IT'S OK to FAIL THE TEST

It is no secret that the impact of painful events upon a life can change everything - priorities, relationships, attitudes, behaviors - at least for a while. But after the pain is gone, the debris is cleared away, and the fear has subsided, human beings inevitably attempt to renegotiate the desperation-based promises made to God in exchange for his divine intervention. Why does it take a potentially deadly illness or catastrophic event to get our attention? Why do we tend to disregard God's plan to use such circumstances to teach us valuable lessons? Why do we invariably forget the lessons, ignore the lessons, or simply fail to apply them to subsequent life experiences? IT'S OKAY TO FAIL THE TEST is the true story of one man's struggle to learn the many lessons God is trying to teach him without having to take the test again and again. After ten years of managing the threat of "death by cancer" this preacher's kid from Oregon ultimately recognizes that God will use whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to get and keep his attention. Twenty-five years after deserting his faith, abandoning his call to ministry, forsaking his relationship with God, and slumbering under the spell of self-sufficiency, the author is rudely awakened by the discovery of a large cancerous tumor growing in his throat. His unwillingness to believe that the doctor always knows best just because he's the doctor produces the startling revelation that what is often called a "terminal illness" can, in reality, be a "chronic disease". The discovery of the tumor also leads him to a re-examination of his relationship with God and the series of promises he made in exchange for his life. His quest to learn why the cancer returns on multiple occasions after obvious miracle healing produces an understanding that God does not always provide answers to our questions or an explanation for our circumstances. That God does indeed chasten those he loves. And that God most often wants us to trust him simply because he asks us to.