Over the years I’ve had family and friends deal with cancer. Personally, I have dealt with skin cancer, but it’s nothing like those who have had their body riddled with cancer in their organs or bones. I’ve witnessed both death and victory.
Recently a friend, who has battled cancer for a long time, sent me a text saying, “My cancer numbers are up to 693.” When they first discovered cancer in multiple places in her body, the number was 33,000!
The numbers should be 0 to 5. Over the years she has had surgeries and chemo to fight the cancer.
She continued to say, “The doctors are trying to get me back on chemo next week, they did find cancer on my spine from my MRI.”
Now, it just so happened that I was reading in 1 Samuel 17 about David and Goliath. This giant, Goliath, was over nine feet tall and carried armor heavier than most people weigh.
He was a bully that daily demoralized the Israelite army with sharp and discouraging words. No one would fight this champion Goliath.
David was just a boy, not old enough to serve in the Israelite army. His father sent him to check on his brothers who were on the front line.
David showed up and saw Goliath and his defiance to God. This angered David and he wanted to know why no one was attempting to defeat Goliath.
David volunteered to eliminate Goliath! He claimed the battle belonged to the Lord, and that the Lord would rescue him. He knows that he is small, but his God is big!
He recalled how God rescued him from past attacks, “The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” (vs. 37)
He believed that God is a faithful God. As the story goes, David goes to the battleground to face Goliath. He runs to the fight! And God gave David and the Israelites victory that day.
My friend also said the following three things in her text to me. “Back to the battleground!!!” – “We need to continue the fight!” – “GOD is right by my side always!” She has the attitude of David, and she doesn’t even know it!
David was on the battleground, running to the enemy, fighting for his life, knowing that God was by his side! Her attitude inspires me! She has been like this since the first day she discovered cancer in her body.
I want to encourage you today to pray for each other. Pray for those who are battling Goliath-like problems. Pray for victories! Pray that we have the attitude and confidence of David. Pray for our Goliaths to be defeated!
Each of us have battles, some bigger than others. For my friend (and many other friends and family with health battles)…I don’t know why horrible things like cancer exist…they just do.
They are part of a fallen and sinful world. Someday, in eternity we won’t deal with cancer, sickness, death, and pain. But until that day, we press on! With the confidence and courage from God, we run to the battle.
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Rex Stump is the Area Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and serves as a Pastor at True North Church in Wauseon, Ohio.
