Faith over Cure

My sinuses tell me spring has sprung. It feels early, right?

Google tells me the season is running earlier than it has in over a century. Some online sources say the early arrival of Spring correlates with global warming. Most other sources are keeping me up to date on the pandemic. But what stays with me is how sweet it is that we, Christians, get to experience this Spring—the season of Easter—with suffering so close at hand.

Suffering is not comfortable. I might even venture to say it’s a feeling we would prefer to avoid. Suffering is rarely something I ask God for in my prayers. At least, I rarely intentionally ask for suffering. Yet, without fail, suffering arrives at the front door, like an Amazon delivery. Sometimes the package is big and sometimes it is small. Regardless, my first reaction is to presume there has been a mistake. Quick, check the label, surely the address is wrong.

A few days ago, I perused some old journal entries. On September 2, 2018, I was sitting in a church listening to a sermon on—get this—Philippians 4. In the journal entry, I wrote a prayer to God asking to be “trained” like Paul, so I may learn to be content in all seasons. Not once in that prayer did I ask God to make part of my education a cancer diagnosis. Now, I know it is likely that I had or was developing cancer the very day (the minute?) I jotted down that prayer with my Pilot G-2 pen. Of course, God was not surprised by my diagnosis almost a year later. To use a phrase a sister in Christ said to me recently, “this was always part of the plan.”

Likewise, brothers and sisters, God is not surprised by the coronavirus or its prolonged existence. Covid-19 was always part of the plan.

When I realized the cancer package was meant for me, my confusion shifted. I found my type-A personality eager to find some form of mission to explain and provide a glorious purpose to my suffering. I set my package outside the front door and checked it the mornings—like Gideon—for a sign. I expected a wet porch, a dry package, and a memo that efficiently explained God’s rationale. Surely, God would not allow this suffering unless he intended me to atone for a certain sin(s). Or, maybe the Almighty relocated me to the cancer-fighting business to compel me to do some sort of glorious work. Surely, there was a purpose for my suffering. If God would just tell me, then I could pursue it with passion.

Looking back now, it’s easy to point out the error of my thoughts: they’re all inward-facing and, worse, they’re unfaithful. When I was attacked by feelings of fear, anxiousness, and guilt, I turned to myself for answers, purpose, and salvation. When all I needed was to turn to Christ. I didn’t need God to bestow a glorious purpose upon me—he already did when he chose me, chose us as his elect exiles. Like Nick Murray once quoted to me: “For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ” (Robert Murray McCheyne).

Mercifully, within the first month of my diagnosis, a thoughtful CFC member gave my sister [Rachel], a book by John Piper called Don’t Waste Your Cancer. Rach, in turn, gave the book to me. Friends, if I can recommend any non-cannoned book on suffering to read in this time—this is it. Piper’s biblical interpretations ring as true for suffering sprouting from covid-19 as it does any disease. Truths such as: 

“We waste [covid-19] if we think that ‘beating’ [covid-19] means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.” (Chapter 6)

This truth is hard to swallow, pain medicine without a coating. But, perhaps, contentment in the low, needy circumstances we face today can be found by prioritizing our prayers for faith over our prayers for cure. This is not to say we should stop praying for a cure, for protection of loved ones, and total healing over the world from the coronavirus—quite the opposite! Christians, we are on the quest for a sincere faith.

Faith like that of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when King Nebuchadnezzar threatened to toss them into a burning furnace unless they betrayed our Almighty God by praising the king’s idol. Faith that would allow us to face the coronavirus—a mortality reminder, our own burning furnace—and claim boldly, openly, and shamelessly that in this very second our God is able to defeat covid-19 [to protect loved ones, to secure our jobs, to cure disease, to provide food and shelter, to do all things]. Our God is able! But even if God does not do these things, we will sing praises of His Holy name. I like the way Piper explains it:

"God’s design is to wean us off the breast of the world and feast us on the sufficiency of Christ. It is meant to help us say and feel, 'I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord' (Philippians 3:8) and to know that therefore, 'to live is Christ, and to die is gain' (Philippians 1:21)." (Chapter 6)

What steps can we take towards this sincere faith? I think one of the best tools in our arsenal is prayer. We can start with  Bart’s prayer, that “our unusual circumstances would lead us to unusual growth.” Pray for a deep faith reflex like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Pray with faith for faith. Keeping in mind the great power that resides in faith the size of a mustard seed. Which, incidentally, is the size of a little cross-reference letter in the ESV Study Bible, the smallest bulletin point on our Sunday liturgies, and the size of a tiny piece of quinoa. Pray for the mustard seed inside you, and for the Holy Spirit to nurture you in the growth that we receive through suffering.

Then, we prepare.

Prepare for the enemy to lash out against our resolution for Job-like faith. Recognize the ways in which the enemy often slides into our DMs, by recognizing the common temptations we have fallen prey to in the past. Let us put on God’s armor and practice our sword work by meditating on his Holy Word. As we wipe our groceries free of germs and live in closer-than-normal quarters with loved ones, let’s prepare for the evil one—keeping aware that he is working overtime to prey on our anxieties, insecurities, and exhaustion. Also, keep in mind what Mr. Bart Box always says (which ceaselessly comforts me): fear is only good until it brings you to God. “Resist [the enemy], firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Peter 5:9). Friends, take comfort by being vulnerable and lifting one another in faith over phone calls, zoom growth groups, and my favorite surprise thus far: Facebook Live with our pastors. Remember that “the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3).

Next, let’s prepare for the day the world asks its questions. We are not of this world and, I pray, the hope that we receive through suffering will stir questions in onlookers. Be prepared to declare the gospel as we do in our membership interviews. Let us be prepared like John the Baptist was when the priests and Levites asked him, “Who are you?. . . .What do you say about yourself?” (John 1:22). So that when the world asks why we are not afraid of this pandemic, we do not deny it. Instead, may we joyfully confess that we are like “the voice of one crying out into the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord…” (John 1:23).

For Spring has sprung and the Good News of Easter remains fresh in our minds. “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). The battle is won, my friends. The coronavirus has no dominion over us. Death does not hold us. The battle is won!

Finally, we can prepare for is His Holy answer. Because we know, “for everyone who asks receives” (Matthew 7:8). I am so thankful to be part of our church. I thank God for each member of our congregation, for our pastors, their families, and for the faith and love inside the CFC building and now online. And as I, somehow, pick more pollen from the inside of my bedroom slippers (now business shoes), I rejoice in the Lord’s timing which allows us to experience this global suffering with the holiday of hope still guiding our thoughts and the privileged knowledge that our hope stems from suffering.

“Through [our Lord Jesus Christ] we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:2-6). 

Father God, I praise your Holy name. I pray that you help us not waste our health or our suffering. I ask for mercy on your children, that you keep the family of Christ healthy, and that you end the coronavirus. And if not, I will wake up tomorrow, singing your praises. In Jesus Christ’s Holy name, Amen.