11/18/2018
This morning’s message is unlike anything I have written previously. I had a dream last night about a woman with ovarian cancer who was fighting for her life. Then, I awoke from this dream to find that I was late this morning, so I opened my devotional reading and the subject was “Waiting for God in Humble Fear and Hope.” Are you or a loved one facing death in some way this morning?
“Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.”
Psalms 33:18-22 ESV
Cancer is something I know very well, and a fear I too have faced. When I received the diagnosis I had been feeling the pain of it for some time, so the word “cancer” shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. There is something about hearing that you are facing a possibly life ending crisis, whether it is cancer, liver disease, heart disease, or, any number of other life threatening ailments that shake you to your very core, and there is nothing that can make you either incredibly mad at God, or to reach out to Him in desperation like never before.
Our personality and the way we approach God plays into our reaction to times such as this. Some who have depended on Him to protect them in life will feel abandoned, others who have looked to Him as their help in times of trouble, their rescuer from disasters, will look to Him and say “here we go again Lord; help me!”, there are also those who rest in Him like children each day looking for comfort in His arms who will trust in Him with great assurance that whatever happens will be good, and that His will be done. Then there are those who are a complicated combination of these, and must struggle through many different feelings with God. Whatever your relationship and reaction... He is with you, and waits to hear your prayers.
“In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.”
Psalms 18:6 ESV
Prayer... some will rage against the Lord in prayer, and their anger will flare up like a fire until at last it dies down to embers in its ultimate resignation. Some will pray immediately from their resolve and say “Your will be done”, and then others will ask for deliverance as they seek reprieve and healing for themselves. In all cases there will be tears of desperation, fear, or heartbreak during prayer. No matter where we begin such desperate journeys, God travels with us and guides us through them.
“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 ESV
Each person who faces sickness and death will face it with God, whether they wish to or not. He waits on us in these times in anticipation of our prayers, just as we should wait on Him for the answer to them. Sometimes we are selfish and think that the answers will always be good for us alone, but life, and death, are complicated, and sometimes the answers to our prayers come for the good of someone else. Perhaps a child receives faith by watching ours, or then again maybe ours is elevated in the midst of our suffering, and another finds strengthened faith and eternity within it. However the answer comes there are many it touches, but we are only responsible for our part in it... our relationship amidst the complex web of relationships that surround us... the one who is suffering in the moment.
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:16 ESV
So we are sick, and we cry out to the Lord, and maybe we rejoice because the answer is one of healing, but just maybe the answer is a call to come home. How will we answer it? These are the choices we must make in how our relationship with God will play out. Will you be the one who goes away mad, quietly resolves Himself to God’s will, prays in desperation for deliverance, or walks through several of these valleys on this journey of life and death? These are the choices, the lessons, and the growing experiences of our faith, that we face during our one to one encounter with disease and death... revealed in how we pray. Will we take the hand of Jesus, and as we walk this road will we trust in the will of God?
Prayer:
Father, in my times of need, and suffering I reach out to you, and thank you for your presence. I thank you Lord for hearing my prayers in all their forms, and for leading me through them to a closer walk with you. Help me Holy Father to avoid becoming trapped in anger, and losing sight of my faith. Help me to overcome my fear and doubt as I remember that even in death your goodness awaits me, and that all those I leave behind are in your hands. Keep those I love Merciful Father, and deliver them to a strong faith in Jesus Christ, and a lifelong walk with you. Today I might suffer, but tomorrow I will relish in your joy and goodness, whether by your healing hand or lifting grace. Praised be your name always for you are worthy. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you the God who heals and causes us to remain, and the one who brings home His saints to eternal life with Him. My faith is in you always, and my trust is in your goodness forevermore.
Rich Forbes