MORNING STAR PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
 "Charting a course for new life in Jesus Christ"

LETTING GOD LEAD IN TIMES OF TRIAL AND ADVERSITY….MINUTE FOR MISSION 11/9/03

THIS PAST TUESDAY AND THURSDAY I RECEIVED SOME GOOD NEWS AND SOME BAD NEWS. THE RESULTS OF SOME OF THE TESTS THAT I HAVE BEEN TAKING BEGAN TO COME IN. ON TUESDAY I RECEIVED WORD FROM MY NREUROLOGIST AT SLOAN KETTERING THAT THE TWO SPECKS ON MY BRAIN THAT THEY HAVE BEEN WATCHING FOR A FEW MONTHS APPEAR TO DEFINITELY BE CANCEROUS….I SAY SPECKS BECAUSE THEY ARE ABOUT THE SIZE OF PINHEADS. AS WE TALKED, MY DOCTOR’S RECOMMENDATION WAS SOMETHING I THINK SHE CALLED RADIOSURGERY WITH SOME OTHER LONG WORDS IN FRONT AND IN BACK OF IT. IT IS RELATIVELY NON-INVASIVE AND DONE ON AN OUTPATIENT BASIS…THAT MEANS ONLY ONE DAY IS MESSED UP AND I CAN COME HOME AFTER IT IS DONE. THEY WANT TO DO THAT IN THE NEXT MONTH.

ON THURSDAY MY ONCOLOGIST INFORMED ME THAT WHILE THE LYMPH-NODES HAD SHRUNK AND THE TUMOR IN MY CHEST HAD REMAINED PRETTY MUCH THE SAME, THE CANCER IN MY LIVER WHICH WAS MICROSCOPIC IN AUGUST, HAD GROWN BY 50%. THIS MEANS A CHANGE IN CHEMO-THERAPY WHICH NECESSITATES A HIATUS OF THREE WEEKS AND A WHOLE BUNCH OF OTHER TESTS BEFORE THEY CAN START AGAIN. THE NEW THERAPY WILL BE ON A THREE WEEK CYCLE AND REQUIRE SIX TO SEVEN HOURS ON THREE CONSECUTIVE DAYS EVERY THIRD WEEK TO ADMINISTER….A REAL PAIN IN THE NECK AMONG OTHER PLACES.

SO WHERE IS GOD IN THE MIDST OF ALL OF THIS CANCER STUFF …..IN THE MIDST OF ADVERSITY AND PAIN? IS GOD UNCHANGEABLE? HAVE ALL OF OUR PRAYERS GONE ANSWERED WITH A RESOUNDING “NO” OR EVEN WORSE HAVE THEY FALLEN ON DEAF EARS……OR NO EARS AT ALL? OR IS HE IN FACT “OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH, A VERY PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE.” AS THE PSALMIST SAYS.

I CAN ONLY LIVE INTO THE UNKNOWN FUTURE ON THE BASIS OF WHAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED IN THE PAST….. A PAST THAT INCLUDES A CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH A RISEN CHRIST WHO SPOKE TWO QUIET WORDS TO ME IN THE MIDST OF AN ASSURANCE THAT HE WAS THERE FOR ME EVEN WHEN I WAS NOT THERE FOR HIM. THOSE WORDS WERE “FOLLOW ME”. THOSE WERE WORDS THAT CHANGED TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF RUNNING FROM A SENSE OF CALL INTO THE MINISTRY. THE RUNNING WAS CHANGED INTO AT LEAST STUMBLING ALONG A PATH OF WILLFUL OBEDIENCE AND SEEKING TO FOLLOW GOD’S CALL. IT HAS BEEN A LIFE FILLED WITH THE WITNESSING OF MIRACLES SINCE THEN…OF SEEING LIVES CHANGED BY THE POWER AND LOVE OF CHRIST AS HE ENTERS INTO SURRENDERED LIVES AND CHANGES THEM FOR GOOD FOREVER…. LIVES THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY WRACKED WITH PAIN AND FAILURE, RELATIONSHIPS THAT WERE FRAGMENTED AND BROKEN BEING MENDED AND MADE WHOLE AGAIN.

EVEN IN THE MIDST OF THE PAIN AND UNCERTAINTY THAT LIES AHEAD, I KNOW THAT ANY HEALING IN MY SITUATION WILL ONLY COME FROM GOD. HE ALONE IS THE GREAT PHYSICIAN…EVEN MY OWN HUMAN PHYSICIAN ACKNOWLEDGES THIS AND URGES ME TO PRAY FOR HIM…I URGE YOU TO DO THE SAME…. HIS NAME IS PETER MENCEL. PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR ME ALSO…GOD IS NOT THROUGH WITH ME YET. DON’T EVER GIVE UP ON GOD. AS FOR ME I WILL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW MY LORD AND MY GOD…THE ONE WHO SPOKE TO ME SO LONG AGO URGING ME TO FOLLOW HIM. I KEEP GOING BACK TO THE PSALM THAT I CALL MY PSALM, PSALM116, THAT I CLAIMED A LONG TIME AGO BECAUSE IT TOLD MY STORY…AND BECAUSE IT TOLD MY STORY THEN, IT CONTINUES TO TELL MY STORY NOW AND WILL AGAIN TOMORROW. IT GOES IN PART LIKE THIS “I LOVE THE LORD, BECAUSE HE HAS HEARD MY VOICE AND MY SUPPLICATIONS, THEREFORE I WILL CALL ON HIM AS LONG AS I LIVE. THE SNARES OF DEATH ENCOMPASSED ME; THE PANGS OF SHEOL LAID HOLD ON ME; I SUFFERED DISTRESS AND ANGUISH. THEN I CALLED ON THE NAME OF THE LORD: ‘O LORD, I PRAY, SAVE MY LIFE!” GRACIOUS IS THE LORD, AND RIGHTEOUS; OUR GOD IS MERCIFUL…. I WILL PAY MY VOWS TO THE LORD IN THE PRESENCE OF ALL HIS PEOPLE, IN THE COURTS OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, IN YOUR MIDST, O JERUSALEM, PRAISE THE LORD!” BECAUSE, YOU SEE, OUR GOD IS THE GOD OF THE LIVING AND THE DEAD…. LIFE IS ETERNAL. IN HIS PRESENCE…THAT’S HIS PROMISE TO ME WHETHER I LIVE OR GO TO BE WITH HIM….AND THAT’S HIS PROMISE TO YOU ALSO IF YOU LIVE IN HIM.