Cancer
We have a friend that just over a year ago, was diagnosed with cancer. She has 4 children. The oldest is 18 and the youngest is 4. She’s fighting like a champ, taking each day as it comes, soaking it all in as best as she can. I see her daily trying her best to leave her children with awesome memories for her family to remember her by. She knows her time is limited.
Cancer is just one of the fruits of a broken world. I hate it. I have cried for my friend, begging the LORD for a miracle, and asking the LORD, why her? I know all of the right answers. And at the end of the day, I know and understand that we serve a God that is good. He embodies the very definition of good. But still. It’s just all so wrong.
Broken
But I guess this should all come to us as no surprise, right? We live in a world that was broken by sin. Father God, we need help. Cancer alone has robbed us of so many incredible people. And it will continue to do so. When I look at Ben Sasse, my stomach tightens. He looks as if he just has to be in so much pain. However, what has amazed me is that despite his circumstances and him literally facing down death, he is using the time to point to Christ. To whoever will listen. How incredible is that? He is running his race, and he’s not slowing down. I think when the LORD decides to take him home, he’ll be in mid-stride, still fighting for Christ and making Him known.
Cancer has also robbed us of Nabeel Qureshi. An incredible young man with so much potential. I didn’t follow all of his cancer vlogs, but I did happen to see the last couple. They were heart wrenching. But again, somehow, they’re beautiful. This man who was once strong and bigger than life was withering away on a hospital bed. He knew that the LORD could stop the cancer if He wanted to. He asked the LORD for precisely that. But even if He didn’t, Nabeel still trusted the LORD. That’s next level faith. Even in the pain and suffering, there’s something that is stunningly beautiful in it.
Death is one of those things that is there, but you don’t think about it much until it touches you in some way. For me, that was when my dad passed away. To this day, I hate the sounds of whirring machines that kept him alive that last month. It was so hard to see him suffering.
Why?
I don’t understand so much. Why allow some people to suffer so much? Why would the LORD take away a mother from her children when they would most need her? Why did the LORD see fit that Nabeel’s only daughter not be raised by her loving father?
We all know it’s just what happens. However, deep down inside, when we actually see the affects of death, we also know it’s not the way it’s supposed to be. Deep within our souls, we know it’s supposed to be different.
I thank God for wonderful books that talk about this specific topic. Praise the LORD for His Word that gives us hope. However, it can be especially difficult to find books that talk about death on a child’s level. My Forever Home is a beautifully illustrated book that gives us a peek into what heaven will be like. No sin, no death, no pain – everything will be as it should be. I praise God that although I don’t deserve it (none of us do!), by the sacrifice of Christ, those of us who have accepted Jesus as both LORD and Savior get to go there! What a gracious, loving Father.
Something Better Coming is another book that faces the question of death in a gentle way, filled with the hope that we have in Christ. It’s a simple yet powerful book that communicates the brevity of life, yet the hope we have because of Jesus.
Life is hard, BUT…
Bottom line is that we all know this life is hard. If we haven’t suffered in one way or another yet, we will. But as Believers, we can suffer with hope. And we can live with hope. No matter the circumstances.
Please pray for my friend and her family. Pray for Ben Sasse and his family. Whether or not our bodies go through cancer, they go through the aging process. Neither are kind if given enough time. But just as each of the people I talked about above is burning their light for Christ and not stopping until they absolutely have to, I pray each of us in our own way, do the same.
Give us strength, LORD, to live our lives out loud for you. All for God’s glory, and our good.
