Ecclesiastes 9.12 says:
“For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.”
I haven’t followed the situation of Matt Chandler closely, except for the blog updates on his health. Matt is the senior pastor of a very large church in Texas (that’s nearly a redundant statement). He’s much younger than I, has a wife and children.
A couple of weeks ago, it became known that he had a brain tumor and many thousands of Christians around the world were asked to pray. I may have offered up a quick, “Lord, be with him” and left it at that. I don’t know Matt. I watched the video of him at last September’s Desiring God National Conference and that’s about all I know of him (except what I’ve read on a few blogs).
The biopsy’s have come back and the tumor (on his frontal lobe) is malignant.
Again, this might slip past me without a lot of time in thought or prayer spent for one I don’t know. However, I’ve just gone through some of the tests that every 50+ year old man ought to have done every so often. The week of waiting for the test results was not filled with sleepless nights worrying and wondering what the outcome might be. In fact, there were a few times I thought to myself, “What if the doctor, in trying to look me in the eye, but not quite being able to, says to me, ‘I have some bad news, Mr. Sorensen’?” The scenario I wanted to run through my mind was, “Okay, bring it on. Let’s tackle this head on and deal with it.”
Oh the false sense of confidence we often have in our own abilities. The pride that wells up within us, hoping that we can face circumstances like this with the kind of aplomb that will garner attention and awe from all who look upon us. That’s really what was going through my mind – wanting the applause of men because I was tackling a disease head on, not allowing it to tackle me. The truly humbling thought is this: “When have I ever tackled something any in the neighborhood of “THE ‘C’ WORD without caving into my sinful nature’s desire to whine, moan, grumble and complain?” Answer? Never (well, almost never).
So, may God truly be merciful to Matt, his wife and family, his church throughout this entire situation. And may He be merciful to me in my wellness and health.
