Praising God for what we have

My brother is in Abbott Hospital in Minneapolis fighting a very tough brain cancer. The intensity of the battle has taken another step higher—Jim now has an unknown form of pneumonia.  He is in the fight of his life.

Someone told me this week that “Jim is too young to die;” he is 70. I suppose he could be considered too young; none of us want to die but the Lord determines our day to be born and our day to die.

As it says in Ecclesiastes 3:1-14:

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:  a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,  a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,  a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,  a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,  a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,  a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,  a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.  What does the worker gain from his toil?  I have seen the burden God has laid on men.  He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.  That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him."

Carol, Jim’s wife of almost 50 years, was returning to the hotel late one night. Tired, lonely and battling to keep her spirits up for Jim and the kids, she encountered a couple at the hotel. The couple has a 13 year old daughter in Abbot with an inoperable brain tumor.

Carol said, “How sad, she is only 13, hasn’t even lived her life.” It was at that point that Carol was reminded that Jim has had 70 years of life and a good life at that. Carol said to me the next morning, “We must always be thankful for what we have rather than complain about what we do not have.”

We want Jim to live; we entrust his life and care to God’s hands. We thank you Lord for 70 years. May the young girl with the brain tumor experience the same.

Thank you, Jesus. Amen