PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• This afternoon, our church will have a guest performer. Susan Braden has a very rare type of cancer and is the author/performer of a one-woman show called “Because I Can, Sir.”
I am so excited to meet her. About six weeks ago, I had the honor of talking to her by phone and writing about her for the September issues of Forsyth Woman and Forsyth Family magazines. Talk about a woman of courage—who has let her faith be bigger than a cancer diagnosis. She is joyful, despite her circumstances, and simply wants this diagnosis to be purposeful. So she’s giving it to God so He can make it be so.
And I think she’s tremendously brave. She certainly models the words of 2 Timothy 1:7, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (ESV).
How many of us could do the same? We bemoan our lives when we run out of coffee filters! (Guilty.) We feel frustrated by traffic. We think it’s the end of the world when the Internet goes out.
But someone like Susan gives us perspective. She is certainly not the only one who turns a painful situation around to an opportunity to praise God. But people like her stand out like a beacon because they radiate with the light of Christ.
If we’re called to be brave and strong, full of self-control, how can we rise above the pettiness and inconveniences? How can we embrace a worshipful spirit in all circumstances? How can we shine the light of Jesus for others to see—on our best days as well as our worst?
Today, as you pray, thank God for using every situation for His good purpose, even when we don’t see the good. Thank Him for courageous examples of faith to inspire us. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you worship in all circumstances—both the good and the bad. And pray for Susan today as she performs for our church and community.
