God Is Good - Pt 3

“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. (Jeremiah 29:10-14, ESV). As I mentioned yesterday, today I want to share a bit of my recent journey. It really begins over a year ago when my primary care physician began to suspect that some of my blood work required closer monitoring. This led to more frequent tests and a pattern that was suspicious. Ultimately we took the step to biopsy for a final determination of whether I had cancer or not. The biopsy was positive and some aggressive treatment was recommended. Surgery to remove the cancer was my best option. Ultimately I had that surgery and the cancer was removed and the prognosis thus far is very good. At this point many would lift an enthusiastic “Praise the Lord!” to the successful surgery; however, I want us to look a little deeper. Don’t misunderstand. I am very pleased that my body is healing and the cancer has been eradicated. Like the Apostle Paul, I am certain that “for me to live is Christ.” And, I do enjoy living for him. There are so many things yet to do, people to see, family to love and see progress in his kingdom. Remember the last of Paul’s declaration though. He says, “… for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (cf. Philippians 1:21). I like the explanation Matt Chandler offers: If the Gospel can transform the world and holds in its powerful reach the promise of eternal life, certainly it can transform you this very day, and day by day, until that ultimate day you join with the saints to receive the supply of all your needs according to God’s riches in glory with Christ Jesus. So, the real day of praise for the work of God in healing me was not the day that the doctors pronounced my surgery a success; nor was it the day when I was told I had cancer, though an argument could be made for that as well. The day to praise the Lord for his deliverance was the day that Jesus died for my sins and called me to the freedom he won in that work! The Gospel has always been God’s plan for his people. The Gospel assures me that God’s plan for me is good regardless of the individual experiences within that plan. God did not abandon me or you to the vagaries of this world. He has set my path before the foundation of the world in fearfully and wonderfully creating me. He knows my sitting down and rising up. There is no place I am without His presence. He is good and that good extends to me because of the work of Christ in me. Wherever you are in your journey, rest in this truth: God is good!