Category: hope

For two years now, Susan and I have attended a support group in Atlanta for families dealing with multiple myeloma. In these days of good health, I confess I have been a bit reluctant to go to these monthly meetings, for here I am reminded of my disease. Some of us are in remission, while others are in the midst of treatments of one kind or another. At the end of each meeting, we sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to all who reached such milestones that month. We also hear bad news of those who have regressed or those who have passed away. Though certain things may be depressing, I know I must go.

To stay away from this support group seems a type of denial and a shirking of responsibility. I dare not forget the members of this group who encouraged us when things looked so bleak. Survivors shared their experiences and gave practical advice. Never did we feel judged or condemned. Everyone knew each family had to make tough decisions in their own journey. The group exists to support others, and I know I am to do the same. When a disease-weakened newcomer enters our meeting, I understand where he is. Perhaps I can encourage him. Perhaps I can give a word of hope. I know I can pray. I cannot simply forget.

These thoughts remind me that I have been eternally cleansed of a problem far worse than cancer. I’m not part of darkness any more. Jesus has brought me into His Kingdom of Light. But dare I forget my fellow man? It is more comfortable to hang around Christians all the time, but do I have another purpose?

This comparison suffers when I talk of a cure. There is no medical cure for my cancer. There are several possible avenues to take, and each family must decide what is best for their situation. But there is a cure for our greatest problem. It was established many years ago on a lonely hill of execution where Jesus shed His blood for the sins of the world. He is the only hope today. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one can have eternal life without Him.

When I see a sin-weakened man, I dare not condemn, for I understand where he is. Perhaps I can give a word of hope. Perhaps I can share the good news of Christ. I know I can pray. I cannot simply forget.

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time…” Ephesians 2:1

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24

Susan gave me a framed photograph and a card on Valentine’s Day. The picture is of a white-haired man with hands in his pockets standing on a huge rock looking out into the ocean. It looks as if he is expecting to find something he has been searching for.

I wasn’t aware someone took my picture, but I know where it was taken. I was standing at the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa.

The card contained a hand-written Scripture reference and word of encouragement that brought tears to my eyes. “Exodus 33:21 – May you always stand on the rock!” Where else is there to stand? I’ve lived long enough to know that everything else this world has to offer is shifting sand. There is only one true Rock and if we stand there we can look into the distance with joyful expectation.

The Scripture reference comes from the life of Moses. For quite some time this servant of the Lord had experienced the provision and power of an almighty God. He had witnessed the plagues, he had walked through the Red Sea on dry land, he had received bread from Heaven and water from a rock. But Moses was looking for more. Perhaps the longer we walk with God the more we will desire Him. The mature pilgrims learn to pray as Moses did: “Teach me your ways so I may know you.” Perhaps one day we’ll come to the place Paul reached – realizing there was only one thing that mattered. “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (see Philippians 3:7-16)

“Show me your glory,” Moses prayed. What does the Father do with such a prayer? Did Moses not know he would die if he looked into the face of God? This is where Exodus 33:21 is found. These instructions played out in the physical for Moses, but they hold no less meaning for us. “And the Lord said, ‘There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.’”

Our Rock provided the water for Moses in the desert. Our Rock is the Living Bread from Heaven. In our Rock there is Good Hope.

“They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.” I Corinthians 10:3-4

“I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.” John 6:51

The mountains surrounding Capetown, South Africa look barren from a distance. But climbing one on New Year’s Day revealed some hidden wonders of God’s creation. Plants grow on these mountains that are not found anywhere else in the world. At one place my brother pointed out a beautiful orange flower. “That bloom can only come out after a fire,” he informed me. We could see that, indeed, a fire had recently swept through the area. But there grew one of the brightest and prettiest flowers I have ever seen.

I know a beautiful family. Joe, Sybil, Ben, Matt, Pete, and Mary McReynolds have unselfishly served our family for a number of years. They have not just served me. It is rare to visit their home without meeting a person they are helping. I have often witnessed a beauty that can only come from the Father above. I am also aware of many fires that have swept through their lives.

Last week, Sybil learned that she has breast cancer – a type that is quite aggressive. As I sat in worship Sunday and watched tears stream down the faces of friends and family members, I wondered about the upcoming struggle. God hears our cries and understands our pain, but I don’t know what lies ahead. We know he is not surprised by the things that surprise us, but our human minds struggle to understand. I am praying and I ask you to pray that God will heal Sybil, but I have no clear word about our hurting bodies.

I will predict one thing: As this fire rages, rare beauty will start to appear. Refined and purified faith will rise in a family that already models faith to many. Honest, passionate prayers from thousands of people will be lifted to a Father of mercy and compassion. The wonderful love of God in the Body of Christ will surround and serve the wounded and hurting. And the Lord, Himself, will be a Refuge in the midst of the storm.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” II Corinthians 4:16-18

One day this week, I was in bed with a terrible cold. I never thought the day would pass. As time seemed to stand still, I wondered whether I would ever make it through. But one day later, I was eating lunch with a roomful of friends and the sun was shining again. What a difference a day makes!

Last Christmas, I was sicker than I had ever been. On Christmas Eve, as my family had its usual celebrations in my parents’ den, I lay in bed wondering if I would ever be healthy again. Lord willing, in a few days, I will celebrate Christmas with my youngest brother and his family in Capetown, South Africa. What a difference a year makes!

Once, there was only darkness on this earth. But just at the right time, God sent His Son to save us. “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”(Jn 1:4) What a difference a Life makes!

How ridiculous it would have been this week after I started feeling better, to say, “I think I’ll just stay in bed a couple of more days!” This fall, I never once thought, “I sure miss being in the hospital!” Oh that darkness would welcome Light as much as sickness welcomes health! “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (Jn 1:5,10,11,12)

The Light and the darkness hasn’t changed.

I hope you all have a great holiday season. You have blessed me and my family so much this past year. I cannot say “Thank you” enough. I hope to write again in a couple of weeks!

How we need the perspective of Jesus about death!  Knowing it was an enemy, Jesus came and faced the penalty that entered the world through man’s sin.  “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!”

Though we often just think of the physical, Jesus sees death from an eternal point of view.  As close as I may have been to physical death last year, there was a time when I was worse off.  I didn’t look bad.  I was healthy and strong.  I was popular.  I had everything a man could want, but Jesus knew I was dead.  When one sees himself in such a hopeless place he cries, “What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

If someone discovers a cure for cancer, we will all rejoice, but there is a far more deadly disease at work in this world… and people seem to pay little attention.  Sin kills.  “The wages of sin is death.”  But Jesus came to raise the dead!  Do you hear His voice?

I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.  I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

If we are intrigued by such words and want to follow, He tells us we must count the cost:

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

And if we claim there are more urgent matters at hand, Jesus says hard things:

“Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”  But Jesus told him, “Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead.”

And if we follow awhile, we hear even harder things:

I am the living bread that came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.  I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

If we resist the temptation to walk away, knowing there is no other place to go, we shall find He really is the only One with words of eternal life.  And we shall discover we need not fear.

“‘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 victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  I Corinthians 15:55-57