For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21
Wikipedia states that “in game theory, a ‘no win’ situation is when no player benefits from any outcome.” The game has reached a point in which nothing good can happen for anyone involved. How about the game called life? Most of us have experienced a time when we feel completely cornered and trapped. A step in any direction seems detrimental, producing feelings of hopelessness.
Consider my friend Chris. A successful business man with a loving wife and two God honoring sons, he found out in February of 2015 he has brain cancer. This news devastated us all. You hear about folks dealing with cancer, but when it happens to your family it hits home. I say “family” because Chris is my brother in Christ. We’re both adopted sons of the Lord Most High, bought and paid for by the precious blood of Jesus. We’re brothers on the same commission: to live and speak the love and grace of Christ to everyone God brings our way.
Long before the cancer, loving like Jesus was Chris’ heart. Having made multiple trips to India, he was gripped with love for the people of this crowded country. So much so, he and his wife Sharon moved their whole family to an apartment complex, where many of his Indian business associates lived. Chris did it to be near them. He taught them to swim and loved them in ways the Holy Spirit directed him.
Though the news of his cancer was certainly devastating, Chris and Sharon have clung close to each other and trusted God in the midst. Amazingly, Chris sees this whole situation as giving him a unique platform to continue his commission. Chris is a walking example of someone who sees God as his Good, no matter what circumstance he faces. Chris is a vessel of the Lord’s joy and his life speaks of God’s nearness, infusing courage to others on a daily basis.
He shared with me that the dire spiritual conditions of some of his family is far tougher for him than dealing with cancer. Chris knows where he’s going and his faith in the truths of his future centers him and gives him eternal hope. He’s ready to see Jesus, but he knows some of his family members are not.
With conviction, he recently told me we Christians are in a ‘no lose situation’. As adopted children of the King, given the Holy Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance[1], our lives on this earth are our journeys home. We know how our story ends. We literally can not lose. This brings joy inexpressible and full of glory.
Chris’ life reminds me of the following verse, Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. II Corinthians 4:16-18
Challenge: What ‘no win situation’ do you feel like you’re in right now? Do you feel trapped, like no move could can get you out? If Chris had focused on his cancer, he might have felt this way. And maybe he did for a while. But Chris has ongoing conversations with his Savior. He and Sharon have drawn close to the Lord and Christ is his life.
What’s your situation? Bring it to the Lord. See it as an opportunity to trust the Lord with more of you.
Prayer: Lord, I must confess I’m not where Chris is when it comes to such a frightening word as cancer. But I want to consider my life as loss compared to gaining more of You. I give all of me to you, Lord Jesus. You are my life.[2]
[1] Ephesians 1:13
[2] Colossians 3:4
Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.
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