When the difficult things in life get thrown at you and you get knocked for six… why keep holding on to God?
Don’t worry, I’m not going to try and give you a theological lesson on why or how to keep strong in your faith through difficult times in life! I’m not theologically trained and haven’t been granted divine inspiration on the topic at this point. Then what’s the point I hear you ask? Well, there has been some new real-estate pop up in the blogosphere recently written by a fellow Canberran. Crossroads Christian Church was started around fifteen years ago now and has worked closely with the FOCUS campus ministries throughout it’s life as a church. Pastor David McDonald (Macca) was a founding member and Pastor of the church and served God faithfully in his role as Senior Pastor of Crossroads up until late 2011 when he stepped down in order to practice what he preached and move to Darwin to plant a church. There was much preparation and sadness on the part of many Canberra Christians in the lead up to his anticipated departure with his wife Fiona and their youngest two children. The process was solidly underway – their belongings had been packed and were en-route to Darwin – when the McDonald family received some devastating news. Macca was hospitalised and found to have two litres of liquid on his lungs and ultimately he was diagnosed with lung cancer. This sort of diagnosis isn’t easy for anyone, but Macca is a fit, healthy man whose two younger children are still school aged. The family was about to embark on an amazing and challenging adventure in their lives planting a new church in Darwin… this was the last thing anyone expected to happen! The news affected many people who had worked along side Macca, attended Crossroads, or known Macca in some other capacity through the years.
This sort of thing happens to families across the country every day, so why am I singling out Macca? Well, as a well respected Pastor, Macca has a solid biblical knowledge, theological training and plentiful experience in engaging with and explaining the word of God to others! In difficult times, many people reconsider their faith or lack thereof. Many people question why so many Christians around the world cling tightly to their faith in Jesus in the face of adversity. The beautiful thing about Macca’s difficult fight with cancer is that he has the ability to share his journey in the context of his faith in Jesus. So if you’re a Christian struggling with your faith in the face of adversity, or you’re not a Christian and you wonder why Christians continue to believe in Jesus despite suffering, I’d encourage you to take a look at Macca’s blog, macarisms, where he is sharing his journey with cancer in the context of his faith in Jesus.
Do you keep holding on to God when faced with adversity?
