CHANGED PERSPECTIVE

I Was Just Thinking About – CHANGED PERSPECTIVE.

In recent blogs, I have referenced those who have experienced being downcast or depressed. Shortly after my diagnosis of Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, I had brief moments where I thought about my life and how soon it might come to an end. I began by making a list of different things that I believed would help my precious wife in the transition of her becoming a widow and living alone. In my devotional reading today the following words from God’s Word encouraged my heart:

Psalm 71:9, 18, “Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.”

Psalm 63:3-4, “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.”

First Samuel 2:30, “The Lord declares: Those who honor me I will honor…”

Amid my own transition of dealing with the unexpected (and unwanted) cancer, a dear man of God whom I did not know reached out to me with words of encouragement and hope. Just this week, he posted his testimony of his dealing with the same diagnosis I had been given. Yesterday he wrote: “On this day 5 years ago I was sitting in an infusion room hooked to an IV full of drugs I cannot pronounce and of course never could spell. My body did not welcome the first Chemo treatment into it. I became cold, shaken, nauseated, and itching. Emotionally, a tidal wave of fear roll me over pushing me to the bottom. A nurse asked me did I need anything, my cry was: Please take my Bible and read Psalm 91 to me. As this sweet lady read from Psalm 91 I felt the Master’s Hand reach for me through the stormy waters of fear and pull me up into His Arms of Grace. There was no lecture from Him telling me what a failure I was and I react poorly. He just loved me a fearful child and listened my cry - His hurting boy. So today is a Day of Praise to my Lord, for so many reasons. Praise to my Healer for His healing touch. Praise to my Shepherd who was with me guiding me through the Shadow of Death called Cancer. Praise to The Master Potter the one who did not cause it, but used it to help me be a more usable vessel to Glorify Him and to show His Love to others along the way in the journey.”

Another dear servant of God and new friend posted a powerful and precious testimony earlier today – Numbering My Days – where he shares God’s faithfulness to him in very special ways. He wrote: “Today I celebrate 80 years which, by God's infinite grace I've lived on earth. I praise Him for the home in which I was reared under solid godly influences that were enhanced by my participation, from a tender age, in influential Christian congregations. I thank a multitude of individuals who not only loved me greatly, but also did so much to enrich my life throughout these many years…I'm honored to have taught in colleges, graduate schools, and in post-graduate programs until recent years, as well as for the labors I was engaged in through pastoral roles in influential congregations packed with people I still love, and am most grateful for. But of all the privileges and blessings, the greatest of all is my eternal salvation in and through Jesus Christ unto Whom, at the age of nine, I gave myself wholeheartedly, thus embracing His gift of life everlasting. For several years I've been singing the popular song that follows, though only the final stanza reflects my current concerns as death approaches:

In the evening of my life I shall look to the sunset,

At a moment of my life when the night is due.

And the question I shall ask only I can answer:

Was I brave, and strong, and true?

Did I fill the world with love my whole life through?

During my brief moments of feeling forsaken, unneeded and no longer useful or necessary, the Lord graciously brought into my life three men who are separated from each other by many miles – (Florida,  Pennsylvania and Alabama) – who have been an encouragement and inspiration. I praise the Lord for His ministering servants – angels (Hebrews 13:2).

Prayerfully – consider these things with me.