Facebook Rants and Cancer

So, I've noticed several anti-Christian (and I think anti-religion in general) posts recently from one of my Facebook friends.  I vaguely remember him declaring some time ago that he would be deleting anyone he was friends with that quoted scripture.  And just last week, he posted a bit of a "rant" about how absurd it is that Christians say this phrase: "God won't give us anything we can't handle!"  (Side note--I obviously survived the deleting, which means I should probably start posting scripture on Facebook.)  But back to this rant.

Image borrowed from www.planetminecraft.com

He challenged the Facebook world to look around at all the crappy things that happen to people in the world and imagine saying that phrase to some of those folks.  He said several other things, but I think he misses the point entirely, really.  Because if our lives are dictated by our circumstances, wouldn't we ALL be angry and in complete despair?

One of the biggest (and frankly, most freeing) elements of being a Christian is that you begin to see that you don't have to be ruled by your circumstances.  The good Lord has shown me this in so many ways recently...when we begin to LET GO of our circumstances, relinquish control and trust Him, He does incredible things in our lives!

Most of you reading this know that my Mom hasn't been feeling well, and we've been on the diagnosis roller coaster for well over a month now.  Today, we learned that the Oncologist is about 99.9% sure that it's "Diffuse B-Cell Lymphoma." Stage 3.  She needs one more biopsy to be 100% sure.

This is scary, and it hasn't sunk in yet.  There are still lots of unknowns (and things I don't have the brain power left to learn today), and I'm confronted with the reality that I will lose her someday.  I don't feel ready for that in any way-and yet, I know that whenever God chooses to take her, He will also give peace to those of us she leaves behind.  It won't be the end of the world for me, although I imagine that on many days, that's how it will feel.

See, the thing is-my Mom and I will both ultimately look at this diagnosis and say to each other, "God doesn't give us anything we can't handle."  And we'll most certainly add to that, "God can and will use this for something great."  There will inevitably be tough days ahead, but we can still laugh and be cheerful and be hopeful, because we know that God's ultimate plan for us is better than anything we could dream of for ourselves.

Believing in Jesus doesn't mean that you never get sick, and that life is peachy keen and your CIRCUMSTANCES are always peaceful.  In fact, the opposite is often true!  But what believers know that others won't grasp is that we aren't ruled by our circumstances, and that Jesus gives us peace in the MIDST of them.

So, strangely, I find myself saying thank you, Facebook ranter.  Thank you for once again confirming what I know to be true.  We're not to be focused on our circumstances, we're to be looking up.  After all, the God who created the universe is bigger than our circumstances and our feelings.  And that includes fear, sadness and cancer.