The Race No Man Wins

This past week I learned that a faithful man I greatly respect was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. It was a shock to me, as it was to many others who heard this news. I have prayed for healing, but we all know that praying for something doesn't guarantee it will happen. We know God can heal completely, but will he?

A prayer for healing is really a prayer for time. Time is a finite resource that each of us gulps down at the same rate and with the same fervor. How many seconds will comprise my lifetime? No matter how many they are, I will certainly pray to God for several more. There is never enough time.

The race against time is the race no man can win. We try to eat healthy, exercise regularly, live a clean lifestyle, and avoid dangerous activities all to prolong our time on the earth. God grants us answers to prayers for health, but he doesn't do so indefinitely. Like the race between the tortoise and the hare, eventually the methodical plodding of time will overtake every mortal soul. At one point in every person's life, they ask God to sustain their life and God responds with "no more". Will today be my time?

Physical life is a process of growth and decay. Our bodies are constantly undergoing both of these processes simultaneously from the moment we are born. To see this, look no further than your hair and fingernails: they are dead cells which constantly ooze out of our bodies and need to be maintained. Muscles grow through the strain of lifting followed by a period of regrowth. The collection of cells which makes up your body today were mostly not there several years ago. We are constantly growing and constantly dying. Our bodies die when the death overcomes the growth.

A great deception is that we start thinking that just because we see growth, death is no longer waiting for us. God said with certainty to Adam "you will surely die" (Genesis 2:17) when sin took its foothold in the world through disobedience. Satan tries to deceive us as he did Eve by muttering "you will not surely die" (Genesis 3:4). We start thinking that if we take care of ourselves, get good health insurance, and plan for retirement then we can avoid a confrontation with death. "Sure", we think, "after I've done everything I need to do, then death can come". But when is it ever the right time? When are we ever done?

We always think to ourselves that we'll die later in life, but don't want to admit that one day "later" will become today. Value each today that God gives you: the breath in your lungs, the blood in your veins, the food in your belly, and the thoughts in your mind. Use the gift of today to accomplish something of lasting value.

Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

- Hebrews 9:27-28