Hope for Your Heart: Finding Strength in Life's Storms (10 page)

In fact, hope is so connected to wellness that physician and author Bernie Siegel, who has studied extensively the role our attitudes play in healing, said, “Refusal to hope is nothing more than a decision to die.”
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I agree. Many of the struggling people I talk with seem resigned to defeat . . . and even death. Something has happened to rob them of hope, and they live as if depression, cancer, or tuberculosis is sovereign over their lives. Rather than turning to God and resting in His promises, hopelessness dogs them day in and day out.

My own oncologist, the wonderful Dr. Joyce O’Shaughnessy, who successfully guided me through my cancer treatment, said this:

There is undoubtedly a strong connection between the body and the mind. An attitude can either dampen or amplify different therapies. Patients who know in their heart that they’re going to overcome the illness, the whole treatment process is far more effective. The process is so much easier for them. There are fewer side effects, and much of daily life continues on as usual.

People who know they’re going to beat cancer, who have a very strong faith to rely on, stay active in their lives because this is just one episode in their lives. They have their whole lives in front of them, so they stay busier and more engaged, and look forward with anticipation.
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Dr. O’Shaughnessy is someone who has seen firsthand, time and time again, the vital role that hope plays in physical health and healing.

True hope is powerful medicine because it doesn’t depend on what we can see, what a doctor diagnoses, what test results indicate, or any other tangible factors. It is rooted in God Himself. A full dose of hope fixes our spiritual eyes on our all-wise, all-powerful Creator with whom we have a relationship—an intimate relationship in which He is our heavenly Father and we are His sons and daughters.

Nothing comes into our lives that our Father hasn’t allowed to pass through His protective hand . . . through His loving fingers. Nothing. So if that protective hand seems withdrawn for a brief moment, we must always remember there is purpose in the pain, and grace is available to get us through it. That should give us hope for our hearts.

As a young Christian physician, Dr. Harold Koenig noticed a trend among his patients that he couldn’t ignore: People with hope rooted in a deep belief in God fared better during treatment than those without such hope. Predictably, conventional “wisdom” did not agree with his observations.

Plenty of studies had already appeared in medical journals to discredit any link between hope in God and physical and emotional wellness. Friends and colleagues tried to steer him away from the subject, which they regarded as a marginal field of investigation.

Thankfully, Dr. Koenig wasn’t deterred. He decided to spend his career pursuing scientific evidence to support what Christians have known for centuries: Faith and hope in God are good for your health and well-being.

Eventually Dr. Koenig’s passion led to his appointment as head of Duke University’s Center for the Study of Religion/Spirituality and Health. Over the years he has overseen more than fifty compelling research projects that have led to dozens of articles published in peer-reviewed medical journals. Here are a few of the Center’s findings:

• People who regularly attend church, pray, and read the Bible have significantly lower diastolic blood pressure than the less religious.
  
• Those who attend church regularly are hospitalized much less often than people who never or rarely participate in religious services.
  
• People with strong religious faith are less likely to suffer depression from stressful life events, and if they do, they are more likely to recover from depression than those who are less religious.
  
• Religious people live longer. A growing body of research shows that religious people are both physically healthier into later life and live longer than their nonreligious counterparts. Religious faith appears to help protect the elderly from the two major afflictions of later life: cardiovascular disease and cancer.
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We could fill several pages with similar findings. The anchor of hope in God’s infinite love and healing power is the common denominator in all these groundbreaking discoveries. However, those without that anchor of hope can sadly be swallowed up by disease and depression. Dr. Koenig concludes:

When the inevitable stress of daily problems—illness, financial worries, personal conflicts—threatens to overwhelm religious people, they draw on a reserve of energy and motivation that allows them to persevere. They trust God to fill the gap between what they could normally endure and what is actually required of them. They do not struggle alone, but rather see God as their active partner in the continuous struggle to achieve peace and balance in their lives.
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God is eager and ready to play His part. Hope assures us that we are not in this alone!

When Jesus walked on the earth He performed countless miracles, including healing people from diseases. God is still very much in the business of miraculous healing, and countless lives today can give testimony to that.

But when it comes to God’s plan for our personal lives, when we plead and petition for physical healing, we must remember that sometimes God’s answer is
no
. For many it isn’t a matter of a weak faith or divine discipline for sin, it’s simply a part of the uniquely crafted plan God has created for individual lives.

I don’t know why God says
yes
to healing for some people and
no
to others, but I do know He said, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:9).

Our hope must be in
Him
, that He is unfolding a plan that involves purpose in our pain. We are called to trust . . .
period
.

Because God became man in the person of Jesus, He can relate to and sympathize with all of our struggles and sorrows. As the writer of Hebrews tells us, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:15–16).

Timothy Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, writes, “Christianity does not so much offer solutions to the problems of suffering, but rather provides the promise of God, who is completely present with us in suffering. Only Christians believe in a God who says, ‘Here I am alongside you. I have experienced the same suffering you have. I know what it is like.’ No other religion even begins to offer that assurance.”

