Daniel Has Cancer

Happy Labor Day! Today, I broke all the rules my dad taught me growing up. Dad always said that the best way to celebrate Labor Day was by laboring. Today, the only thing that labored was my Lazy Boy chair as it held me up. I relaxed, I read, I watched some TV, and then I went for a nice long motorcycle ride. We had a wonderful holiday.

That is a picture of a goat. You might be wondering what that has to do with a top-ten-list. I have recently come across the acronym G.O.A.T. which means "Greatest of all time." This list is probably not the best way to deal with life during the wait with cancer, but it is what I've chosen to do and it does seem pretty great to me.







1. Leaning on God


In this season of life, this has been a huge thing for me. Yeah, I'm a pastor, but that doesn't mean I don't have problems in my life, and it certainly doesn't mean that somehow I'm exempted from my need to lean on God. I've found myself running to the Bible more frequently with the desire to see how God's glory is shown even in the midst of great pain. Turns out, God's glory is something God is not willing to yield on. Isaiah 42:8 says,


“I am Yahweh. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another. I will not let statues take the praise that should be mine."







2. Spending time with famil…

I'm now on social media (like all the cool kids these days). I've made sure to make my handles both OG and as morbid as the name of this blog. I can now be followed on Twitter at @danielhascancer and on Instagram at danielhascancer. For all you hipsters out there that have been using Instagram for a long time, please be patient with me. Earlier this morning it took me over five minutes just to figure out how to take and post a picture. I plan to use these accounts to feature things that are going on in my life. For instance, today I got my hair cut with my kids. Hence this picture.

I also plan on using Instagram more as I go through procedures and hospital stuff, so if you like to see procedure stuff or your just curious, follow me there.

Does John Cooper from Skillet have too much eyeliner on... yes.
Does John Cooper from Skillet have too much black hair dye... yes.
Does John Cooper from Skillet have a truth bomb to drop on us... YES!

I get so tired of people assuming that how they feel actually represents the truth of how God works in our lives. The Bible tells us that God loves us, that God is present, that God understands, and that God is intervening even when we are unaware. Just because you or I don't feel good, maybe are even in the pits of despair, doesn't mean that God has stopped loving us or even that God is far off. God is always with us, and His love has never abated!

Romans 8:35-39 says,

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors…

Job 2:9-10 says,
"Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips." Here lately I've been thinking a lot about this passage. So many times I find myself wishing for heaven in this life, but that's not what's promised in this life. My goal through this whole cancer ordeal is to be able to say, "I desired God's glory more than anything else."