The Works of God

Nicholas Kristof writes opinion columns for The New York Times and yesterday covered the subject of his own brush with cancer:

This is trite but also so, so true: A brush with mortality turns out to be the best way to appreciate how blue the sky is, how sensuous grass feels underfoot, how melodious kids’ voices are. Even teenagers’ voices. A friend and colleague, David E. Sanger, who conquered cancer a decade ago, says, “No matter how bad a day you’re having, you say to yourself: ‘I’ve had worse.’ ”

Floyd Norris, a friend in The Times’s business section, is now undergoing radiation treatment for cancer after surgery on his face and neck. He wrote on his blog: “It is not fun, but it has been inspiring. In a way, I am happier about my life than at any time I can remember.”

I don’t mean to wax lyrical about the joys of tumors. But maybe the most elusive possession is contentment with what we have. There’s no better way to attain that than a glimpse of our mortality.

Hezekiah knew what this glimpse felt like.  He was told by Isaiah, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover (Isaiah 38:1).”  But God heard Hezekiah and granted him 15 more years of life.

And Hezekiah understood something had happened beyond just giving him more years of life:

Behold, it was for my welfare
that I had great bitterness;
but in love you have delivered my life
from the pit of destruction,
for you have cast all my sins
behind your back. Isaiah 38:17

The suffering that resulted in ‘great bitterness’ was for his welfare.  Hezekiah rightly calls it evidence of God’s love.  Most importantly, God cast all Hezekiah’s sins away.

I’m glad that Mr. Kristof’s scare with cancer was just that – a scare.  But will he need another scare in a week or a month or a year to be reminded how to be content?

Paul, writing under divine inspiration, taught us how to remain content no matter what:

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:11-13