Cutting and Removing
Another Day Along the Way
Friday, August 25, 2006
Another day,
Things are not always what we assume. Life doesn't always go as we expect.
I'm typing this as I sit in a soft, tan chair in a comfortable waiting room. Soon the nurse will call my name and invite me to another room. A smaller, less-crowded, cold room where a doctor subtracts skin cancer from my upper back. Three new words officially name my problem: Basal Cell Carcinoma. One word declares the need: change.
The mole hidden by my shirt wasn't a mole after all. It was skin cancer. My health needed its removal.
So I'm sitting and writing while waiting.
What about other unhealthy growths in our lives? Do we know them? Do they own us? Do we pretend they aren't around?
We often fail to determine true conditions of the skin, of the minds, of the souls. We incorrectly treat cells which need removal. We ignore or neglect the importance of cutting and removing damaged and dangerous goods. We avoid change, choosing the cancerous growth of avoidance rather than the short-term pain of permanent improvement.
Things are not always what we assume. Life doesn't always go as we expect.
Find the other malignant portions in life. Cancerous self-talk, habits, choices. Find. Cut. Remove. Bleed a little and be made better.
I must go. They just called my name.
Now, in the cold room and waiting for the procedure, I continue reading notes I've written about the cause of this cancer. On the physical side, I wonder why we view tanning as improving our appearance while it damages the skin God made. On the spiritual side, I take a moment to thank God for how He removes what doesn't belong.
Today, many stitches later (some hidden within; some visible on the skin), problems have gone. And in life, I pray we each allow removals and enter recovery filled with hopes for spiritual health and renewal.
We are not required to make the needed changes. Just to allow them. I pray we will.
Along the way,
Chris Maxwell
Powerful Statement: I need a God for now. I need healing now. I need help now. Yes, even greater things will happen someday. But salvation is now.
(Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis)
Add your comments on the blog...
Friday, August 25, 2006
Another day,
Things are not always what we assume. Life doesn't always go as we expect.
I'm typing this as I sit in a soft, tan chair in a comfortable waiting room. Soon the nurse will call my name and invite me to another room. A smaller, less-crowded, cold room where a doctor subtracts skin cancer from my upper back. Three new words officially name my problem: Basal Cell Carcinoma. One word declares the need: change.
The mole hidden by my shirt wasn't a mole after all. It was skin cancer. My health needed its removal.
So I'm sitting and writing while waiting.
What about other unhealthy growths in our lives? Do we know them? Do they own us? Do we pretend they aren't around?
We often fail to determine true conditions of the skin, of the minds, of the souls. We incorrectly treat cells which need removal. We ignore or neglect the importance of cutting and removing damaged and dangerous goods. We avoid change, choosing the cancerous growth of avoidance rather than the short-term pain of permanent improvement.
Things are not always what we assume. Life doesn't always go as we expect.
Find the other malignant portions in life. Cancerous self-talk, habits, choices. Find. Cut. Remove. Bleed a little and be made better.
I must go. They just called my name.
Now, in the cold room and waiting for the procedure, I continue reading notes I've written about the cause of this cancer. On the physical side, I wonder why we view tanning as improving our appearance while it damages the skin God made. On the spiritual side, I take a moment to thank God for how He removes what doesn't belong.
Today, many stitches later (some hidden within; some visible on the skin), problems have gone. And in life, I pray we each allow removals and enter recovery filled with hopes for spiritual health and renewal.
We are not required to make the needed changes. Just to allow them. I pray we will.
Along the way,
Chris Maxwell
Powerful Statement: I need a God for now. I need healing now. I need help now. Yes, even greater things will happen someday. But salvation is now.
(Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis)
Add your comments on the blog...
13 Comments:
Pastor Chris,
Thanks for that. I really identified with the comment about our needing to allow the needed changes, not make them ourselves. It's easy as a human to try to take care of our issues ourselves, disregarding Christ's desire to change us himself. Being willing to allow Christ to do surgery on us is something that I know I struggle with every day.
I trust you are doing better and healing from them gouging that growth on
your neck. I don't like scars - whether from surgeries or from emotional
injuries. Yet, I think God allows them to be a gentle, constant reminder to
us of things to be avoided or even more, things to actively work against.
Just in case we get too caught up in the exhilaration of life, a scar is a
reality check. My scars, I believe, are too be used to educate others on
how to avoid the same mistakes. In some cases, where the scars are
inflicted by others, they serve as a motivator to reach out to others with
similar injuries.
