Many of you know by now that my mother has cancer. It’s a terrible disease, and yet several have told me to treasure its gifts. You might wonder what gifts cancer could possibly hold in its debilitating hands. So far, I’ve only unwrapped one of which I am aware, but it’s a big one. It’s the gift of time.
While we all know that our time on earth is limited, we typically do not know the bounds God has put on our lives. Most people leave this earth unannounced. A heart attack strikes. A car accident steals. So often loved ones say, “If only there had been more time….” “If only I had known….” Cancer allows more time, difficult to be sure, but time just the same. Cancer makes itself known, announcing its intentions, however unfair they may be.
Cancer waves the warning flag: End of course approaching. What do runners do at the end of the course? They run harder, faster, and more determinedly. They give it all they have left to give. I have surely seen this fortitude in my mother in these last months, as she is more determined to do for us that which no one expects her to do. She is more determined to say “I love you” at every opportunity. She is more determined to treasure our time together, as am I.
We have yet to complete this course, so there may be more gifts to unwrap along the way. If so, I will gladly share them with you. But for now, I have just this one but important gift to offer. I pray you will take hold of it, unwrap it for yourself, and see its value.
Often people say they need to “make time” for something. The truth is: We cannot make time; we can only take time. Let my journey be a reminder to you, to “look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16) . Strive to run so that you win the prize – as Paul did, as my Mother is doing – that great “prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14) . Then you, too, can say with assurance one day:
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing” ( 2 Timothy 4:7-8) .
Subscribe