Dear Friend,
I still remember that meeting that took place almost 15 years ago.
Joel sat across from me in my athletic department office. As the former captain
of his track team at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, he had won many races. He
had faced many challenges on his way to athletic success, but the challenge he
was now facing was greater than any he had ever faced while running on the
cinders and asphalt. You see, Joel had cancer. Diagnosed a couple of years
before with stomach cancer, he was now sitting across from my desk with his
wife Jennifer, the day after he had ended an 18-month ordeal with chemo. His
chemo treatment had taken more of a toll on his body than on the cancer cells,
and not having had the desired impact he had hoped, he had made the decision to
end his treatment. Tired, unable to stand for any length of time, and with the
cancer having spread from the stomach to the liver, he recognized he was
running the race of his life in a valiant effort to beat the ravages of cancer
that threatened to steal his life.
No quitting, however, for this man. He was in my office because he
wanted to help coach track. It didn't matter that he was late for his
appointment because he had just spent the afternoon vomiting from his chemo, or
that he was so weak he could hardly stand for any length of time. No, he was in
my office because he wanted to help coach our school's cross-country team.
Later in the week, he called to tell me that he was encouraged by his progress
and that he was putting on weight, and gaining some strength back, and that he
was looking forward to being out on the track in a couple of weeks.
When you meet someone like Joel, he makes all your problems seem
so insignificant. As he and his lovely wife Jennifer sat across from me, I
thought to myself, here is a man who will never allow any condition or
circumstance to rob him of his victory. Here is a man who has so much to teach
me about life.
Someone wrote. “God chooses what we go through; We choose
how we go through it.” Joel had determined to go through life as a victor, as a
winner, and he wasn’t about to let his situation rob him of the victory
promised him in Jesus Christ.
As I thought about Joel this morning, I remembered those words
which opened Rick Warren’s best seller, The Purpose Driven Life; “It
is not about you.”
No, life is not about you or me, it's about Him, and no one
demonstrated that lesson any better than my friend Joel.
Let me share with you few quotes from Warren's book from the
chapter "Created to Become Like Christ." “God's ultimate goal for
your life on earth is not comfort, but character development …Every time you
forget that character is one of the purposes for your life you will
become frustrated by your circumstances. You will wonder why is this happening?
Why am I having such a difficult time? One answer is that life is supposed
to be difficult. It’s what enables us to grow. Remember, earth is not heaven.”
“Many Christians misinterpret Jesus's promise of the abundant life
to mean perfect health, a comfortable lifestyle, constant happiness, full
realization of your dreams, and instant relief from problems through faith and
prayer. In a word, they expect the Christian life to be easy. They expect
heaven on earth.”
“Never forget that life is not about you. You exist for God's
purposes and not vice versa. Why would God provide heaven on earth when he has
planned the real thing for you in eternity? God gives us our time on earth to
build and strengthen our character for heaven” (p. 173).
I don't know how those words strike you, but they hit me right
between the eyes. Yes, life is not about Joel , or you, or me; it is about God,
and whatever we go through on earth, no matter how difficult the situation or
circumstances may be, He is preparing us for a glory that can never be revealed
here. Because of this we can say with the Apostle Paul. “We rejoice in the hope
of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings,
because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character;
and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has
been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given us”
(Romans 5:2-5).
I am sad to write that Joel died only a few weeks after that
meeting, but I will never forget him, and the lesson he taught me through the
life he lived. It is not about you or me, it is all about Him, and when we
learn that lesson, we have learned the secret of living life victoriously.
Yours in faith and friendship,
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