Under Siege

A little over five years ago, my friend’s family came under siege. Her husband was diagnosed with cancer. They engaged the fight.

Under siege, you have limited resources. At their disposal were surgery, medicine, wise doctors, time, faith, hope and love. They have used up all the procedures, medicines, doctors and clinical trials available to them. Now, they are hoarding the only things they have left: Time, Hope, Faith and Love.

Time is running short.  The enemy will try to rob them of time together with each call, text and email notification on their phone. To protect each precious moment with their family, they have asked their friends not to phone or text. We won’t. We will pray and stand by in silence. We will give them uninterrupted moments together.

Hope will soon end for my friend’s husband as he will no longer need it. He will see the face of Jesus. He will dwell, in the glory of eternity. He will hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  Hope gives this family peace today.

Faith will sustain them as they grieve his passing from this life into the next. Their faith is in the Gospel: Jesus’ perfect life, death, and resurrection. They trust in the salvation that Jesus purchased on the cross. Their faith is in God’s promise of resurrection and new life.

Love never fails, and love never ends. When this precious family is reunited in glory, their love for God and for each other will grow through all eternity.

What can we learn from my friends?

Time is running short. No one is guaranteed tomorrow. Not you, your parents, children, relatives or friends.

“The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” – Psalm 103:15 NIV

Hope is the settled assurance that what God says is true. Our hope is in Christ alone. He is the promise that sustains us.

“In you, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth.” – Psalm 71:1, 5 NIV

Faith is confidence in what we hope for. We must confidently believe that the Gospel is true, and act on that belief by receiving Jesus as our Savior and committing our lives to Him as our Lord.

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” – John 1:12 NIV

Love is sacrificial. It is how Christians act toward one another because this is how God acted toward us.

For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16 NIV

We are all under siege in one way or another and we have limited resources. Time is running out for all of us. How might you share hope, increase faith, and show love to others while you still have time?