I am about to leave for the hospital to visit a young man
from our church. He is 12 years old and
in his second major battle with cancer.
Today, doctors are removing his foot in this fight for his life. Gavin is an outstanding hockey player. This surgery is painful on more than one
level.
At this point in the blog, readers are probably expecting
some treatise on the purposes of God in suffering, some explanation of why this
is happening. That would be a good thing
to write about some time. But not today.
Today, the doctors are going to hurt Gavin terribly,
permanently injuring him and ceasing the things he loves in order to help him
and spare his life. These doctors are
ruthless in their pursuit of saving Gavin.
So, two parallels.
First, God is relentless in the pursuit of His elect. He will even hurt terribly, sometimes
permanently injuring the person and ceasing the things that person loves in
order to save him. Jacob’s wrestling
with the angel comes to mind, as does the blindness of the apostle Paul on the
road to Damascus. Job 5:17-18 says,
“Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the
discipline of the Almighty. For he
wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal.” (Yes, I know that these are the words of
Eliphaz, a not always trustworthy source, but I think here that he is affirming
truth.) Psalm 94:12 says, “Blessed is
the man you discipline, O LORD; the man you teach from your law.” We are not shocked that the doctors today
will hurt Gavin in order to heal him. We
ought not be shocked when our loving God hurts His own in order to heal even
worse things in us.
Second, Jesus calls us to be relentless in rooting sin out
of our lives. The doctors are relentless
in their pursuit of rooting cancer out of Gavin. Jesus said, “If your right eye causes you to
sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It
is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be
thrown into hell. And if your right hand
causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your
body than for your whole body to go into hell” (Matthew 5:29-30). Are we relentless in our rooting sin out of
our lives as the doctors are in rooting cancer out of Gavin’s? I fear not.
So, today remember the relentless pursuit of God on your
life and welcome His discipline.
Relentlessly remove sin from your life, even where it is painful to do
so. And remember to pray for my young friend Gavin today.
Gotta go—surgery begins in less than an hour.
UPDATE: Gavin's surgery went well. He has a long and difficult road ahead. Please pray for him. He loves the Lord--we spent quite a bit of time prior to his surgery looking at various online Bible devotion sites.
UPDATE: Gavin's surgery went well. He has a long and difficult road ahead. Please pray for him. He loves the Lord--we spent quite a bit of time prior to his surgery looking at various online Bible devotion sites.
Thanks for the update on Gavin, Scott. Grateful for God's relentless pursuit and sanctifying work!
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