This past week I had to go back to the chemo therapy doctor for a checkup. He seemed surprised that the blood work didn’t show any cancer markers. I’m not surprised he thought that; it was what the Enemy kept telling me for a week before the appointment – the blood will show you are riddled with cancer; you will die within months. Such a cold, hard threat! Obviously, he's never met my God. Oh, he may think he has, but he hasn't. My God is a wild, outrageous God who loves unconditionally and whose burning fire in my soul compels me toward him and his path for my life.
Instead of choosing to accept this decree over my life, I ran to God, who gave me soothing Scripture. It happened to be John 15:7-9 -- If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”
As I left the appointment God gave me the opportunity to encourage a co-worker who has been diagnosed with cancer and was coming in for a treatment. He is a dapper, distinguished-looking gentleman; a little pale and a little sad this day. I hope my words brought him some measure of comfort. What I hope most for him is that he, too, runs to God rather than believing the Enemy’s lies.
When I arrived back at work another Scripture was waiting for me, this time from Psalm 62:5-7 – Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Running to God has taught me that God never gives up; there is always hope in him – even if the cancer comes back, even if it kills me. God is there, always. I am safe with my Father. Healing, as Kay Arthur says, is sometimes not what we expect it to be but as we choose to believe, obey, and cling to God and his Word, healing appears.
That is reason enough for the Enemy to cry; he loses again. Of course, he doesn’t like losing, so I’m sure he’ll be back. But I have the response down now – run to God as quickly as you can. Pray and read Scripture. Go to the Father – it’s what he demands. Obey even if your emotions are raw and you don’t want to. Cling to him when your world is falling apart even if your mind tells you to go lie in bed and wait to die. There is life in the Father, and hope, and love, and healing.
Right after running to God, I run to people I know support and love me along my journey, sometimes when I least deserve it. They don’t feel sorry for me; instead they gather around and pray for me, instruct me if I’ve made an unwise choice, and rein me back in when I’m in a hurry. I need their support; they keep me grounded. God gives us people like this because he knows we need the connection. We need God’s people to surround us and help care for us. Their viewpoint is often much clearer than mine.
I hate admitting I need help; I’ve been on my own so long that I sometimes fall into the trap of believing I don’t need anybody else. Connecting with others means I have to be open and honest, facing the possibility of rejection. It would be oh, so easy to whine and cry and grieve for myself and this dark reality I have to face with cancer always looming in the background. I fear that others, should I go to them and let them in on my battle, will actually do something to pull me up out of the mire I’ve settled in.
God designed the body of Christ that way. He wants us to seek each other out and encourage one another. I need people who will laugh with me, cry with me, pick me up when I fall, send me down the right road, pray with me, counsel me, forgive my errors, accept me for who I am, and love me anyway. These people help me learn each day to submit, to obey, to forgive, to honor, to be kind, and to serve without reservation.
I chose the people I told about the Big C very carefully. I knew I could count on them to bring me up out of that mire and agree with me in prayer that God’s healing was forever, even if healing meant an early demise. Scripture calls us to connect with each other, to weep with one another, to counsel and teach one another, to depend on each other as the body of Christ. We bear each other’s burdens, minister in love to each other, and experience healing together.
Early on in my journey with cancer I participated in a women’s conference at our church. It was a relatively small gathering but an important one. One of the best things that happened was an altar call where I had several Church of God saints praying over me. There’s no experience quite like it. Your trial is lifted up to God by their hands and you have a bond with them that is unequaled. That is when you truly know how much being a part of the body of Christ matters. The body of Christ sustains you. I am less without them, my journey more difficult and dark.
Please note that when I speak of connecting I’m not talking about just the people at the church I attend; I’m talking about the entire body of Christ, all believers. Some of the most able support I have found has been that of co-workers who have come alongside me and kept me going. Most times they had no idea I wanted to give up and quit. That one kind word or action did more on those days than they will ever know this side of heaven.
What I love most about my “connectors” is that they don’t avoid the truth. They are willing to tell me when I’m wrong then stand ready to help me figure out how to make it right or do the right thing. They comfort me when I’ve made an error, but they don’t let me get away with them. These folks make me face the problem and work with me to overcome it. They cover their truth-telling with love for me. Their love carries me over the threshold of grief and burden to a place where I can make mistakes and be forgiven, have things done to me and forgive, and move forward. Having these folks around makes it possible to be positive, even when the subject is cancer.
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