“Even if” faith leads us to a crossroad

Legacy. We throw the word out at funerals and in discussions in the aftermath of death. We rush to make a judgment and in doing so rob ourselves of perspective to measure the impact of a life. “A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you,” says Shannon L. Alder. If that’s true, we need time to discern a legacy, for the story doesn’t end at death.

The word legacy comes to us from the Latin word legatus meaning ambassador, envoy, someone on a mission, or messenger of a state or authority. Approaching the anniversary of Maggie’s death, I’m naturally thinking of her story, her footprint. I find purpose, if not absolute comfort, in seeking to identify with a life lived and ended well.

A stage IV cancer diagnosis brings out the fiercest efforts for survival. Humans try at all costs to delay or avoid even thinking how the end might be reached. We, in embracing this desire, chose an aggressive treatment plan for Maggie with cure as our goal. Initially. Remission morphed into relapse, and we refocused on extending time, praying for the discovery of a cure that seemed so close we could smell the Nalgene tubing delivering the first life-saving drips into her bloodstream. Through two clinical trials, the medical miracle remained elusive.

Concerned friends sent information for alternative therapies copied from the walls of Facebook and every nook of the internet. These were all accepted with gratitude, some investigated, a few considered. Maggie’s cancer marched on with relentless resolve. Two occasions in the later stages would force a decision reverberating for me as powerfully now as the day she made her choice.

A compassionate businessman gave an open-ended invitation to visit a renowned prayer center operated by a nun with reported success in healing. We promised to consider it. At that point in 2016, we still believed a medical answer would be provided. In Spring 2018, when medical options were nearly exhausted, a dear friend brought a personal object blessed by a faith healer to place on Maggie during prayer. We placed both options on the table then stepped back to allow her to consider. What is God leading you to do, Maggie?

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” (I Corinthians 10:13, NASB) Commenting on the verse in the book When God’s Ways Make No Sense, Dr. Larry Crabb writes the word temptation or testing “carries the idea of provocation that causes us to wrestle with a moral choice. Difficulties lead us to a crossroads.”

Three young Hebrew men – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – stood at their own moral crossroads in ancient Babylon. Commanded to bow before a golden statue or face a fiery furnace, they chose to remain faithful to a God able to save them even if He chose not to. Warren Wiersbe comments on this account (Daniel 3), “Faith means obeying God regardless of the feelings within us, the circumstances around us, or the consequences before us.” In reaching their decision, they sealed a destiny and determined a legacy. Having no expectations of what God should do, they reserved their worship for God, even if He allowed them to die in the flames.

Our faith in Christ will lead us to our own Even If decisions, to believe in and worship a God we don’t understand, despite the outcome. That faith and those choices form the essence of our mission. Hard moments can be reduced to choosing between physical comfort or spiritual maturity, temporary gain or eternal good, allegiance to man or faithfulness to God.

The clarity gained in wrestling allows us to grasp the truth that because God is able does not mean He will. And that is the aspect of faith in a good God that troubles us the most. If He can, why doesn’t He fix it? And a natural corollary to that is Since He won’t, shouldn’t we assist Him; take matters into our hands? And aren’t we justified in finding a better way? Our impatience with God accuses Him of folly, so says Oswald Chambers. And in the final analysis, who wants to worship a God prone to folly?

Maggie prayed about her decision, and, for her, it did come down to a matter of worship. She explained her choice to decline both offers before her, “I don’t want anyone else getting glory or attention for something God does. He hears our prayers.” Destiny and legacy sealed.

Dr. Larry Crabb says, “Our capacity to fit scripture into our understanding of how a good God should treat us is endless.” As the scales fall from our eyes during our struggle with affliction and hard truth, we began to bury our own ideas of what, exactly, God promises us. We need to understand and explain Him less, trust and worship Him more. Saying Even If gives us the strength to walk through the fire with eyes open to see Him there with us.

In the 14^thcentury, the word Legacie was first used to mean “body of persons sent on a mission.” This implies an assembly of people sent. But I can’t help seeing the connection between a mission – a life’s work – and the living sacrifice we are to be. Romans 12:1 compels, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (ESV) The three Hebrews did this. And a pagan king noted they “yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God.” (Daniel 3:28, NASB)

In our final analysis of a legacy, the only kind that will last is one with eternal impact. I’ve come to see it as more than lasting imprints of a consequential life or soothing memories that sweeten the tears. Much more than dates and dashes on a monument. A legacy is the story of a faithful life accomplishing its only mission.