What is the difference, you say? Well, let me paint you a picture. A woman crying about a medical diagnosis. Her long time boyfriend crying over the diagnosis, as well. Nothing too terribly different than most people, right? This went on for 2 solid TV hours which is like 24 hours in real life. Some of the things that I heard while watching, "I am hopeless." "I don't want to die." "I am helpless." This woman was lying on a bed sobbing and crying about dying. Then, they would go to the man who would plead for her life and plead for her to die to "end her suffering." This went on for 2 hours with a smattering of friends talking about her. At the end, I felt hopeless myself. I have the Hope of all hopes. I hear from people all the time "Why would God do this to me?" or "Why should I believe in God when He has abandoned me?" I don't think that God puts these kind of things on people. He allows them to happen to test us. When man(and I mean mankind) decided that he was the same as God and disobeyed in the Garden, sin, disease, and death entered the world. Death and disease are a fact of life. There are very few people who get through life without any type of sickness. There are very few people who get through life without some trials and difficulties. These things should give us pause. Are we the same or better than God? No, we aren't. But, we act like we are. When we do, then we are being disobedient. The 10 commandments say there should be no other Gods before Him.
Back to my original story, why is this woman so hopeless? Why is she questioning God? Because she does not understand God. He has given us a book that tells us all about Him. Do we read it? Has she read it? Has she prayed and asked Him to reveal Himself to her? There are things that happen and are allowed to happen that fulfill a greater purpose. I think it breaks God's heart when one of His children suffers and I imagine that as He watches He thinks about how He wishes that man had been obedient. That this wouldn't be happening. How we handle our trials in life whether in sickness, death, poverty, hunger, sets us apart? Are we dying well? Make no mistake, all of us are physically dying. No one can escape! How are we dying? Our dying is a direct reflection of how we live. If we wail and mourn and kick and scream and feel sorry for ourselves, that is a picture of how we lived. We lived without faith that God would take care of us. We lived without hope that there is something better for us after we die. Now, don't hear me incorrectly, I believe that we should fight and have chemo and surgery and do whatever that is morally expedient to preserve our lives. However, there comes a time when we know that the end is near and that we should prepare. Do we wallow in the mire or do we spend what time we have left being with our family and making sure that our legacy is intact? "I want to leave a legacy. How will they remember me?" Natalie Grant. This is the point where our Hope comes rushing in. He reassures us that there is something beyond this rock. As I was in the hospital having my last child and I was told that there was a chance that I wouldn't make it, I cried out to God to spare my life. However, if He chose not to, would He please bring comfort to my family. I wanted to die well. I wanted my kids to see that I had hope and that when I closed my eyes here on earth that I was going to open them in Heaven and that they should not worry about mom. So, what is the difference? Christ is the difference and so is the peace that He brings when He enters your heart. I urge you to get that peace. If you do not know how, you admit that you are a sinner, believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and died on the cross and rose again for all sinners(including you), and then confess Him as your Savior. As quickly as that, the angels rejoice and God sees you in a whole new light! Not as you were, stained and dirty, but clean, as white as snow! Then, may God grant you the peace that passes all understanding. This is what I pray for Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal. Peace that passes all understanding!