Pastor Keller’s church is not far from the site of the World Trade Center tragedy, and about eight hundred new people began attending his church after the disaster. The sudden influx of people pressed the question, “What does your God have to offer me at a time like this?”

Pastor Keller shared with them, “Christianity is the only faith that tells you God lost a child in an act of violent injustice. Christianity is the only religion that tells you, therefore, God suffered as you have suffered.”
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When tragedy strikes, taking the wind out of our sails, when gales of grief threaten to blow us over, we
need
the support and love of others. Even now, years after my battle with cancer, I am awed and amazed at the way people rallied around me.

Eleanor, Barbara, June, and Kay became my
hope angels
, accompanying me to appointments, double-checking my meds, and helping in a myriad of other ways
.
Meanwhile, Diane, Cheryl, Randy and Lana, Rita and Tom, and other dear ones became
hope helpers
.

Friendsdropped off meals, had prayer times, and sent special cards. My niece Kimberly flew in from Seattle for ten days of help and support. My siblings spent time with me and pitched in to help. On and on it went. Having lived through the cancer experience, having so many walk with me through it, I can’t imagine how I could’ve done it alone.

God has designed His family to love, support, and encourage one another. When we speak about God supplying hope for us, He often does it by giving us the care and compassion of others.

The flash floods of affliction wash over all of us. The question is, how will you and I respond? No one invites or enjoys misfortune and misery in his or her life. I wouldn’t have put my signature on a sign-up sheet for cancer. But once we find ourselves in a difficult situation, we have a choice: resist God or rest in God. We can react with bitterness and anger and ultimately blame God, or we can react with hope and perseverance and ultimately trust God. Remember the promise of Romans 8:28: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

It’s been said that pain is a much better teacher than pleasure. The truth is, God uses the flash floods of affliction to teach us to swim in His strength, to build Christlike character, and to bear ever more spiritual fruit.

It’s challenging to remember these things when the floodwaters rise, but when they recede, we can say along with Paul, “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 has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Rom. 5:3–5).

Hardship can serve another purpose: It can be a powerful encouragement and witness to other people as they watch you submit to the sovereign hand of God. When diagnosed with cancer, it’s easy to give in to self-pity, to become inward-focused.

Instead I prayed, “God, give me the grace and strength to use this situation to point others to You. For everyone I come in contact with and for everyone who hears my story, may they see Your power, love, and compassion in action.” He answered my prayers. I’ve had the opportunity to share Christ with many people I would otherwise have never encountered. God is trustworthy!

In the Hawaiian Islands, a beach called Hanakapi’ai is located on the coast of Kauai. Here jagged volcanic mountains covered in lush tropical foliage rise from the blue Pacific Ocean, but powerful ocean currents also flow immediately offshore due to the absence of protective barrier reefs.

Over the years these currents have shaped the beach and mountains into breathtaking landscapes that adorn gift books, travel guides, and postcards. In winter the sand disappears from the shore, carried away by the water. In spring the sandy beach returns.

Imagine that on a summer day you are hiking in the tropical heat for miles through the rugged volcanic terrain. Then at last you come upon the beautiful water at Hanakapi‘ai Beach. It looks irresistible!

Of course you see the signs posted on the trail: “Do not go near the water! Unseen currents have killed many visitors.” Obviously those unwise tourists made the mistake of swimming in bad weather. But today there’s not a cloud in the sky! You clearly see the calm pools of water that are far from the churning waves. Eager to feel refreshed by a short swim, you rush toward the water’s edge and run in.

Suddenly you are knocked off your feet and pulled away from shore. You’ve just come into direct contact with a rip current, a narrow, powerful current of water that is pulling you out to sea. Typically “rips” measure less than thirty feet wide. But this superhighway of rapid water can extend from two hundred to twenty-five hundred feet.

Do you wonder why rip currents even form? Picture the wind and waves pushing water inland on your right and left sides as you are standing in the shallow waters. Obviously the water must flow back out.

In front of you is a long sandbar running parallel to the beach that has a large section missing, and in that section is the rip current. That “rip” allows the currents coming toward you from both sides to push straight back out . . . and also to drag you out at top speed! On the surface of a rip current, the water appears calm and inviting, but below the surface the water flow is like a rapid river surging toward the open ocean. Even if you are an Olympic swimmer, you physically cannot swim back to shore against it. Instead you must turn out of it by swimming parallel to the coast and then swim to shore.

By not believing those clear words of warning, your life is endangered. If you survive, you are fortunate, and you will never forget to take a written warning seriously—it can be a matter of life and death. The Bible says, “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”
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Let’s be honest: We’ve all done it! We have all ignored clear warnings found in God’s Word and walked into water that looked harmless. We trusted our
own
eyes and our
own
knowledge and not God’s truth. We didn’t want to believe that warning applied to us.

Life is full of precarious unseen currents that can pull us swiftly away from God’s perfect will. That’s why it’s vital to first see what the Lord says and then to take His words seriously. He knows what lies beneath. He sees the currents we cannot see. He will chart our course.

As long as your hope is anchored in the Lord, you will not drown. He will guide you from harm, teach you His truth, and give you His hope. Just as David prayed, you, too, can pray:

Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. (Ps. 25:5)