~ Gospel of Matthew 6:31ff
It is February 2016.
In a few days, I will celebrate the 22nd Valentine's Day with my wife.
Before that, I will lead in a Marriage Retreat with members of the Air National Guard.
And just a couple of days ago, I watched a 39 year-old quarterback hand a hefty loss to a young, up-and-coming, cocky team from Charlotte, North Carolina.
But the best thing about all of this → I was never supposed to live to see any of it and yet, here I sit, becoming a Word-smith once again; attempting to communicate and explore another one of God's Truths.
I was diagnosed with terminal adrenal Cancer in October 2012, exactly two days before my 39th birthday.
On that day, I was given about six months to live; no doctor can accurately predict how long a cancer patient will live, they can only guess.
For me, in all likelihood, I wasn't going to see another summer.
Now, let me say this → I didn't like that idea one bit, but in as much as I could be, I was OK with death; dying worried me a little, but being dead only meant that I would be with the Lord.
Heaven is never the lesser alternative to Earth.
As the days went forward, something amazing happened; I began to see a real contrast in life, death and eternity.
The Church I served seemingly rallied around me; unbeknownst to many of us, there was a group planning to replace the suffering pastor.
When I didn't die, planning became plotting with a lot of people hurt in the progress.
In this, I realized the life some proclaim to own and the life they really lead, isn't the same; and sometimes it is this realization that is the most difficult when you are betrayed by those closest to you.
But I digress.
At the time, eternity was merely a breath away; or so it seemed.
Some days it was difficult to pick up my feet without shuffling as I walked.
The death so many are afraid to die, began to be told through this very blog.
And soon, through this venue and my military travels, support swelled throughout the world.
Truthfully, I still don't know why the Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe read this blog so often, but my tracker indicates the region is second only to the United States.
As the Body of Christ prayed and wept, fasted and prayed more, a wonderful thing happened.
After a second surgery, removing a portion of my left lung, there was no Cancer left in my body.
A tumor the size of a softball was taken out, previously resting on my kidney; along with it went my adrenal gland.
A few lymph nodes were removed.
But Cancer did not remain.
I have heard my agnostic friends tell me that it was a misdiagnosis.
Others have told me that I was lucky.
Well, I doubt it; for, if I believed I had that kind of luck I would have won the multi-state lottery of epic proportions a few weeks ago and tonight I would file to run for President.
No. I saw the images light up.
I saw the distraught look in the doctor's faces.
I had terminal Cancer and then I didn't; I was healed by God Himself.
But sadly, not everybody gets the same result as I received.
God simply does not heal everybody who prays for healing; He does not deliver every Christian out of every difficult situation - even if that believer doubles up on communion wafers every Sunday morning the entire life.
Is God capricious?
Is God uncaring about some and loving toward others?
There are no easy answers as to why God answered the prayers on my behalf and does not answer them on the behalf of others, especially when offered up by the same people.
When in the hospital, I remember seeing a four-year old child who had been born with bone cancer.
That child, undoubtedly, had people pray for him his entire life; yet, that child didn't make it.
I lived and he died.
Something seems inherently wrong and unable to be understood by this scenario.
I'm sure many readers will reference the current onslaught of 'your best life now' ministries; how you can prosper with health and wealth.
In doing so, we will hear that if the people involved had enough faith, the child would have lived; after all, Jesus Himself promised anyone who had the faith of a Mustard Seed could move a mountain.
What difficulty would it be for Him to remove Cancer?
If your life, therefore, is not filled with victory and triumph, of joy and health as well as prosperity; it simply indicates a lack of faith on some level, by someone.
Interestingly enough, in looking to the life of the Early Church, the Apostles may have had more faith than any group of people before their time or since.
As a result, only one of them, the Apostle John, lived to old age; the rest were martyred for their faith, many times being tortured before an agonizing death.
So, either the Apostles had it wrong or modern day 'Prosperity Gospel' adherents have gotten it wrong.
I can't speak for others, but I will side with the Apostles every time; by the way, let me be clear, there is only ONE Gospel - the Blood Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What we believe about God really and truly matters; as much as anything else we experience in life - our thoughts concerning the Divine will determine who we are in life.
People who attend sensational services or Prosperity Gospel churches are not maniacs.
They are not lunatics.
Much of what they teach is taught in other evangelical churches every week.
Yet, we are still confronted with a question; a difficult question:
Why are some healed and restored to life while others wither away and die?
It would be easy to say that a person is sick because they don't have enough faith.
It is even easier to look at a person who is suffering and believe they have done something to deserve their fate.
Yet, this is not the solution to the problem; for, many suffer without just cause, such as the Biblical patriarch Job. He had done nothing wrong, in fact, he suffered because he had done everything right.
However, in Job there may lie a wonderful answer for the problem.
In the last several chapters of Job's account, he rants and rails against God; calling God into account for the injustice He has inflicted upon His servant.
God never chastises Job for this; instead, He allows Job to voice his anger.
When Job is finished, God answers in a whirlwind asking Job questions such as, 'Where were you when I laid the foundations of the world?'
And God recounts the Creative Act only He can preform; essentially asking Job that if he's so smart and understanding, why wasn't he present when the universe was formed.
That doesn't make the hurting or suffering or the pain associated with it any easier, but when there is a trusting faith involved, not necessarily for healing but for enduring and seeing it through to the end, a person's mindset changes.
Not every person who gets sick is suffering because they are grand sinners and God is judging them; likewise, not every person who recovers is a saint.
The truth is, Christians are not promised an easier road in life just because we believe in the Risen Lord.
Instead, we are called to endure; the promise is that we will be strengthened in His power as we do, thereby enabled to complete the course, as the Apostle Paul would say.
I don't know why some are healed and some are allowed to die.
Yet, I do know that not all people suffer or are sick because of themselves; sometimes, people suffer as a witness to others, as an example of faithfulness.
I was healed, others have passed; I may not know why for myself, but I am thankful.
The key thing that I learned through it all was not that the sick needed more faith, or that they needed to give money to some organization; but rather, when we are sick, when we are suffering, we need to remember that it is going to work out.
I know that's not what most people wish to hear, nor is it popular; but it is true.
God will give us faith to endure the worst troubles of our lives; Job never knew why he suffered, nor may we at times.
Yet, God is always faithful and will strengthen us through the very end.
Whether it is life or death, the God who Created the Universe can be trusted to care for our bodies and our soul in our worst times on earth, until we join Him in the heavens.
Until next time, win one for the good guys.
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