Gold Seeds and Silver Linings
by Pastor Dick Bennett / Young at Heart Director
There are times in our lives when we seem to become more dependent on God than other times. I know it shouldn’t be that way, but when a crisis comes that fact is borne out. We are, after all, creatures of habit and routine until something big comes along, like, a tragedy in the family – loss of a job – house fire – or you have cancer. Our faith must then kick into high gear. In the past few years I’ve had to increase my faith to meet challenges I had never faced before. Today I had three tiny gold seeds implanted in my prostate to prepare me for nine weeks of radiation. Who knew?? I didn’t even have an inkling until a few months ago when my general practitioner told me my PSA numbers were up. I didn’t even know what that meant at first. Further testing showed it to be cancer cells in that gland. The good news is that it’s NOWHERE ELSE, and this is the most curable cancer.
The other good news is that our faith CAN increase, and I always find that His grace is sufficient. I’ve had to put my preaching into practice. “I Still Believe”! Oh, I love that song. Along with many scriptures, that song brought me through my son’s crisis two years ago during his wife’s two-year battle with cancer and his depression, and they still keep me going today. I’m in good hands, and I don’t mean Allstate. “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” That’s the silver lining. I can now empathize better with those to whom I minister who are on a similar journey.
By the way, do you know how many men are walking around the Atrium with gold seeds? (They’re permanent, you know). I believe if we could harvest them, we could pay off the church debt.
The other good news is that our faith CAN increase, and I always find that His grace is sufficient. I’ve had to put my preaching into practice. “I Still Believe”! Oh, I love that song. Along with many scriptures, that song brought me through my son’s crisis two years ago during his wife’s two-year battle with cancer and his depression, and they still keep me going today. I’m in good hands, and I don’t mean Allstate. “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” That’s the silver lining. I can now empathize better with those to whom I minister who are on a similar journey.
By the way, do you know how many men are walking around the Atrium with gold seeds? (They’re permanent, you know). I believe if we could harvest them, we could pay off the church debt.