Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Family”
Our Bible verse for today: “Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “We need help to get through the trials of life.”
This past weekend I met a couple named Steve and Jacki, who I found myself admiring very much. Jacki has been battling cancer for fourteen long years. At times it has been in remission and at other times it has come back with a vengeance, only to be beaten back again with more chemotherapy and radiation. Right now the cancer is back, and she is once again enduring an extended regime of chemotherapy.
However they have not allowed the illness to defeat them or define them. They also have not allowed it to limit them. At the outset they constructed an impressive and extensive “bucket list” and then proceeded to march down the list and check off every item. Steve and Jacki have also made it a point to live life large. They have not retreated to a sick room or anything of the sort. They go places, they do things, they spend time in enjoyable activities with people they love.
This couple is a textbook example of the principle I wrote about in yesterday’s devotional message about people who have resolved to help each other be resilient in the face of a very challenging time of trial. Fourteen years is a long time to be contending with a life-threatening illness.
In addition to their resolution to be resilient, another principle we see in play in the life of this couple is perseverance. The key to dealing with that kind of a struggle is to lean into it, push forward, and to keep moving through it. But as Solomon observed in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, it’s much easier to do that with help than it is to go it alone.
Steve and Jacki have walked through this together and that has made all the difference. But they haven’t just done it together. It hasn’t been just the two of them. A key to their resilience and perseverance has been the fact that they have walked through this time with a large group of family, church family, and friends. They surround themselves with people they love and enjoy and as an extended family they have all lived through this illness together. All of them. Together. This is “family” life (in all of its various manifestations) at its best.
Do you have a support group like that in your life? It’s great to have a spouse who is your best friend and soul mate to walk through tough times with you, but a larger group of family, church family, and close friends is essential too.
We need help to get through the tough times – and the more help the better. Not only do you need others to be there for you, but others also need you to be there for them. This is what “families” do for each other.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 