03/27/2024
Something happened this week that shook me, and took me back to the year 2016 when I was in what I hoped were the final stages of dealing with cancer. A couple of days ago I learned that someone very close to me, who had battled cancer once before, had been told, following a routine check-up, that the doctor had found two places which appeared to be cancerous tumors. This is a moment that anyone who has ever had cancer fears… the return of their old nemesis. The return of Satan to sift us yet again.
““Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.””
Luke 22:31-32 ESV
When Satan doesn’t win the first battle he often comes back to sift us again. He wants a rematch as he tries once more to destroy our faith. Years ago in 2016 I wrote something I want to share with you and my loved one today. This is meant to encourage anyone who is being sifted yet again. Our scripture reading is about Jesus preparing Peter to be sifted. Jesus tells Peter that he will he will deny Him… not once, not twice, but three times. Then Jesus prayed for him, and saw him through this awful ordeal... and not only forgave him, but made him the rock on which He built His Church.
Here is what I wrote in 2016 about meeting a stock clerk in a Publix grocery store…
When my cell phone chirped at 4:30 I had a pretty good idea who it was, and as I looked at the screen my suspicion was confirmed... "Can you pick up some Tide with bleach on the way home?" It was my wife placing her order for the grocery. I typed "OK", and texted that I would also pick up the ingredients for dinner and pressed send.
When I pulled into our neighborhood Publix I found a parking spot right at the door and thought about how fortunate I was as I walked into the store. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, I was heading home, and I had a parking place just feet from the entrance to the grocery... Life was really good!
I grabbed a cart and shopped my way through the store until at last I was in the frozen food section to get some French Fries. As I stood with the freezer door open trying to select the right brand I noticed a young man stocking shelves. When he saw me glance his way he asked me cheerfully if I needed help and for probably the first time in the last 200 trips... I didn't. "No thank you" I responded; "life is good." Typically this gets a chuckle because thirty-somethings don't expect a man in his 60s to use that expression.
As I grabbed a bag of Ore-Ida fries and turned, he said "Yes it is, and God is great." With that I turned and really looked at him; he was a thirty year old black man, tall, with a kind face and endearing smile. I returned the smile and said "Yes He is!"
Now I am typically not one to chit chat with folks at the store but there was something about this man. We exchanged praise phrases regarding the Lord and then he said "don't take anything for granted, each day is good. I have a nine year old son with cancer." I stood there frozen, not knowing how to respond. Then finally, with tears welling in my eyes, I told him how sorry I was and that I hoped he would be alright.
I turned my face so that he couldn't see my eyes and began to move away but turned back instead... "What kind of cancer does your son have?" I asked him, and he told me; it was a long complicated name. The flood gate was now open and he pointed to his side, showing me where his son's cancer had started and then described how it had metastasized to his son's liver and then spread to the lungs. "He has had a couple of lung operations."
I was finding it hard to talk but in a low voice I shared with him that I too had been diagnosed with cancer just five months ago. Concern came to his face where there had been confidence before, and I began to speak again, “I am older and your son is so young..," but he cut me off saying "that doesn't matter; you have people at home who love you just like my son does." I looked into his eyes and could tell that this wasn't some nicety, he had meant those words. I shook myself back to the moment and told him that God had a special heart for children.
We spoke a bit longer until at last I confided in him that in less than two weeks I would be checked again for the return of my cancer; then we said our goodbyes. As I turned he spoke after me... "I will pray for you. We didn't meet by accident." With that I was a breath away from a sob. "And I for you and your son" I replied.
I fought tears all the way to my car before finally allowing them to stream down my face. This man who's young son was fighting for his life had offered to pray for ME! Who was this man in the red Publix shirt who had shared his son, his life, his faith, and his prayers with me? I felt like I had been to church, but no one goes to church in the frozen food section of Publix... Do they?
Actually, Church is wherever you meet God and today I met Him between the freezers at the grocery store. I shared Him with a young man who should have been devastated but instead showed me divine peace. I wept for his son as I prayed for them both, and the Holy Spirit blessed me through them. Sometimes we meet everyday people on our walk to Emmaus who turn out to be Christ when our vision clears. I knew it was Him when I heard Him pray.
So today on an otherwise uneventful Tuesday afternoon I attended church service held by a Christian father who lived what many of us only read or give lip service to. I saw Jesus clearly in the confident smile of a man who knew his suffering son was in heavenly hands, and who prayed for me... A stranger who didn't just happen to cross my path between the ice and bread on aisle 12 at Publix.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for seeing us through the many trials in our lives, and for answering our prayers, and the prayers of Christ for us as we face them. Father we thank you every time we are sifted by Satan, because each time we see the strength of faith we have been given, and hear the intercession of your Son Jesus Christ who sits at your right hand and offers up prayers on our behalf. Lord give us courage, even unto death, as we are attacked by the dark one. Never let us forget that Jesus conquered death, and that we will be raised up to live again for all eternity. Oh death where is your victory, Oh death where is your sting? Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who was, and is, and is to come. Praised be your name for delivering us from sin, and conquering death through your Son Jesus Christ. Great is your mercy and amazing your grace that gives us hope and promise in the midst of every storm. Lift us from the water when we are drowning, and carry us in your arms when we are lame. In you Father rests all our hope, and in your Word we find truth, forgiveness, and resurrection in every promise. You are with us always Lord, and we lean on you even when we are being sifted and the outcome seems bleak. You are our strong tower against every foe, and every storm that threatens us. You turn imminent defeat to stunning victory, death into life, and for this we praise and give you all the glory for never failing us. Hear our voices from the darkest places of our temptation, and from the graveside that holds no permanence for us. Hear us calling out Holy, Holy, Holy, to you, and Hallelujah with the angels before your throne forevermore.
Amen, Amen, Amen
“Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Rich Forbes