Director's Web Blog

David learned that his home base had been burned and all the inhabitants taken captive (1 Samuel 30:1-6).  Further, when he realized his men were questioning his leadership and discussing stoning him, Scripture says that David “strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”  It is something we should learn to do whenever we experience difficult circumstances.  Strengthening occurs when we bring the truth of Scripture to bear on the difficult circumstance we are encountering.

My prostate cancer has been an opportunity to strengthen myself in Christ.  In my last article, I mentioned the foremost reality that was strengthening me—the grace and mercy of God that far overwhelms whatever negative circumstance I might encounter.  The second reality that strengthens me in this trial is the reality that God’s purpose for me in this life is to make me more like Christ.

Some passages that reveal this are:

Rom 8:29: For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; Eph 4:13: until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.  Col 1:28 And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ.  NASB 

God’s purpose for me is not to make me prosperous or happy.  He does not intend that I lead a trouble free existence.  He does not promise that every thing that happens to me will seem fair.  He may give me long life or He may not.  He doesn’t even promise that my particular surgery will be successful and without complications.

Instead, He promises that He is interested in making me more like His Son.  Suffering is the chisel that God expertly wields to chip away parts of my life that are not like Christ.

How does suffering make us more like Christ?  Suffering causes us to examine whether we are aligned with His great purpose in making us like Christ.  Am I rebelling at this particular turn of events?  Am I angry with God?  Do I wonder, “Why me?”  If so then I am out of alignment with the intent of all that happens in my life.

Suffering also moves us toward deeper fellowship with Christ.  Scripture tells us that suffering better qualified Jesus to come to our aid (Hebrews 2:18).  We are encouraged to draw near to Jesus in part because His suffering has qualified him to “sympathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15).  When we are tempted to give up because of the difficulty facing us, we are to fix our eyes on Jesus and “consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself” (Hebrews 12:2-3).  In the deepening of our fellowship with Jesus, a deepening that only suffering can bring, we grow at His feet and become more like Him.

I know that my Savior will use His chisel wisely.  He will only chip away that which detracts from His image in my life.  No stroke will be by mistake nor will any stroke be too deep.  May I embrace the necessary cuts!

I would also like to update the Mission family on the decision we have made and the process involved in coming to this decision.  Out of many different options, Carole and I have decided that I will have prostate cancer surgery.  The surgery has been scheduled for December 3.

The decision process first involved prayer for God’s wisdom, a prayer that he promises to answer in James 1:5.  Our decision also involved information gathering.  I found some good articles on the web, especially from the National Cancer Institute.  You have to be wise about information sources on the web and select reputable sources.  On the National Cancer Institute site, I found a very helpful list of questions to ask the doctor as well as a thorough discussion of the various treatment options.  We would have never thought of many of these questions, which ended up being quite beneficial in making our decision.

We then met with our doctor.  He met with us for over an hour, patiently and thoroughly answering our questions.  We asked him what his rate of complication was and how many prostate cancer surgeries he did each month.  His willingness to answer questions and take time with us were big factors in deciding both to have surgery and to have him do our surgery.

At the end of our meeting he gave us a book called, not surprisingly, The Prostate: A Guide for Men and the Women Who Love Them by Dr. Patrick C. Walsh and Janet Farrar Worthington.  Dr. Walsh has written another book, called Dr. Patrick Walsh’s Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer, Second Edition, which is more recent.  This book was very thorough and very helpful, although not what you would call gripping reading.

We also talked to others.  Carole’s sister has a friend who is an urologist in Grand Rapids, MI and he was extremely helpful.  We talked to other individuals who have had prostate cancer.  Scripture commends the use of many counselors (Proverbs 11:14; Proverbs 15:22; Proverbs 24:6).  We just have to remember that the greatest counselor of all is Scripture itself.  The Psalmist writes, “Thy testimonies also are my delight; They are my counselors” (Psalm 119:24 NASB).

Village Missionaries have two additional resources that are invaluable.  Dr. Larry is always available and willing to discuss a medical situation with you.  Medical Rehabilitation Consultants, the company that does our pre-certification, will also help you walk through the maze of medical care.  I know of several instances where they have called Village Missionaries almost every day to make sure they are getting the proper treatment.  I talked at length with Steve at MRC.

Why do I go into such detail about what is a very private matter?  First, perhaps my experience will help someone else make greater sense of health care today.  In today’s world, we have to take charge and inform ourselves about our medical care. 

Second, with our self-funded plan, whatever we can do in prevention and in early, proper treatment will help ourselves, help the churches we serve, and ultimately help Village Missions.  Our self-funded plan is in the forefront of what Christian and non-profit organizations can do to manage health costs.  Our monthly premium is lower than most similar insurance and self-funded plans.  Our Benefit Board keeps working at ways to provide better medical care and lower costs.  Their efforts directly affect our ability to provide leadership to churches with limited financial resources.  Yet, they will not succeed without our cooperation.  I have tried to work with them in developing an excellent plan and now, hopefully, will model how to further the Benefit Plan when ill.

Next month I will continue the series on strengthening and keep folks posted on further developments.  Carole and I are very grateful for the many who have indicated that they are praying for us.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 10th, 2007 at 7:46 am and is filed under Christian life, Director's Web Blog, cancer, medical. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.