“How’s your dad?” a colleague asked me.
“Struggling to die,” I replied. My 84-year-old dad has endured the painful debilitating effects of liver cancer for 2 years. Doctors have told me and my family to be prepared for his inevitable demise. So as he lies on that hospital bed, I feel his pain. In a weak voice, he recently said, “My time is almost up.” Dad isn’t struggling to live, but waiting to die.
I take comfort in what Paul said in Romans 8: “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who His children really are” (Romans 8:18-19).
Dad may be helpless against some rogue cells that have attacked his body. But he is certainly not without hope. My father is God’s child (Romans 8:15-17). He has entrusted himself to the One who is trustworthy (2 Timothy 1:12). He knows he’s finally going home to be with Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:8).
Yes, “we believers also groan, . . . we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children, including the new bodies He has promised us” (Romans 8:23).
God “chose [Dad] to become like His Son. . . . And . . . He called [Dad] to come to Him. . . . He gave [Dad] right standing with Himself. . . . He gave [Dad] His glory” (Romans 8:29-30). My father may have cancer. But cancer doesn’t have him. God has him. And this is the glory that awaits Dad.
He’s not struggling to die. Dad is dying to live with God forever!
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Luke 4:16-30
More:
What hope and comfort does 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 give to those who are God’s children?
Next:
Read Romans 8:15-30 again. What assurances does God give to those who are suffering?
pjp on June 23, 2011 at 5:13 am
k.t. sim
oh, the goodness of God. Praise Him.
lindagma on June 23, 2011 at 6:05 am
We lost our brother to Mesothylioma last April. He has struggled to breathe for the last 10 years. The assurance of a Godly neighbor, that Tom was ready to be with the Lord, was the most precious gift I could have been given.
bowiekitten on June 23, 2011 at 7:45 am
Dear K.T.-
When my beloved daddy was dying of cancer almost five years ago, I was an absolute wreck. But he couldn’t wait. .One of the last things I remember him saying was, “I get to meet God! How cool is that?!”
I wish I could say something to lessen your pain through this rough time, but there really are no words. I can only offer my prayers that the Lord will comfort you.and give you strength. The beautiful news is your separation will not be permanent. and in the meantime, your dad will get to meet God. And how cool is that?!
eppistle on June 23, 2011 at 8:40 am
KT, I grieve for you and your father. For the believer, death can be a welcomed friend – a door to an eternity with our Savior. But dying seems like an unwelcome intruder – certainly not what humans were originally designed to experience. It’s an understatement to say that it’s tough to watch your loved one die. However, like the Apostle Paul, dying shouldn’t be something to just endure, but something to find purpose in the midst of the suffering. Paul’s purpose was to invest in the lives of others and exalt the Lord in his body (Philippians 1:20-26). When my mother was dying of cancer, she could still find joy in the Lord even in her weakened state because she not only looked forward to meeting Him, but also found purpose in the midst of her dying.
roxanne robbins on June 23, 2011 at 9:19 am
KT – Thank you for this beautiful post and testimony of your father’s faith. I had a relative who never responded to Jesus’ love. As a result, he spent his final days full of agony and fear.
God longs for us each to experience a different type of death as so clearly expressed in the verse you shared: “we believers also groan. I . . . we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children, including the new bodies He has promised us” (Romans 8:23).
daisymarygoldr on June 23, 2011 at 2:07 pm
KTS, I am so sorry to hear about your father. My grandmother died of cancer. She went to be with the Lord without ever knowing she was dying of cancer. She will be the first person I will be looking for in heaven i.e. after I meet Christ. For Christians, death is not the end of life, for we are “sown like seeds” in the kingdom of God. Death for believers is not a curse, but a blessing—it temporarily parts us from our loved ones to unite us permanently with God. The death of His saints is precious to the Lord, because He gets to enjoy their persons in His presence forever. Praying for God to comfort your father for as long as He chooses to keep him here in this world…
conmeo on June 23, 2011 at 10:00 pm
Thankyou kt and may our Lord bless you and your dad. Those of you who remember me know. Of my struggles. My dad too is ill with cancer. 93 years he has been a lifelong church going man but seems to not really have been saved. I pray that he will be or that I am wrong. Brothers and sisters here you are all a true gift of God. I thank Him daily for you in my own struggles. Pray for all of us. Conmeo
joo_sg on June 23, 2011 at 11:56 pm
My dad has been a stroke patient for the past 11 years. He lost his speech ability and was paralyed on the right and is frustrated about his condition which deteriorated over the years as he refused physiotherapy. Has been really tough for my brother has looked after him all these years. Sometimes our love and patience can run out when he gets really difficult and uncooperative like when he refuses to eat.
Dad accepted Jesus just prior to his stroke attack. But his faith is weak. Each time I visit him I come back heavy-hearted and sad cos he would gesture to me he wants to die and point to the last supper portrait hanging on my brother’s the wall that faith is useless.
I find it hard to comfort him. I pray that God will relieve him of his suffering the day he stops having quality of life.
Thanks KT for your post. Yes, my father has stroke but stroke does not have him. God has him.
mike wittmer on June 24, 2011 at 11:34 am
What a great reminder–“my dad has cancer, but the cancer doesn’t have him. God has him!” These words have tunneled into my heart–God bless in your grief.
ebratt on July 22, 2011 at 9:58 am
KT- Thank you for your post. As I sit with my 93 year old mother waiting for the Lord to come to her, I remember her echo what your father said. She has been a healthy woman until this last year, when she broke both hips and developed cancer of the tongue and throat. When I told her of the cancer, she said that she knew she had cancer before the doctors told us, and that she had been ready for some time to go to the Lord. She seemed relieved and joyful in anticipation that she would sit at the feet of Jesus and see friends and family that traveled before her. She actively put her affairs in order while she could, preparing for her departure. Her happiness was infectious, and lifted the families spirits.
She now lies comatose in bed with no indication on her features of fear. She waits for the Lord to take her home.