I Feel fine

For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. (1 Thessalonians 5:5-10).

Some very interesting things have happened the last two days. Yesterday, a good friend came over so that I could help him build a hunting blind for him and his two boys. They are all tall guys. Even though the boys, twins, are just 13 they are boy taller and bigger than I am. He is 6’ 4”. So, that necessitated building something a bit more elaborate and durable than I might have done otherwise. You can see the picture of the “prototype” at the left. We got a good bit of it done yesterday; however, working outside in Texas at this time of the year is not an activity for me any longer. It was another August day of temperatures over 1000. He is younger and stronger, and a great deal of help, but the heat and the work took its toll. I was pretty tired last night! My first thoughts were of how easily I could have done that day’s work twenty years ago. That ultimately led me to bemoan the fact that I simply cannot do what I used to do; and, that led to thoughts of how getting older may not be such a blessing after all. I dismissed that thought relatively quickly. I know that’s not true. Then the second thing happened. This morning, Kyle, my oldest son, sent me an article written by John Piper. He sends me stuff from time to time. This one was timed exquisitely. You can find the article at https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/no-maverick-cells-in-me. I hope you spend the extra time to read it this morning. From Piper’s recounting of his experience there were a lot of my own memories that came back to me. In 2014 I was diagnosed with Prostate cancer. It too was a result of a routine exam. At the same time the cardiologists diagnosed a severe case of Atrial Fibrilation. That resulted in two major surgeries six months apart. Cancer first, then the heart. Well, it was an interesting time in my life. It would have been easy for me to have wondered what I had done wrong that God would “allow” such a thing to happen to me. It would have been easy to ask “Why?” I would have been no less wrong in asking that question. It’s simply the wrong question. “Who?” is always the right question in the face of all our circumstances. The right answer is always “God.” I love the way Piper says “there are no maverick cells” that cause cancer. It is a very good interpretation of our reading today. “God has not destined us to wrath, but to obtain salvation.” Whatever we face today or tomorrow is merely God’s means of bring us to that final redemption. Piper says he has learned to respond to other’s questions of how he’s doing by saying “I feel fine”; rather than “I’m fine.” Yep, whether I live or die, I feel fine! God is in charge and whatever the path He has given me, it will end with my final redemption and eternal life!