Christian Living

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Controlling Our Destiny

The headline in the paper tells the bad news: “ Thirty - two Australian women learn they have breast cancer every day. Now Kylie is one of them”. Arguably the biggest pop culture icon Australia has ever produced, Kylie Minogue has had to cancel her 'Showgirl' tour, with advanced sales of 200,000 tickets. As one in four Australians will be visited by cancer, we are not shocked to hear of another statistic. But we are jolted when the young, the beautiful, the rich and the successful are shown to be just as vulnerable as we are. As one loopy journalist put it, “ ... what makes yesterday's news so hard to accept is that Minogue has appeared infallible, that she led something of a fairytale existence”. Regardless of our music taste (or lack of it), we wish Kylie the best of care and treatment. We have a confidence in the wisdom and advances of medical science. But the statistics remind us that the disease is serious and that 30% of women diagnosed under 40 die within 10 years - a higher proportion than among older patients.

So what do we do with the ever-present threat of disease, misadventure or evil? Some are led to despair and decide that life is really not worth enjoying. The fear of what can go wrong can rob us of life, long before anything does go wrong. Others decide that life is meaningless and embark on a course of action that can be reckless and thoughtless. If life is short and has no meaning, then we should eat, drink and be merry. Most however, just pretend that this is an “other people's” problem. “Sure one in four get cancer, but that means I am one of the other three." “Disease, illness and all that is really only a problem for the 'old' and after all, I'm 'young'.” This view is comforted by all the protection wealth in this world offers. But frankly, when this folly is exposed for its false confidence, the cry “I never thought it would happen to me” is empty and very sad.

There is an alternative. Life can be seen as a gift from the loving Creator that can be enjoyed every day, without fear. God is the giver of life but he does not promise us earthly security. He points beyond this life to an eternal security that is not bought and cannot be earned. It is a gift to the humble who turn to God for forgiveness and leadership. Our glory, no matter how glorious, will one day fade. God's glory is the hope that will never fade. God is for the weak - whether we know we are weak or not.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
(Matt. 6:19-20, NIV)

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