DECEMBER 19TH

 

Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. Psalm 61:1-3

This is not the first Advent I have spent wearing a mask. Seventeen years ago, during the Advent season, I was in the middle of chemotherapy treatments for an aggressive form of breast cancer. The treatments left me seriously immuno-compromised, hence the mask. It was during this season that I was asked to speak to my church about hope. After a lot of prayer and soul searching, I found three reasons to be hopeful even in the face of cancer.

 First, I had confidence in God always being God no matter my circumstances. Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” and I found great comfort in the fact that I didn’t need to know the “why” of my diagnosis, but that I could rest in the hope that the God who created the universe and has power over death was in control of my life.

 Second, I found hope in the fact that I had received God’s gift of salvation when I was a little girl and I had the hope of spending eternity with my Saviour. Psalm 62: 1-2 says, “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” The scary thing about a cancer diagnosis is the uncertainty it brings. Would the treatment work? Would I be ok? In spite of the uncertainty, I was confident in my position as a daughter of Christ, and that whether I lived or died, I was loved by the King.

Third, I found hope in my church family. Through the journey many people were praying for me and my family. I could face surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation with hope because I was being lifted up in prayer. I was extremely thankful for those prayers and all the practical ways that God’s people showed their love to us. They were “Jesus with skin on” in my life and in the lives of my family members.

God is a God of hope. I pray for us all during this time of pandemic, that we will experience the hope of God in our present circumstance.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13).

 - Linda Bateman