A friend of mine is in the hospital right
now and is undergoing chemo-therapy and a bone marrow transplant to rescue him
from cancer. In the midst of it, they did an MRI of his brain and discovered a
tumour outside of the brain but inside of the head. You might ask, “Why would
one person have to go through so much?” Of course my friend and his wife will
ask questions such as this, but I also see them exemplifying a life of hope in
the midst of great difficulties. Despite what they are going through, they are
trusting God to lead them through it. They do not know where this journey will
lead but they know that God will go with them in it. This afternoon we read
part of Psalm 139 together and prayed. Psalm 139:13-18 says,
You made all the delicate, inner
parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
How precious are your thoughts
about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!
They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!
God knows all about our bodies. He knows how all of the blood vessels in
our body are connected. He knows about blood/brain barriers. He knows how many
hairs are on our heads or, in my friend’s case, how many hairs are not on his
head right now. He made us and He cares for us. He knows how many days we have
on this earth. Both God and we know that the number of days we have on this
earth are indeed finite. Yet, we pray that my friend has many more sweet days
of life with his wife here on this earth. Regardless of how many days we have on
this earth, may we all seek to live those days with God. In all that we do, may
we agree with the psalmist, and say God, “you are still with me.”