Hearing the words “You’ve got
cancer,” are devastating. Walls seem to come crashing down around you, as you begin
to realize you must mount up to face the fight. It looks as if faith flees momentarily,
but like a magnet comes back the moment you turn to stand.
These were my thoughts as I
sat in a chemotherapy waiting room this past week. My daughter-in-law, Leslie
and I had driven Tom, her step-dad, to his monthly doctor’s appointment. This
time, Tom was there for a check-up before his chemo treatment the next week; however,
this fight started long before this visit.
Tom has been battling brain
cancer for the past 10 months. It took six weeks, and numerous theories before
the doctors could diagnose Tom’s problem correctly. Tom’s type of cancer is very
rare, and little is known, so the doctors felt compelled to give him
chemotherapy as a precautionary measure. Tom is one of three in the world that
has ever had this type of cancer and the only one who has had it to start in
the brain first. It usually manifests itself in other areas of the body first.
Thus, explaining why the doctors felt the need for further treatment.
Within the next several weeks
of the diagnosis, God miraculously healed Tom of the brain cancer. The two
heart-shaped tumors were on the x-ray, and then they were gone. The doctor’s
couldn’t explain the disappearance, but they couldn’t deny it either. Tom and his wife Nancy had gone through days
of not knowing what challenges were coming up next, how are they going to pay
for the expensive treatments and, of course, just the exhaustion of dealing
with an illness like this. Even though God healed Tom of the brain cancer
itself, it has still been a fight to make sure the illness is totally defeated.
Tom and Nancy have remained strong through the whole process. They have thanked
God for the miraculous healing He has given them and they have thank God for
the strength to finish this final leg of their journey. Tom and Nancy have
become stronger, wiser, and even more convinced of God’s loving care as they
have sought Him in every aspect along the way.
I am thankful for Tom and
Nancy’s Godly witness and perseverance in their most recent challenging experience.
It helps me know that I can expect God to be there for me when I go through my
difficult times. The journey may not be as easy as I would like, but God can
redeem any circumstance for my good and His glory, when I seek Him with my
whole heart.
How are you handling your
overwhelming challenges? Are you running away from God in anger and disappointment,
or are you running to Him for His strength and wisdom? Choose to let God into
all your circumstances and He will become more then enough for your every need.