Time Is Precious, November 27
Inside the Cancer Journey: Daily Reflections for Those Coping with Cancer
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By Tom Corbell
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand (Proverbs 19:21 ESV).
The local hospice called and asked me to visit Sandra. It was my first visit to her home. When I came into the house, Sandra was sitting in a recliner. I introduced myself as “Chaplain Tom.”
She looked at me and asked if I would pray for her. I immediately knelt by the recliner, took her hand and gently began to pray. I am certain I had not been praying more than thirty seconds when I felt her slump against my shoulder. I continued to pray for maybe fifteen seconds. I turned to her nurse and said, “I think she is with the Lord.” After listening for a heartbeat, she said that Sandra had died. As I prayed for the Lord to draw close to her, He came and took her home.
The reaction of her family remains in my heart. Their shock was softly cushioned by the fact that this mother, grandmother, and friend was with Jesus. Suffering had ended. Limitations of her physical body were set free. Amid tears of sorrow were tears of relief and thanksgiving.
Time is precious. It is a gift that you cannot get back.
Cancer has a way of altering our relationship to time. Before the diagnosis, it was easy to make plans. Now you know that planning has limitations. Cancer was not in your plans. You begin to learn how many things you do not know about your future:
1) You don’t know how long the treatment will last.
2) You don’t know if you’ll have enough energy for tomorrow’s lunch outing or your niece’s wedding next month.
3) You don’t know if that ache means nothing or that the cancer is worse.
Yet, we as humans hunger for control. So how do we handle this lesson that cancer keeps pushing on us? Today’s verse teaches us that just because we are not in control, it does not mean no one is in control: “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” That is good news, when we remember that God’s purpose includes working all things for our good. Even cancer. (See Romans 8:28.)
This leaves you with a choice. You can fall into a place of worry and frustration as you struggle for control, or you can focus on the One who is in control and discover strength, wisdom and peace beyond understanding.
If time is a gift, how will you spend this gift? Will you spend it focusing on the sweet control of your Heavenly Father, or will you spend it fretting and struggling to seize control that you never had and never will? Time is precious. Choose to spend it well. The things that really matter can’t be bought, but they can be received and treasured.
Pray: Lord, help me to trust Your purposes in each day that You give me on this Earth. May I rest in Your strength, wisdom and peace. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Your Turn: Pray along with this beautiful hymn, “Take My Life and Let it Be,” as sung by Brian Doerksen, and use it to offer each moment and each day to the Lord.
Tom Corbell, Hospice Pastor
Tom is a Lutheran pastor who has served Jesus in both North and South Carolina for forty-nine years. Six of those years he worked as a Hospice Chaplain, and he encountered cancer daily. The privilege of praying, working with and supporting cancer patients and their families is an honor.
Cancer Companion’s vision for the future is for every person impacted by cancer to know the hope, love, and grace of Jesus and that every oncology team has included faith in their treatment toolbox. By 2033, Cancer Companions will provide 5 million engagements through cancer prayers, scriptures and interactions to those impacted by cancer. Engagements include; social media outreach, e-newsletters, prayer team requests, 30 days of Cancer Prayer event, and volunteer connections.
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