All too often I think we respond to bad news with blame. Especially blame directed at God. I recently was asked by someone ‘Why does God kick us while we’re down?” This kind of reaction to bad news highlights to me how much we blame God and yet fail to give him thanks for the good things we have.

In the midst of considering what the right response is, I saw this video from Matt Chandler, recorded 2 days prior to surgery to remove a tumor from his right frontal lobe.

The line that strikes me the most is this one

There’s this part of me that’s so grateful that the Lord counted me worthy for this and there’s this part of me that goes “okay” because now in an area where it’s not a big win I get to show that He’s enough and I get to praise Him and exalt Him and make much of Him in this.

Today after receiving a pathology report confirming the tumor was malignant Matt tweeted this

why not me? Why not you?

I thank God for Matt and his wife and children. I thank Matt for being an example to Christians around the world of how to respond to bad news and how to keep praising and making much of Jesus. And I thank Matt and his church for being an example to non-Christians around the world that Jesus IS enough.

I hope that you would join many in praying that God will continue to use the Chandlers and The Village Church to exalt Christ for years to come.

Read Matt’s health updates here. In his video Matt refers to Hebrews 11. Read it here.