Monday, September 20, 2010

Suffering Well

Have you ever had to go through something hard, something really tough? Are you going through it right now? Click here to read Psalm 42. This great Psalm was written by a man who was going through something hard. His transparency and honesty and his desire to go to God in the middle of it all is a lesson for us all.

I like how John Piper prayed about Psalm 42:

“Oh Father, I want us to be swallowed up in this Psalm. Not that it’s a happy place to be. But to learn how to be in an unhappy place is what we need. And this Psalmist does it so well. He is miserable so well. I want You to teach Your people how to be struck down, well. How to be in turmoil, well. How to be downcast, well. How to have waves break over them, well. And the Psalms, and this one in particular, is so well suited to help us. So grant that we would know how to feel and how to think with You in the Psalms. Through Christ I pray. Amen."

And if you haven't seen Piper's profound take on
having cancer (he had prostate cancer treatment back in 2006), please take a deep breath and read this....it will change everything for you if you'll let it.

Also, this is by Rachel Barkey (who I wrote about here) about her perspective on 'finishing well'  at the end stages of her cancer....when she had a month left to live.....

Now if you're really hooked and just can't get enough of all this cancer stuff, here is a story that ABC News did on Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village Church in Texas. He has been very public (and straightforward and positive and honest) about his battle with brain cancer. It's from back in January 2010, so it's a little old, but still well worth the read....

Anyway, on a personal note...now that Janie's suffering has been over for 4 1/2 months, I'm not really sure how long to keep posting about her and cancer and stuff that is helping me with my fight for joy now that she's gone. I'm just going by feel and I just feel like posting it...I hope you understand....I post it hoping that it will help some of you, especially to those of you who are going through your own tough times. "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

Here's Jeremy Camp singing his song, "Walk by Faith." You can hear the longer clip where he tells the story of the song here.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks, Chris. Thanks for faithfully sharing with us.

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  2. Hi Chris, its good to hear you in this blog. And I have an "I love John Piper" tattoo. Ok, not really, but I would ;-]. He has been a dear pastor of sorts, but more a teacher/preacher that God has used to take a religious guy who God converted in his 40's and he (jp) has taken me to God's word, faithfully. I've learned to see life by God's word through his ministry. I think we all need to view life through God's word, but... not all of us are given the cup that you've been given. So, I keep reading... don't think that there's a time to stop engaging us with the realities of life. Janie's home, but what you're experiencing and learning are helpful to us who read, pray, and love God because of His mercy and Great Goodness. (I really do wish I wasn't so wordy ;]

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