“Because
your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.” –Psalm 63:3
I think a trait that is constant
throughout our lives is that as we grow older, we look upon our younger selves
and consider how little we knew then, compared to what we know now. Whether it
is wisdom, understanding or anything, we always think that we know more now,
than we did then. As a Youth Pastor, sometimes I look at my students and see
their desire to learn, the choices they are making, and recognize the same
struggles that were going through my own mind in that time.
I learned at age 25, that this is not
always the case. I learned that an eight-year-old has more wisdom and
understanding than what I could have. As a Christian, I had an understanding of
life, death, spirituality, and overall the reality of the universe and how God
is at work in it.
Until Mom told me about Dominic. I heard
his story and I was rocked. Dominic, an eight-year-old was a celebrity in his
own right. Most celebrities are known for their money, their talent, or
apparently we celebrate people because of their reality television appearances.
But Dominic was not any of the above, nor was he a celebrity because of the
brain cancer that eventually took his life- Dominic was a celebrity because of
his everlasting kindness, his unmatched joy, and his unyielding spirit.
You can Google Dominic’s name, and learn
his life story. You can see the people he befriended, the experiences he had
and the life he lived. This post isn’t about Dominic’s life. It’s about an
impact. It is a natural human desire to have an impact. Some of us thirst and
work and faint for the chance to impact people. If you knew him, he impacted
you. I did not meet him until his visitation, but through pictures, stories,
and memories shared by those who did- I understood his impact.
I’ll be honest, I have not had very many
crises of faith in my life. Even when things were the absolute worst, I haven’t
been one to say, “How, God?” or “How could you let this happen, God?” One day,
however, in the early Summer 2016, I did a pretty poor job of this, and the faith
crisis hit me hard. Mom, faithfully keeping me updated on Dominic’s condition
left home one morning telling me that Dominic had a scan that day, and they
were very hopeful for excellent news. They felt the latest treatments would
prove very successful, and everyone was cautiously optimistic, but more
optimistic than cautious.
Later that day, the narrative took a
turn. The scan had come back in a tragic way. I was shocked. Mom was shocked.
Everyone was shaken. There was no more optimism, and for all we knew, Dominic’s
life would soon be ending. On June 22, it did.
I tried to remember the things I was most
concerned about when I was eight years old. The most traumatic event in my life
at that point was coming home to see that the house was ransacked.
Not that I was sick.
Not that I was going to die. So, in that moment I did what I had seldom done in my life, I went to prayer to my creator and I said “How? Why?” A child, and eight-year-old. A little boy who smiled in every picture. When you take Philosophy and Theology they always teach you the same thing: Evil and Death do not come from God, but are a result of an imperfect world that God will one day redeem. You can write that in your notebook as many times as you can, but your heart still is not prepared for when an eight-year-old loses a battle to cancer.
Not that I was going to die. So, in that moment I did what I had seldom done in my life, I went to prayer to my creator and I said “How? Why?” A child, and eight-year-old. A little boy who smiled in every picture. When you take Philosophy and Theology they always teach you the same thing: Evil and Death do not come from God, but are a result of an imperfect world that God will one day redeem. You can write that in your notebook as many times as you can, but your heart still is not prepared for when an eight-year-old loses a battle to cancer.
Yet, then you see the outpouring of love.
You hear the stories. You see Dominic’s testimony. You hear of his love for
God, and his knowledge of Jesus. What’s more you start to see that he didn’t
keep these things to himself but he told others about Jesus, and how his joy
and his strength came not from himself, but from God. He could be content in
his circumstances, because he had God. He told his friends, his family, my
family, Royals players, Firefighters, Hospital staff the same message: that he
was okay because of God.
I am a Pastor and have never been so bold
in my desire to tell people about God. My circumstances are easy; my burdens
are light. Dominic had brain cancer. He wasn’t the one asking “Why?” because he
had a greater faith than even myself. His eyes were not set on his life on
earth but on what was above and his friend Jesus, waiting for him.
At this point I was rocked again, not
because of sadness, but this time because, I haven’t seen faith like that
anywhere. Not even in the church have I seen faith that looked in the face of
death and smiled because death was not the end for Dominic Johnson. He knew
what so many have taken for granted: Death was inevitable, but life in Jesus
Christ was on the other side, and lasted forever.
Dominic’s impact on me was that the Lord
used him to renew my own faith. Just as the Lord has used him to help others
who did not know Jesus, to meet him. Dominic introduced a lot of people to his
friend, Jesus- who could lead them to eternal life, just as he had for Dominic.
A month or two after Dominic passed away
on June 22, a video of him was discovered as he neared his last day. In the
video he said over and over that Satan had no control over him, but that he
knew Jesus and Jesus was stronger, and because Jesus was stronger, Dominic was
stronger. When Satan tried to make Dominic hurt, or be discouraged, or give up,
Dominic, in faith, said aloud that the devil had no such control, but that
Jesus was the Lord of Dominic’s life, and that Jesus was the one who called the
shots, no matter the circumstances.
Dominic likely didn’t know it, but he
responded to his circumstances in a nearly identical way that King David did,
when he was in the desert avoiding men who were trying to kill him. P
“Oh
God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh
faints
for
you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
Dominic,
at the end of his life, was in a dry and weary land where there was a lot of
hurt and not much relief. But instead of being overcome with sadness, Dominic,
with the maturity and strength of someone five times his age, accepted his
circumstances, and straight up told the Devil that Dominic Johnson belonged to
Jesus Christ. He responded like King David, whom the Bible said was a man after
God’s own heart:
“Therefore,
I have looked upon you in the
sanctuary beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better
than life, my lips will praise you. Because of this, I will bless you as long
as I live, in your name I will lift up my hands.”
Psalm 63:1-4
Dominic blessed God, and many people
until his last breath. He is no longer in pain, but has been welcomed into
glory beyond our wildest imagination. Dominic also knew a powerful truth: that
the Kingdom of Jesus is for anyone in any circumstance. Dominic would have
wanted you to turn from your sadness and turn your eyes upon Jesus, and know
him. Because money, success, power, and influence are very small and completely
useless when compared to Glory of God and the free gift of eternal life that is
offered to all of us at all times no matter who we are or what we have done.
Thanks, D.