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[ T H E R E L E V A N T Q + A]
Christine Caine: Be Ready for the Unexpected The author, preacher and activist is opening up about a difficult season—and why she’s hopeful about the future. HERE’S NO E ASY way
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to overcome the most difficult parts of life, and Christine Caine knows that better than
almost anyone. In her new book, Unexpected, she opens up about unexpected challenges she’s facing and how she’s working to overcome them. We wanted to know more: UNEXPECTED TALKS ABOUT THE FE AR OF CHANGE AND UNKNOWN. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO OPEN UP IN THE BOOK?
There were a lot of things. I was having this awesome birthday party with 150 friends on a boat in Southern California, and on the way home I noticed I had 26 missed calls from my brother, telling me that my mom had passed away that night. And, say, when I got my cancer report. I didn’t know if it was stage one or four, whether I was going to be healed instantly through medicine or die and go to Heaven. But I could have a faith-filled attitude that would mean my condition and diagnosis did not need to define me, but my identity in Christ could. YOU DIDN’T KNOW HOW IT WAS GOING
And when we can’t control things … we have this picture in our head of how things should turn out. And the Scripture promises His grace will be sufficient for us. In this world, we will have trials. Here I am trying to make a difference by teaching and preaching, and now I have a growth between my trachea and my larynx. That’s my voice box. I’m like, uhhh where is this supposed to fit? This is what I do! What do you do in that moment? Are you going to let that unnecessarily derail you for the rest of your life? Hang on a minute. This is what faith is for.
TO TURN OUT, BUT YOU WERE ABLE TO
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EMBR ACE THAT UNCERTAINT Y?
HOW DO YOU THINK PEOPLE CAN LOOK
I think we have this need for control.
THOSE THINGS IN THE FACE AND STILL
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HAVE HOPE AND TRUST GOD IN THE MIDST OF THOSE THINGS?
It’s not saying, “I’m not sick, I don’t have cancer.” That’s not called faith, that’s called lying. That’s not helping anybody. Faith is calling those things that are not as though they are. So I stood on verses of Scripture about healing and the promises of God while I was walking through a cancer journey. In the midst of it, you can still be full of hope because your hope is in who Jesus is. My reading of Romans 8:28, he says, even when bad things happen, God doesn’t call bad things good, but He can work even those bad things together for good and for His glory. I’ve seen that in my own life.
2018
