“I’m almost 100% sure it’s cancer.”
My mom and I listened to the doctor who had just performed a colonoscopy on my dad give us the life-changing news over the phone. Thanks to COVID, my mom couldn’t even hear it in person.
A procedure to rule out cancer showed the very thing no one ever expected. And just like that life would never be the same.
The same weekend my dad had his first chemo treatment, a friend of mine was laid to rest after a 3 year battle with cancer. She was 36.
Both ate well, utilized herbal and holistic lifestyles, and had clean lifestyles throughout their lives. And yet they were still touched by cancer. The biggest takeaway for me is that my faith needs to be in the Lord, not in things of this earth. We have a responsibility to be responsible and smart with our life choices but God is ultimately sovereign over everything that happens.
It’s so hard to reconcile life with faith sometimes.
Yet Jesus himself said in this life we will have trouble. Peter explains the trials that come to Christians as a sharing in the sufferings of Christ himself. I have come to learn and take comfort in the trials because I know God is using them as a refiner’s fire to mold and shape me to be more like Christ. Part of that molding and shaping has taught me about the sovereignty of our great God over our frail human life.
The sovereignty of God can be both a stumbling block and a comfort if we are honest. In weak moments we can wonder how a sovereign God can allow suffering and trials in the first place. On the other hand, we can take comfort in knowing that no matter what happens, nothing surprises God and he already knows the outcome. We can rest in His sovereignty, choosing to see it as a comfort in our trials.
When faced with the hard things of life, we must make a choice. We can either let the trials draw us closer to the Lord or cause us to distance ourselves from Him.
You just never know what a day will bring. But God does and thankfully we worship a big God who loves His children and holds each one in the palm of His hand.
Regardless of the pain and trials we each face in life, God is right there to lead the way and give wisdom when we ask. If we allow the trials of life to draw us closer to the Lord, we will never walk the road of suffering alone. If there’s nothing else to be grateful for, we can be grateful for the fact that God is with us each and every step of the way.
It’s hard to walk through suffering and maybe even harder to watch someone you love suffer. But I know God is holding my parents and my family in His hands through this.
When the last thing you ever expect to happen happens, you trust God’s sovereignty and pray.
We got that news of cancer at the end of May and it has been quite the roller coaster of a summer. Mid-August we learned it was stage 4 metastasized colon cancer. Finally, September 3rd marked the first day of his chemo treatments. We have no idea of the road that lies ahead beyond knowing he will likely get treatments for the rest of his life, but we know God will go with us. I would appreciate your prayers for my family and my parents as we navigate this new path God has brought us to.
Emails from me have been sporadic since life screeched to a halt with the sudden news and may continue to be sporadic in the coming months but I am still committed to writing what God places on my heart, however frequent or infrequent it may be. My weekly Goodness of God emails will still be sent so sign up for those if you haven’t already!
Thank you for being a loyal reader and for your prayers. As always, you can always respond to any email with a prayer request of your own. I would be more than happy to pray with you.
