Time Is Ticking
A few months ago, I walked alongside my friend as she succumbed to a very rare, very aggressive cancer. She was 49 with two young children and a husband. In the span of three months, she learned she had cancer, had surgery to remove it, and had barely begun a treatment protocol before discovering that the cancer had returned with a vengeance. She lived 22 days after finding out that her cancer was back. Those few weeks have profoundly changed my life and have impacted me in ways that I’m not sure I’ve even fully unpacked yet.
In the three weeks between being released from the hospital and when the Lord took her home, it felt like a race against time. Our small group of friends scrambled to arrange family pictures, we cleaned and organized things in her home, we finished small projects she wished she’d had more time to complete, and we recorded her testimony so her children would have a record of how she came to know Jesus. Every minute mattered, every conversation felt sacred, as the gravity and finality of death was looming over all of us like a dark cloud waiting to engulf our lives. I think if we’re all honest, we felt inadequate, like we were stumbling and fumbling through what to do next, rushing to complete tasks that felt earth-shatteringly important and wholly insignificant at the same time, wishing we could just have more time to sit and talk. Time was in short supply, and we could palpably feel the minutes slipping away as our friend deteriorated - tick, tick, tick. Though time seemed scarce, what we did have was an army of willing people – the hands and feet of Christ who stepped in to help. And there was so much beauty in watching the skill sets and gifts of so many different people coming together to bring our friend and her family to the finish line of her life. The body of Christ – as it should be, working harmoniously and displaying the glory of God.
In one of the most precious conversations I had with her in the last three weeks of her life, we talked about our faith in the context of suddenly having a finite timeline attached to it. Most of us bump along through life, and we don’t spend much time staring down the barrel of our own mortality. We are all headed towards an earthly expiration date. Unless it’s forced upon us through something like cancer, we don’t spend our days focused on (or even really entertaining thoughts about) eternity. Our gaze is fixed on whatever is vying for our attention in the here and now. But in those three weeks, when our lives were turned upside down, my focus was violently ripped away from the stupidity and banality of the everyday. It was forcibly shifted to the glory of eternity. Because eternity was when I would see her next. Suddenly, the concept of eternity was front and center, demanding my acknowledgment. And the imminence of her death changed the lens through which I viewed my own faith journey while I’m on this earth.
My friend and I talked about sharing the hope of the gospel with unbelievers. She whispered to me through closed eyes a few days before she passed, “Christa, there is no time.” Eternity was beckoning her home, and she felt that sense of urgency to proclaim Jesus courageously. Tick, tick, tick. Her words changed me. She was right. There is no time, and we are not promised tomorrow. What are we doing with the days, hours, and minutes that God has given us?
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
The good news today is that if God has saved you from your sins and called you His own, you already have more than enough to be excited about, and that should motivate you to share the joy of your salvation with others. God has given you right now, TODAY. Who in your life needs to hear the best news ever?
PRAYER
Father, fill us with boldness. Give us a spirit of courage to fearlessly share Your free gift of salvation with those around us. Help us not to shrink back in fear or worry about what other people will think.
Christa has been married to Greg for 25 years, and they have one son, Palmer, who is a junior in college. She loves women’s ministry, teaching art to homeschooled children, and whipping up fantastic recipes in her kitchen. If she could pack up her church family and move to coastal South Carolina… she’d do it in a heartbeat.
Are there other women in your life who could benefit from a daily dose of encouragement? Forward this email so they can click on this link to Subscribe to Daily Treasure to be better equipped to walk by faith on the pathway God has marked out for them.
Sharon W. Betters is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, pastor’s wife, and cofounder of MARKINC Ministries, where she is the Director of Resource Development. Sharon is the author of several books, including Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace. She is the co-host of the Help & Hope podcast and writes Daily Treasure, an online devotional.
Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.
