I remember back in 1990 when doctors told me I had about a 40- or 50-percent chance of surviving my colon cancer, which had metastasized to several lymph nodes. I felt as if someone were going to toss a coin: heads, I live; tails, I don’t.
I desperately wanted some kind of guarantee that if I was going to put myself through a year’s worth of weekly chemotherapy; I was going to be okay. But there was no such guarantee.
There were plenty of “helpful” people who offered me other kinds of “guarantees:”
Eat certain natural foods and you will be cured.
Drink a certain tea and you will be cured.
Take certain vitamin supplements and you will be cured.
But I am at heart a skeptical former newspaper reporter and I knew there was no way all these methods really could deliver what they were promising, especially since many of their recommendations were directly opposed to one another!
I wanted to believe that one of them really was the answer, but which one was it and what if I picked the wrong one? Which had the 100-percent guarantee that I could trust?
And then I remembered.
“Some trust in chariots (food and drink) and some in horses (vitamins and herbs),
But we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” Psalm 20:7 (italics mine)
It wasn’t which had an ironclad guarantee; it was Who. My diagnosis, my treatment, my prognosis…and my future were in His hands and I had His guaranteed promise that when I put my hope in Him I would not be disappointed.
Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed. Isaiah 49:23
Don’t stress yourself out trying to find the “magic cure” for cancer or some other serious illness—it doesn’t exist. If you do add complementary therapies to your treatment, discuss them with your physician and choose things that will strengthen your body, mind and spirit.
And here’s a prayer guaranteed to supernaturally empower you on your journey:
Heavenly Father, Please forgive me for rushing about trying to find something that will give me complete assurance and guarantees. I know better than that. I know that the things of this world are very temporary—even cures for disease don’t last forever. I don’t want to spend my time chasing after these things, but instead I want to seek You with all my heart.
Help me to remember that no matter how many times I am cured, I still am going to die someday and when that happens if I am a true Christ-follower, I really will be more alive than I have ever been! Please keep me from putting my trust and my hope in anything but You. I humbly ask these things in the name of Jesus, the One who died for my sins. Amen.
(This blog is adapted from a devotional I had published in the book Praying through Cancer:Set Your Heart Free from Fear, copyright 2006 Susan Sorensen and Laura Geist, W Publishing Co., a division of Thomas Nelson Inc.)
**Don’t miss today’s original song by California youth pastor, Jason David, who had most of his tongue removed because of cancer and yet continues to sing God’s praise http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2017/july/cancer-took-most-of-his-tongue-but-this-pastor-is-still-singing-gods-praise ) **
(If the music video below doesn’t automatically load, please copy, paste and click on this link to enjoy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga_m8wqg3us )
