Patrick Swayze & Victory

I saw a taped interview with Partick Swayze where he told Barbra Walters that he was going to beat his pancreatic cancer. Taken aback, Ms. Walters asked if he thought he could make his cancer go into remission. In a somewhat angry tone, I thought, Swayze said, “The cancer is going to kill me but it will not defeat me.”

He meant of course that he was not going to succumb to hopelessness and depression. All battles are won and lost in the mind and Mr. Swayze meant that he was going to live intentionally right up until he died. Bravo for Patrick Swayze. Not everyone can pull that off but I believe that he did.

Jesus said to His followers, “Even though you will be killed, not a hair on your head will be harmed.”

In other places Paul says,

“In all things give thanks.”

“In all these things we are more than conquerors.”

“In all things, God works for the good of those who love Him . . .”

What Patrick Swayze was able to pull off in this circumstance with enormous human effort, we as Christian believers, in concert with the indwelling of the Spirit of Jesus, can do with no effort. Only the willingness to obey produces a life of victory that produces expressions like:

“Those who wait on the Lord are like Mount Zion, unmoved by any circumstance.”

“Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They will rise up on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”

“We do not grieve as those who have no hope.”

“Be joyful always, pray often and give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, and with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And if you do this the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

I have been so blessed to know and to experience a life lived with Christ Jesus at my side. He and He alone has taken an average life, a regular life and made it something I never dreamed possible. With no effort on my part, only a willingness to follow, Jesus, the living God has allowed me, with eyes wide open and chest bared to the blast, to step full on into life. Avoiding nothing, enduring everything, victory is mine because of my Lord and Saviour.