A friend of mine and her husband are retired missionaries to Africa. Early this year Mary Lu found a tiny spot on her nose, and a careful medical examination revealed she had facial basal cell carcinoma. She awoke from surgery and was shocked to learn just how much infected tissue - half of her face under her facial skin - had to be removed.
With treatment she will survive and with reconstructive surgery will look much the same as before. She's doing well and smiling more these days because she is blessed to have a problem fixed that could have resulted in a gruesome death.
(Mary Lu wrote:) "I cringe remembering that tiny spot on my nose. If it had not shown up, those killer cells would have continued to grow underneath. What would have happened, if I had no doctors, no facilities, no insurance or finances to pay for the removal? What if I did not have a loving, caring husband, concerned family and faithful friends? I could have done nothing but slowly, painfully, watched my face eaten away.
"This cancer of mine is like the sneaky, horrific results of sin! We may think we can hide those little seeds of sin. But if we don't recognize the decay, it will sink deeper into our being. Like the cancer cells in my nose, it has the potential to eventually destroy us. Thankfully, our loving Savior forgives us when we come to Him with repentant hearts, cutting away all the evil and giving us new life. We give Him all praise and honor."
There are many areas of our lives that outwardly are barely noticeable, but inwardly are serious problems. Secret wrong activities, bad little habits and seemingly harmless misdeeds can hurt and even destroy us if they are not realized, stopped and repented.
Even a society can have its killer cancers, working silently and steadily to corrupt and destroy people and freedom. That which is legal (but wrong) can become a deadly cancer that destroys a society. We cannot stop seeking to remove that which is destructive, just because others may criticize us.
May God give us courage to do the right things!
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