{"id":6803,"date":"2025-03-20T00:01:33","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T04:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/?p=6803"},"modified":"2025-05-19T20:31:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T00:31:41","slug":"no-lose-situation-even-with-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/?p=6803","title":{"rendered":"(In the Moments) No Lose Situation (Even with Cancer)"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to Wikipedia, game theory defines \u201cno win\u201d as a scenario where every outcome is disadvantageous to all players. 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.<\/p>\n

Chris’ Cancer<\/span><\/h3>\n

Consider my friend Chris. A successful business executive with a loving wife and two God honoring sons, he found out in February 2015 that 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 \u201cfamily\u201d because Chris is my brother in Christ. We\u2019re both adopted sons of the Lord Most High, bought and paid for by the precious blood of Jesus. We\u2019re brothers on the same commission: to live and speak the love and grace of Christ to everyone God brings our way.<\/p>\n

Long before the cancer, loving like Jesus has been Chris\u2019 heart. His multiple trips to India ignited his love for its people. 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.<\/p>\n

We Can’t Lose<\/span><\/h3>\n

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\u2019s joy, and his life speaks of God\u2019s nearness, infusing courage to others daily.<\/p>\n

He shared with me that the dire spiritual conditions of some of his family are far tougher for him than dealing with cancer. Chris knows where he\u2019s going and his faith in the truths of his future centers him and gives him eternal hope. He\u2019s ready to see Jesus, but he knows some of his family members are not.<\/p>\n

With conviction, he recently told me we Christians are in a \u2018no-lose situation\u2019. 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 cannot lose. This brings joy inexpressible and full of glory.<\/p>\n

Chris\u2019 life reminds me of the following verses: \u201cTherefore 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\u201d (II Corinthians 4:16-18\u00a0<\/strong>NASB)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Challenge<\/span><\/h3>\n

What \u2018no-win situation\u2019 do you feel you\u2019re in right now? Do you feel trapped, like no move could get you out? If Chris focused on his cancer, he might feel this way. And maybe he did for a while. But Chris has ongoing conversations with his Savior. He and Sharon share a deepened faith and intimacy. Christ is Chris\u2019 life.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your situation? Bring it to the Lord. Consider this a chance to entrust yourself further to God. Embrace God’s higher purpose for your life, a greater story which is about Him conforming you into being more like Jesus.<\/p>\n

If you don’t know Jesus, He invites you into His fellowship. When you do, you too will know how your story ends, no matter what you face at this moment.<\/p>\n

Prayer<\/span><\/h3>\n

Lord, I must confess, I\u2019m not where Chris is with such a frightening word as cancer. But you’ve given me courage through my own difficulties, because I know You’re near. You’ve grown my faith because You’ve used really hard things for me to learn that I can’t, and You can.<\/p>\n

Please continue to grow my faith through all the days You’ve numbered for me. Keep me aware of Your nearness and keep me from running ahead of You.<\/p>\n

Like Chris, may I use the platform You’ve given me to tell what wonderful things You’ve done for me and how You’ve shown me mercy.<\/p>\n

May my days be filled with love for You and for those You bring my way. Guard me from ever choosing any worldly pleasure above you.<\/p>\n

You are my King, my Highest Joy.<\/p>\n

My life pales compared to knowing You. I give all of me to You, Lord Jesus. You are my life. [2]<\/p>\n

Amen<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21 NASB).<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Epilogue<\/span><\/h3>\n

After seven years of fighting the good fight with much courage, Chris completed his journey here on earth in 2022. He used his platform to proclaim the goodness of God to so many. Knowing Chris deeply touched my life. I will see him again.<\/p>\n

Christopher Ward Mercer<\/strong><\/p>\n

July 10th, 1963 – February 18, 2022<\/p>\n

[1] Ephesians 1:13<\/p>\n

[2] Colossians 3:4<\/p>\n

Other posts in our series\u00a0In the Moments<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

As Sea Gulls Fly<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

It is Finished<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Behold the Moments<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Tranquility<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Stop Striving<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Simplicity In Christ<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

What is Good<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet Will I Rejoice<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Sorrowful, Yet Always Rejoicing<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Exploring Grace and Joy together<\/a><\/p>\n

