A year ago yesterday, I found out I needed to be rescued.
That was the day I heard my diagnosis . . . cancer. I’ve written many times
about the difficulties of our past year, but today I have a different story. It
was confirmed exactly a year later that I continue to be in remission. It was a
very Good Friday!
I’ve been thinking about how things could have been
different. What if I had ignored my symptoms? What if I had disagreed with the
doctor and denied my problem? What if I hadn’t agreed to the treatment plan? I
would likely not even be here to write this.
There was certainly opportunity to do all of those things. My
symptoms weren’t that noticeable and they didn’t bother me very much, and no
one else even noticed anything was wrong with me. In fact, just a few weeks earlier,
I had been told by a doctor that I was completely healthy.
The thing is, that doctor didn’t see everything. She only
tested for certain things that she was looking for. But my core problem couldn’t
be seen with those tests.
I think all people are forgetful, but I’m even more
sensitive to that feeling after experiencing Chemo-brain (totally a real
thing!). So, I sometimes need to remind myself to look at things clearly.
As yesterday was Good Friday and the one-year anniversary of
my diagnosis, I think it’s a good time for me to remember. Imagine, if I had
ignored my problem since it wasn’t that noticeable or if I had denied my diagnosis
or trusted an expert who didn’t see a problem from her limited viewpoint, I would
be lost forever. That disease would have killed me by now.
I absolutely hated being told the reality of my condition,
and the difficult road involved in curing me was unpleasant and inconvenient;
the medicine was not fun and changed so many things about my life. I really did
NOT want to take it. But, only in that medicine could I be cured, and in the
end, the discomfort I felt was nothing compared to the life I have today!
This Easter weekend, I am pondering how similar it is to
surrendering our lives to Christ. It would be much easier to deny we have a
problem (sin). We’re comfortable with the way things are. Others may think we’re
fine, even those who seem to be experts of a sort (people who deny the reality of God or sin, people who feel like they're good enough on their own, etc.).
Even if
we admit we have a problem, we’d prefer to explain our sickness away and forget
about it rather than disrupting our comfort and our normalcy by acknowledging
and receiving the cure for that problem. Truthfully, that’s why so many don’t
do it . . . they don’t want to have to be faced with the reality of their
condition or that they need a cure. But those who take that path will
eventually find that it was the path that led to death. Had they faced the
reality of their condition and their need for a cure, they would instead find
life.
This Easter, I pray you have realized that we all have a
condition that requires treatment. The great news is there is a cure! If we
will accept our need and receive the treatment, we can be cured! Yes, there is
a cost. Grace is free for those who receive it, but it does permeate every part
of your being. It will change you. You will no longer be your own boss and won't be able to live the same
way. Becoming a Christ-follower can be uncomfortable and inconvenient for life
as you have known it. But the medicine of the grace of God through the death
and resurrection of Jesus will give you life to replace the death you don’t
realize is swallowing you.
Romans 6:23:
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift
of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 14:6:
Jesus said to him, “I
am the
way, and the
truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
1 John 5:10-12:
Whoever believes in the Son of God has the
testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made
him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has
borne concerning his Son. And this
is the testimony, that God gave us eternal
life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever
has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
