The Road Not Chosen (Part 2)

A while back I put up a post about Peter and Jesus conversing in John 21. Jesus was talking about a time in Peter's life when he would walk down a road that was chosen for him, in order to glorify God, but one that Peter would not have chosen on his own. As an update to that post, Cindy and I continue down that road. After being diagnosed with Uterine Sarcoma back in February, having a complete hysterectomy and underdoing radiation treatments for several months, we hoped we were through with that difficulty for a time.

Followup scans in the last few weeks showed a suspicious place in the spleen and she had surgery to remove the spleen for a biopsy. During that surgery, another tumor was found on some adominal tissue. The spleen was also found to have a malignant tumor. Cindy recuperated in the hospital for 6 days after the surgery and was able to come home. Three days later she had to return to the hospital because several large and dangerous blood clots formed in her left leg. She is recuperating in the hospital now, having the clots dissolved with blood thinners.

Again, we face a road we would not have chosen on our own. We know others face and have faced many of the same things. We only want to honor God in the midst of it. I'll keep things posted.

Being and Doing All We Should - The Nature of Redemption

I found this posting at the CCL website www.christianculture.com: The Realm of Possibilities? Richard D. Sandlin | Never with God

“With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.”

The qualifying word for accomplishing the impossible is the little word “with.” If you’re with men, you’ll never experience the impossible; but if one is with God, impossibilities become realities. The instrument that links us up to this omnipotence is called faith. Faith makes the impossible possible.

But faith operates only in the sphere of the will of God as found in the Word of God. It is not possible to exercise faith for anything beyond the will of God. Faith functions in cooperation with God. So, if an individual is with God, he can be all that he ought to be and do all that he ought to do.

Augustine said, “Give what thou commandest, then command what thou wilt.”

“Within the realm of possibilities” is an expression never used by those who have cast their lot with God.

The Road Not Chosen (Part 1)

The Road Not Chosen - I have read and reread Jesus' post-resurrection discussion with Peter in John 21:15-23 many, many times in the last few months. I want to particularly focus on verses 18 and 19. It goes as follows:

Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Now here's the point... It is characteristic of us to be independent-minded and think that freedom means the we can do what we want, when we want, with whomever we want. Those who don't have a covenantal relationship with Jesus are under the illusion of freedom. In essence, our enemy, the devil gives us just enough rope to hang ourselves. And hang ourselves we do. Some sooner, some later. At any rate, such have an illusion of freedom, but are really held captive by the devil to do his will -- according to Hebrews 2.

By contrast, we who are in covenant with Jesus have been set free from that bondage and put into his service. Get that? Not set free to go our own way, but to be servants of the perfect master. This relationship may take us places we would never choose to go on our own. That was Jesus' message to Peter. Following Jesus was going to take him places he wouldn't have chosen himself, but that is the cost of service.

My wife, Cindy and I had a related situation in our lives a couple of months ago. It began with unusual post-menopausal bleeding. A series of diagnostic procedures were unconclusive but left the doctor with enough suspicion that she recommended a complete hysterectomy -- something she knew we would avoid, if at all possible. After the surgery, we waited several days for the biopsy results. As I was driving to the hospital the third morning after the surgery, I received a call on my cell phone. Cindy said the doctor and the surgeon had both been there to see her. Then she told me what I didn't expect to hear -- that they found a malignant tumor.

So began a road neither of us ever expected to go down. To make a long story short, after several weeks and conferring with several doctors, she has now been through about three weeks of radiation treatments, with about three more weeks to go. Due to the type of cancer she had, there will be no chemotherapy and with the surgery and follow up radiation, her outlook is very good. Through it all we have gotten to experience more of our Lord's faithfulness than ever, but we would never have chosen this way ourselves.