Peace as Nourishment for Endurance

Our fellow church members Steve and Bonnie Opper are in the middle of a storm named Leukemia. I can't go into the whole story because of length but a short summary is that Bonnie got leukemia more than a year ago, and while under treatment for leukemia, Steve discovered that he had cancer! Steve's cancer is now in remission (thank you, Lord). Bonnie had a bone marrow transplant which appeared to go well until recently they discovered another mass and she has apparently had flare up of Graft Versus Host Disease (everyone who has a transplant deals with this in one form or another).

At any rate, in Steve's latest update on Bonnie's condition (her condition is grave), he says something quite profound. He writes:

Ours and your prayers ARE being answered. Some may not be the answer WE want or desire because WE don’t possess God’s wisdom to fully see the picture from His vantage point in infinite dimensions compared to how he created us in finite dimensions. So how are the prayers being answered? Our faith and trust in Christ has not wavered throughout this trial. It has been strengthened. The peace that God has poured out upon us has been abundant and overwhelming which provides us the nourishment for endurance.

Did you catch that last sentence? "The peace that God has poured out upon us has been abundant and overwhelming which provides us the nourishment for endurance." Now that, folks, is profound. God doesn't deliver us from every trial, although he does deliver us through every trial. God's granted peace in a storm is the very food we need to endure that same storm. God is good. God does good.

Christopher Hitchens on Cancer

Christopher Hitchens (unsurprisingly) writes quite eloquently of discovering his cancer. There are a lot of people praying for Mr. Hitchens. I am one of them. I pray that his pride will get stripped away and he will see his need for a Saviour.

Here is Some Good News

If you have Alzheimer's disease you may not have to worry about cancer. If you have cancer you may not have to worry about Alzheimer's. Wow, that really makes my day.

Three Gifts for Hard Times

An excellent article from Christianity Today written by a Harvard Law professor who is experiencing pain and cancer, among other difficulties.

In the Bible, remembrance usually combines two meanings: first, holding the one who is remembered close in the heart, and second, acting on the memory. When God repeatedly tells the people of Israel to remember that he brought them out of Egypt, he is saying much more than "get your history right." A better paraphrase would go like this: "Remember that I have loved you passionately. Remember that I have acted on that love. Hold tight to that memory, and act on it too."

A Powerful and Haunting Testimony

This lady is dying of cancer, soon. She has courage. She loves Jesus.

Dark Night of the Soul

I have been following Dan Cummings' battle with cancer and his honest and articulate discussion of what he is going through. His is one of those cases where you put your hand to your mouth and are silent, because you realize you have absolutely nothing to say, nothing to help. He is particularly poignant in his latest post where he admits his difficulties struggling with where God is in all of this. One quote:

Physical pain is the door through which our affections, our mind, our faith is attacked…in extreme physical pain the war is for faith in God, faith in future grace…unbelief and idolatry seduce us with relief—we are seduced to believe that God is not good, He cannot be trusted, His promises are suspect, He is irrelevant to life’s experience, He is hidden, He doesn’t care, He is silent.