We so dearly miss you but we are so proud of the way you are allowing God to
use you.
Love to yourself, Debbie, and the boys.
Cyn
It is amazing how God can heal us completely when we trust Him with our lives. A little surgery is good for us all - necessary for life. Bleeding is all right, too - He bled and died so that we might live....what are we going to do with our lives to thank Him? Our scars go with us to remind us that we allowed Him to do necessary surgery in order to be fit to do His kingdom work...a good thing!
thanks for the blog. you really made my day!much love!
Thanks for reminding me that I spend so much more time on my outward appearance and looking the way I want others to think I am than I do on my inner being and what God thinks. I wonder what would happen if we were able to remove all the clothing and accessories and layers of masks and facades and skin and see our hearts as God sees them. Mine would not look too good or too healthy. I think I am ready for surgery.
Gotta go. He just called my name. Actually, He has been calling it all along.
Thank you for sharing this. My family has a history of cancer and being able to see how God can use the ugly and hurtful things in our lives to make us better is very encouraging. I symbolism is very deep and beautiful. Thank you again. I was very encouraged by reading this. I will be praying for you.
Whew! You sure have been under the knife both literally and figuratively. So many recent changes. Your surgery and your message are great illustrations that the Lord wants us to look deeper to see what might be within us that not only shouldn't be there but is also slowly killing us. The good news as you mentioned is that we don't have to make the changes just as you didn't have to cut the cancer out yourself. We just have to be willing to allow and accept the changes. Thanks for the encouragement.
Hi Chris,
I have a history of different types of cancer on both sides of my family. None of which has made any real impact on how I spend my days. Although this may sound sad, we all have to learn in our own way. I thank God that he is not as hard on me as life can tend to be. As a matter of fact, it is him who I owe the smile I wake up with everyday & go to bed with every night. Not sad knowing what I will inevitably have to go through, but happy that in my life I am blessed by & with God. Without him my days would be lifeless, in every aspect of the word!
Thank you for sharing!
Hey Chris,
That was very touching. I know that I try to fix things many times on my own and when I fail then I go to God. I could save so much time and heart ache if I could just go to Him first. Thanks for sharing that. Right now surgery may be an option for me right now but I have been running from it. That really helps out alot. Running really does not make the problem go away and God has a reason for pointing out the need for the surgery.Thanks Chris
Pastor Chris, You will always be that to me and Jack. You have been such a blessing to us both. Mr, Jack used to drive the orange county truck for a living and rode around in earlier years with his arm out the truch window. His Doctor told him to wear long sleeve shirts, but who wants to wear a hot shirt in this lovely Fla. sun, needless to say he got skin cancer on that arm. Thank God the doctor caught in in time and cut it off. Jack is now 75, and is not doing well health wise. Would appreciate your prayers, and we will pray for you. Give our love to Debbie and the boys.
Linda and Jack Newberry
Pastor Chris, You will always be that to me and Jack. You have been such a blessing to us both. Mr, Jack used to drive the orange county truck for a living and rode around in earlier years with his arm out the truch window. His Doctor told him to wear long sleeve shirts, but who wants to wear a hot shirt in this lovely Fla. sun, needless to say he got skin cancer on that arm. Thank God the doctor caught in in time and cut it off. Jack is now 75, and is not doing well health wise. Would appreciate your prayers, and we will pray for you. Give our love to Debbie and the boys.
Linda and Jack Newberry
You are so right about the cancers in our lives. I thank God they found your "actual" cancer before it spread. God is sooo Good!
You know, another cancer that grows in our innermost being is that of unforgiveness. It will eat away at a person until it finally wipes them out, unless it is faced head-on. Jesus forgave us, we ought also to forgive.
Thank you for sharing your heart with us.
Hey, well... I don't want to dwell on the fact that you did indeed have surgery, but that you were able to see beyond it. Brokenness has truely been at the center of this blog.
Well, this weekend, I too was broken. Maybe not skin, but worship boundaries were taken off of my life. I used to worship and pour from my experience and be soo thankful, and give Got "worth"ship. But,... I had let pride kick in, and was too ashamed to get broken around those that seemed so "perfect". I know now... all I can do is be broken. There's no other place to be; because, if I'm broken, He makes me whole. If I'm "whole" or prideful, His heart breaks for me. so.... I must stay broken; not in skin, but in spirit.
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