18 months ago today Matthew died from leukaemia.
We miss Matthew every day but 'We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him ..... For the Lord himself will come down from heaven ...... and the dead in Christ will rise....' extracts from 1 Thessalonians 4:14 & 16
In December 2010, aged 19, Matthew was diagnosed with leukaemia and he was admitted to St Bartholomew's hospital in London. A few weeks later he wrote the following letter to his colleagues at FACT (Fellowship Afloat), the outdoor activity centre where he had been working.
We would like to share his letter with you for your encouragement. Even if you have read it before we would like to ask you to read it again.
David & Gisa (Matt's parents)
Hi
everyone,
I
thought I'd send you all an email telling you of some of the things
I'm learning whilst going through this trial. I consider you all as
family and can't wait to be reunited when all this is over.
I'll
start from the beginning. When the doctor phoned up on the Wednesday
evening and gave me the news of my illness I was shocked but not
surprised. For about a week prior to the blood test I had a thought
come into my mind that I had cancer. I can't explain it but it was
there; so I thought about how I would react if it was true. That
pre-warning definitely helped me cope with it.
Being in the hospital
at Bart's was when I really started to think things through. I was
suddenly faced with the reality of death. We all know we're going to
die at some point but we don't ever think it'll actually happen. If
we do then it'll probably be when we're old and in our sleep. We live
pretty idealistically. I thought that anyway. So suddenly being faced
with reality made me see things through a very different perspective.
At first I was scared about dying. I knew in my head about Heaven
etc but again the reality of that hadn't sunk in. It's amazing how
many things we know in our heads, but when put to the test, we don't
really believe. Since then I've done some study on death and Heaven
and now I can't wait to go. I would strongly encourage you to find
out more about where we're going to spend eternity. It will shape the
way you spend your time now, knowing that it will effect your time in
Heaven. Now I know the truth in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 "When the
perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal
with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:
Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your
victory? Where, O death, is your sting?". Death has lost it's
victory over me. I'm not planning on going anytime soon but I'm
looking forward to it when it comes! Put yourselves into the shoes
of someone on their death bed. How would you cope with death?
Another
thing I've learnt is what's important and what's not. 2 Corinthians
4:18 says: So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is
unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Money, a nice home, secure job, material things are not important.
They're temporary. They wont last. They're not bad in themselves but
they shouldn't be what we base our lives around. What we should base
our lives around is bringing God glory in everything. 1 Corinthians
10:31 (I seem to like Corinthians) says: So whether you eat, drink, or
whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. So when you're at
university your main purpose is to bring God glory. If you're still
at FACT your main job is to bring God glory. Whatever you do that's
the job. To love God and to love others. Let that shape your future.
John
Piper says something like, 'God is most glorified in you when you are
most satisfied in Him'. He calls it Christian hedonism, and it's
something I'm beginning to get. Spending time reading God's word and
praying has been completely refreshed. It has a whole new 'feel' to
it. I long for those times. They're like breath to me. Become
satisfied in Him! There's no better thing! Another thing (I've nearly
finished) is that I've noticed that we go through phases in life
where different sins become a problem. Things that I struggled with
before going into hospital no longer have a grip on me, whereas other
things have taken their place. For example, I don't think I ever had
a problem with jealousy before, but since getting this illness I
easily become jealous of anyone with good health. It's important to
recognise sin in our lives and deal with it. It's not nice though.
Ok,
finally! If you've got this far then I'm pretty impressed. God is
good. Everything He allows is for good. Whatever happens with me is
for His glory and for His perfect plan. Never forget that. When
things are tough remember that He's always with you in everything and
that He loves you and listens to you. In the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus teaches us to ask, seek, and knock. We've all sought God and
we've all found Him. We've all knocked and the door's been opened to
us. Now we ask and we should expect to receive. Jesus said that a
father who's sinful knows how to give his children good things, so
God as our perfect heavenly Father knows even better how to give us
good things. We've already received infinitely more than we deserve;
we've been given a certain hope of a future with God where we'll have
perfect bodies, without sin, without suffering. And we have so many
things in this life, here on earth, that we are so blessed with.
I've
written this mainly for myself to get out what I've been thinking
over the last month, so please don't think I've been preaching at
you! I've been preaching at myself. I learn so much from each of you
and I hope you might learn something of what I'm learning at the
moment too.
I
end it with this, 1 Corinthians (yup, had to be!) 15:58:
Therefore,
my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you
know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.
Much
love,
Matt
