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The Will to Carry On
Hurricane
Katrina Relief Effort
- Mobile, AL
Douglas
Maurer, 15, of
Creve Coeur
,
Missouri
, had been feeling badly for several days. His
temperature was ranging between 103 and 105 degrees,
and he was suffering from severe flu-like symptoms.
Finally, his mother took him to the hospital in
St. Louis
. Douglas Maurer was diagnosed as having leukemia. The
doctors told him in frank terms about his disease.
They said that for the next three years, he would have
to undergo chemotherapy. They didn’t sugarcoat the
side effects. They told
Douglas
he would go bald and that his body would most likely
bloat. Upon learning this, he went into a deep
depression.
His
aunt called a floral shop to send
Douglas
an arrangement of flowers. She told the clerk that it
was for her teenage nephew who has leukemia. When
the flowers arrived at the hospital, they were
beautiful.
Douglas
read the card from his aunt. Then he saw a second
card. It said:
“
Douglas
– I took your order. I work at Brix florist. I had
leukemia when I was 7 years old. I’m 22 years old
now. Good luck! My heart goes out to you. Sincerely,
Laura Bradley.”
His
face lit up. His whole outlook changed.
It’s remarkable! Douglas
Maurer was in a hospital filled with millions of
dollars worth of the most sophisticated medical
equipment. He was being treated by expert doctors and
nurses with medical training totaling in the hundreds
of years. But it was a salesclerk in a flower shop, a
woman making $170 a week, who – by taking the time
to care, and by being willing to go with what her
heart told her to do – gave
Douglas
HOPE and the WILL to carry on. *
It
is encouraging and comforting to know that no matter
what you are facing in life, there is Someone who
CARES and who can RELATE to what we are going through.
That Someone is JESUS...
“Therefore,
in all things He [Jesus] had to be made like His
brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful
High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make
propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews
2:17). Jesus
was “made like us,” therefore He knows
what we go through AND He is able to provide that
GRACE and MERCY to help us in time of need (Hebrews
4:16). But
even more, Jesus was “made like us” to
give us HOPE for better things to come.
The basis of that hope is that Jesus DIED for
our sins on the cross so that we might have
forgiveness of sins.
He was BURIED, but He ROSE again on the third
day (1 Corinthians 15:1-3).
HIS resurrection provides promise of our OWN
resurrection when Jesus returns (1 Corinthians
15:20ff).
Because
of JESUS, our whole outlook changes!
He gives us HOPE and the
WILL to carry on!
YOU
can share in that hope if you will trust and obey Him:
believing
in Him (Acts 16:30-31), repenting
of sin (2 Corinthians 7:9-10), confessing
Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and being baptized
(immersed) in His name for the forgiveness of sins
(Acts 2:38; 22:16).
Hope is maintained for the one who continues to
follow Jesus for the rest of his life (1 John 1:7).
Do
YOU have that Hope?
God bless you!
David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
* Bob Greene, “From
One Sufferer To Another,
Chicago
Tribune, Aug, 1987
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