By Pastor David Drach-Meinel
Special to The Answer

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

Sounds good to me. I want that future with hope right now. Isn’t that the desire of our hearts – that we live the Lord’s plan for our lives? We envision what that may mean for us – a life filled with blessings, free of significant problems, all things going well, happiness, prosperity, health.

One year ago this month my doctor spoke to me the dreaded words, “You have cancer.” Well now, that certainly wasn’t in my plans. I never thought about having cancer. I am the youngest of seven and both my parents have lived well into their eighties. No one in my family has had any kind of cancer. I should be home free. That has quickly changed. Now I must learn to live with it. But then questions arise: How do I have cancer and lead my congregation into God’s future with hope? How inspiring can a pastor with cancer be?

I quickly give up those worries because it is not up to me to lead my congregation. It is not up to me to be inspiring. It is the Holy Spirit who leads and inspires my congregation. I simply respond and am obedient to the Spirit’s guidance.

The next few months after my diagnosis were filled with medical appointments, tests, surgery and radiation. More than six months passed before I finally started to feel good. Just when I thought I had beaten cancer, my doctor spoke to me the dreaded words, “You have more cancer.” Again, that was not in my plans. While I would much prefer to have a clean bill of health at that time, this series of events is actually good. Thanks to the wisdom God provides to many in the field of medicine, they have been able to identify very specifically where the disease is in my body so that it can be treated. And yet, a second round of cancer is still frightening.

It’s time to go back to those words in Jeremiah, but this time I read the verses leading up to the promise. The people to whom Jeremiah is speaking have been taken captive. They are exiles, forcibly removed from their promised land. This was certainly not in their plans. Rather than spend their lives in bitterness and anger waiting for their release, the Lord gives them these life instructions: “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” Jeremiah 29:5-7

Live life in all its circumstances! Whoever you are, wherever you are, whenever you are, live the life the Lord has given you. My immediate life includes more tests, biopsies, surgery, recovery and life-long medications. My future remains unknown to me other than the promise and assurance the Lord has given. “Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” Jeremiah 29:12-14

My congregation will continue to thrive and prosper, to be inspired and to be inspiring, to pray for this city, to serve with joy. My congregation will live this life it has been given because it is not my congregation, it is the Lord’s congregation. I will live this life right now even with cancer because it is the life the Lord has given me. As for the rest of life’s concerns, “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

Pastor David Drach-Meinel is pastor of Christ the Servant Lutheran Church, 2 South Pecos Road in Henderson along with his wife, Pastor Diane Drach-Meinel. They have served their congregation for almost eight years. They have also served congregations in Colorado and Texas. They have two children, Mark, 16, a Junior at Coronado High School and Paul, 19, who has Down Syndrome and goes to work every day at Christ the Servant with Pastor David. Last year, Pastor David Drach-Meinel was diagnosed with cancer, but has not let it slow him down. He continues to lead the congregation along with his wife.  For more information about Christ the Servant Lutheran Church, call (702) 492-1418 or visit www.cslconline.org.