This “Application” column goes with the Bible Lesson for Oct. 11, 2020: The Cost (2 Timothy 1:8-12; 2:3-10; 4:14-15)
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By David Faust
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” —Helen Keller
It was my last visit with my friend Jim. We both knew he was on the verge of death after a long battle with cancer. Trying to offer comfort, I opened my Bible to John 21, where Jesus asked Simon Peter three times, “Do you love me?” I reminded Jim how Peter reaffirmed his love for Jesus, and each time, Jesus responded by saying in essence, “Then if you love me, feed my sheep. Take care of my people.”
Jim knew how to feed God’s sheep. He loved Jesus Christ. By his own account, Jim once was a cocky know-it-all, but the Lord shaped him into a man of humility and discernment. As a young man, Jim said he was enamored with personal power and comfort, but the Lord turned him into the servant-leader I knew—a friendly, fatherly figure who found joy in greeting worshippers at the church door on Sunday mornings and running the sound system at Bible study on Wednesday nights. Because of his love for Christ, Jim nurtured God’s sheep.
Here’s a tip: If you want to learn how to deal with suffering, listen to sufferers—especially the ones with strong faith. As Rick Atchley says, when people have the Spirit of God, “suffering does not define them, but it does refine them.” The author Edward Judson observed, “Suffering and success go together. If you are succeeding without suffering, it is because others before you have suffered; if you are suffering without succeeding, it is that others after you may succeed.”
A Choice We Make Every Day
At Jim’s funeral, a dozen of his grandchildren stood on the stage paying tribute to him. One of the grandsons, a young man in his late teens named Tyler Trent, faced a health crisis of his own. A student at Purdue University, Tyler was a passionate football fan who frequently attended games decked out in team colors. His enthusiastic support for Purdue and his battle with bone cancer (first diagnosed when he was 15 years old) made national news when he predicted the underdog Boilermakers’ stunning 49-20 victory over highly ranked Ohio State on a memorable October afternoon.
ESPN, CBS, and ABC featured Tyler’s inspiring story, and he leveraged the publicity as a witnessing opportunity, testifying repeatedly about his faith in Christ. He was named the football team’s honorary captain. He raised millions of dollars for cancer research, received Disney’s Wide World of Sports Spirit Award, and co-authored a book about his life called The Upset before he died at age 20 on January 1, 2019.
Shortly before his death, Tyler authored a column for the IndyStar newspaper (December 5, 2018). He wrote: “Though I am in hospice care and have to wake up every morning knowing that the day might be my last, I still have a choice to make: to make that day the best it can be. . . . Yet, isn’t that a choice we all have every day? After all, nobody knows the amount of days we have left. . . . We are all in hospice to a certain degree. . . . Why can’t we make every day count like it’s the last?”
Personal Challenge: Do something to comfort and learn from someone who is suffering. Visit a hospital patient, write an encouraging note to a shut-in, or phone a person who deals with physical or emotional pain.
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