We may ask similar questions about God’s timing and purposes… I just need to learn to humbly accept His answers. “Keep working with your dad on earth, Jesus. Work hard and do a good job. Treat people right and reflect Me. When its time for bigger things, I’ll let You know.”

    “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:5-8

  • Babylon

    —

    Dana

    “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.” (Psalm 137:1-6)

    The couple of times we visited, I loved to walk the streets of Jerusalem, pondering the past and wondering about the future. But I also loved being in Babylon… not the Babylon of Persia, but the squatter camp where we worshipped the Sunday we were in Windhoek, Namibia. Someone nicknamed this dirt-road community, consisting of thousands of makeshift houses, ‘Babylon.’ I doubt it was intended to be a compliment since Babylon is often portrayed in Scripture as the enemy of God’s children.

    But remember God’s heart toward all cities. “And wherever he (Jesus) went – into villages or cities or countryside – they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the border of his garment, and all who touched him were made whole.” Jesus wants to make us whole… and it does not matter whether we live in Jerusalem or Babylon. God gives us the choice to receive him or reject him and perhaps the ones you would think have the advantage end up missing out. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” All of us Americans were greatly impacted as we worshipped in a church building that would not meet the standards of most church buildings in the US. Why did the worship of the poor in an African nation seem so much more passionate than what we usually experience in our land?

    “It’s what’s inside that matters,” Jesus taught. You can eat the right foods, follow all the rules, live in the right neighborhood, say the right words… and be far from God. “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.” Jesus quoted Isaiah and confused many people. He did not want anyone, especially his disciples, to miss the point. “Jesus called the crowd to him and said, ‘Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’”

    So… if it is not where I live, or what I eat, or what traditions I keep that make the difference, what does? Jesus! I must be made whole! I must be healed! I must be forgiven! I must be made clean! “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’”

    God accomplished everything we need through his Son and Jesus stands today with open arms to receive all that will humbly come. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

    “The church that is at Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings…” I Peter 5:13

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