February 25
“Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your body is full of light; but if it is not healthy, your body is full of darkness.”
Luke 11:34
How do you look at your circumstances right now? How do you define yourself because of cancer? How do you see your life evolving and your future developing in relation to it? Your outlook has a tremendous influence on your health. If you approach this disease with fear and trepidation you will certainly encounter great anxiety and uncertainty. If you decide you will have significant problems you most surely will. But if you determine that you will discover better days and encounter moments of hope, you also surely will. And if you see possibility and promise in your situation, an opportunity to change for the better, you will certainly find more wonder and grace than you can ever imagine.
I’m looking for the light you offer, dear God. I’m searching for days of goodness and a future filled with healing. Help me not to descend into darkness, but instead to find the reality of better days. Amen.
February 26
“Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness.”
Luke 11:35
Take a good, hard look at yourself to understand where your attitudes really lie. What are your expectations? Do you really believe you can find the healing you seek? Are you engaged with every fiber of your being in seeking a life where creating wellness is the defining characteristic of your life? Sometimes we harbor despair deeply within or really don’t believe we can overcome the cancer in our lives. Sometimes we create instead an attitude of defeat and disappointment, which ultimately does us no good. We need to examine our deepest feelings to know where our real feelings lie. We need to find the light and extinguish the darkness within us in every way we can. Doing so will begin to change our lives in wonderfully significant ways.
There are times when I really don’t know if I have the hope I need. There are times when my confidence wavers and my attitude is poor. Dear God, help me to know when I am giving in to darkness and to instead reach out for the light. Amen.
February 27
“If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.”
Luke 11:36
It happens when you are confident of your medical care. It happens when you know you are eating well and healthily. It happens when you find a source of exercise that is fun and brings you joy. It happens when your attitude is positive and full of hope. It happens when you have a system of support surrounding you that is comforting and secure. It happens when your spirit is nurtured in a way that transports you beyond yourself and lifts you to a higher, more eternal place. What happens is an integration of your body, your mind and your spirit that helps healing to take root in your life. Nurture all these things. Help them to work closely together. Understand that doing this is utterly important to help you find the light you need.
I’m looking for your light to work through me, O God. I’m looking for your light to surround me. I’m looking for your light to shine from me – your light of hope, your light of grace, your light of healing. Amen.
February 28
Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.”
Isaiah 2:3
We cannot deal with cancer all by ourselves. We need the support and help of many others to lift us through every challenging day. Most importantly we need the wisdom and understanding of God to guide and strengthen us. It is imperative to under gird all our days with a source of healing and hope that is powerfully enduring, that connects us with eternity and that has everlasting promise. God does have a plan for us to find healing and to know the hope that comes from this assurance. There is a path that each of us can travel and that path is made smoothest for us when God is allowed to be our point of reference and support. How are you accepting the access God gives you to better answers and greater hope?
God of goodness and help, show me your ways and tell me your answers. Give me your guidance and share with me your joy. I really need them to show me a better way. Amen.
February 29
Whoever digs a pit will fall into it; …
Ecclesiastes 10:8
How common it is to descend into a chasm of doubt, despair, depression and despondency when we are confronted with cancer. So often we lose our confidence. We harbor sorrow. We become defined by sadness. We live in gloom. But our challenge is to not stay down in the chasms. Our challenge instead is to find every way we can to climb out of the depths that keep us down, that keep us mired in self-pity, that enable us to freeze in fear and that keep us defeated by paralyzing uncertainty. Don’t allow yourself to be immobilized or defined by things that keep you from hope, help or healing. Your life depends on rising above the difficulties and going on in spite of them.
The tendency for me to get discouraged is so easy, O God. I can fall into negativity very quickly and can stay there all too long. I need you to show me how to stay focused on a positive attitude and a hopeful outlook. Sometimes it the hardest thing I have to overcome. Amen.
March 1
For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for your harm, to give you a future with hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
God has only the best in mind for us. God wants only what is good for us. God has created us only for wonder and joy and love. But sometimes we forget that when we are consumed by disease and distress. But these words serve plainly to remind us that God’s will is not for us to suffer, to languish or to live in pain. But, indeed, God’s will is for us know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a future given to us that is bright with hope and promise, rich with possibility and peace. God’s plan is for our healing - wherever we need healing most. Do not despair that the days to come will be dark and disappointing. Instead look ahead with anticipation and expectation, because God has great plans for you!
Gracious, loving God, my future is in your hands, and I know your hands are creating for me something wondrous and great. Help me to see, if only a glimpse, the goodness you have planned for me. I need that affirmation today. Amen.
March 2
The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.
Psalm 23:1
In ancient times, when this psalm was written, those who heard these words would have instinctively known how significant the image of a shepherd was. A shepherd would protect and guide his sheep. A shepherd would lift them from dangerous places and carry them when they could not walk themselves. A shepherd would literally put himself between a dangerous predator and his sheep, placing himself in harm’s way for them. A shepherd’s job was to make certain that no sheep would be lost and that every one would make it back home safely. God is like a shepherd. God will do anything for us to help and save us. God wants none of us to be harmed or lost. With this kind of God we will not lack anything we need, no matter how hard the journey.
With you as my shepherd, caring God, I am reminded that I need never be lost. When I find myself confused and feeling alone, not certain which way to go, not sure if there is any hope, you come to carry and protect me. I am much better for that. Amen.
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