Articles
A Lesson Remembered
Don and Pat Pope were visiting the adult class their son Darryn was teaching in his congregation in Hurst, Texas. They were studying Revelation, and the topic of faith came up.
During the class, Don made a comment. In essence he said, “We should use times of crisis as an opportunity to strengthen our faith. So many people’s faith is weakened in times of crisis. You never know what life is going to bring, so I’d encourage you to be ready all the time.”
When Don made that statement he had less than two months to live. He knew he was dying of cancer.
A few weeks after we buried him, Darryn was teaching his class, again on Revelation, and once again the topic of faith came up. One of the members of the class observed, “Faith can be a complex topic, but about two months ago I learned more about faith in two minutes than I had in all my life before that.” Darryn asked, “What do you mean?”
He replied, “When your father visited our class, he made some comments about faith, and I learned more from him in two minutes than I had ever learned before.”
What Don had said harmonizes well with such passages as this one:
“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4 NASB; see also Rom. 5:3-5; Heb. 12:4-13; 1 Peter 1:6-7).
What Don said was no mere theory for him. He was going through a crisis if there ever was one, and his faith was strengthened during those tough final months. His faith was tested, it was proven, it was practical.
Don made that comment because he hoped it might help someone.
Obviously it did.