Stay Present My Friends<\/a><\/p>\n

Quiddity. It Could Change Your Life<\/a><\/p>\n

The Cake Maker\u2019s Blunder<\/a><\/p>\n

God at Work (No Trespassing)<\/a><\/p>\n

Hidden with Christ in God<\/a><\/p>\n

Finding Joy in Love and Relationships<\/a><\/p>\n

Escaping the Rat Race<\/a><\/p>\n

When I don\u2019t Feel God\u2019s Loving Kindness<\/a><\/p>\n

Experiencing Completeness in Christ<\/a><\/p>\n

Overcoming Pain Through Faith<\/a><\/p>\n

Recalibrating Our Hearts<\/a><\/p>\n

The Joy of Waiting<\/a><\/p>\n

On the Fifth Day God Created Dog<\/a><\/p>\n

When Things get Really Hard<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God\u2019s nearness in the midst of life\u2019s adventures.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Subscribe to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Robby Buck<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Nonfiction books by the Author:<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Because joy is rooted in God and is eternal, it doesn\u2019t ebb and flow with the waves of circumstances. In fact, as we grow in our understanding of joy, we can even experience it more acutely when life is hard. Why? Because God uses trials to conform us into the image of Christ. With this awareness, which gives us glimpses of God\u2019s greater purposes, we rejoice because of His masterful work to free us from needing anything but Him.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

For these reasons, and many others, joy in the Lord is commanded in scripture. It\u2019s not just a good idea, it\u2019s vital to our journey as human beings.\u00a0Rhythms of Joy<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Novels by the Author:<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?\u00a0\u00a0Beyond Time<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

By finding two undelivered letters in an old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family\u00a0Hope Remains<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Please Check out the\u00a0\u00a0Cola City Podcast<\/a>\u00a0. Discussions that impact the vision of reaching every man, woman, and child in a city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to Wikipedia, game theory defines \u201cno win\u201d as a scenario where every outcome is disadvantageous to all players. 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.<\/p>\n

Chris’ Cancer<\/p>\n

Consider my friend Chris. A successful business executive with a loving wife and two God honoring sons, he found out in February 2015 that 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 \u201cfamily\u201d because Chris is my brother in Christ. We\u2019re both adopted sons of the Lord Most High, bought and paid for by the precious blood of Jesus. We\u2019re brothers on the same commission: to live and speak the love and grace of Christ to everyone God brings our way.<\/p>\n

Long before the cancer, loving like Jesus has been Chris\u2019 heart. His multiple trips to India ignited his love for its people. 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.<\/p>\n

We Can’t Lose<\/p>\n

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\u2019s joy and his life speaks of God\u2019s nearness, infusing courage to others daily.<\/p>\n

He shared with me that the dire spiritual conditions of some of his family are far tougher for him than dealing with cancer. Chris knows where he\u2019s going and his faith in the truths of his future centers him and gives him eternal hope. He\u2019s ready to see Jesus, but he knows some of his family members are not.<\/p>\n

With conviction, he recently told me we Christians are in a \u2018no-lose situation\u2019. 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 cannot lose. This brings joy inexpressible and full of glory.<\/p>\n

Chris\u2019 life reminds me of the following verse: \u201cTherefore 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\u201d (II Corinthians 4:16-18\u00a0NASB)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3390,657],"tags":[665,70,660,3384,3385,14,668,666,3383,552,562,686,3389,18,3387,96,3382,1244,663,1225,20,510,7,669,662,664,113,659,658,2012,1095,670,3386,661,3388,3381,667],"class_list":["post-6803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-greater-hope","category-joy-in-the-midst","tag-2-corinthains-416-18","tag-being-with-jesus","tag-brain-cancer","tag-brother-in-christ","tag-business-executive","tag-cancer","tag-christ-our-life","tag-colossians-34","tag-cornered","tag-ephesians-13-13","tag-eternal-prespective","tag-faith","tag-higher-purpose","tag-holy-spirit","tag-holy-spirit-directed","tag-hope","tag-hopelessness","tag-ii-corinthians-416-18","tag-india","tag-inheritance","tag-jesus","tag-jesus-christ","tag-joy","tag-lord-jesus","tag-lords-joy","tag-loving-like-jesus","tag-mercy","tag-no-lose","tag-no-win","tag-our-highest-joy","tag-philippians-121","tag-realtional-pain","tag-swim","tag-vessel","tag-vessel-of-joy","tag-wikipedia","tag-you-are-our-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6803"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6991,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6803\/revisions\/6991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}