Two years ago, my wife found a lump in her breast which turned out to be a very rare form of cancer, for which there was no cure. As you can imagine this was a shock to both of us, but focused us on trusting God through this stormy period of our lives.
When the surgeon at the hospital told my wife what it was and that they intended to give her the most powerful form of chemo and radiotherapy for the next two years, and had a number of procedures booked for the following week to try to deal with it, she just stayed silent. The doctor then asked her if she had understood what he had just told her and she said yes, but wanted to go away for a couple of weeks and look into this type of cancer.
I found out as we left the hospital that her silence was because while the doctor was telling her what procedures they were intending to do, God was telling her that this was not the route He wanted her to go down. So, her decision was to obey God not the doctor.
I have to say I could have fell down and wept at the news. At this moment in time all I could think of was, that this was the love of my life, my soul mate, the woman I had met at 16, married at 20 and spent my whole life loving, and now I’m being told she is going to die and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Nevertheless, I knew I had to stay strong for her and be there every step of the way and let her know that no matter what we were in this together.
One of the hardest things I had to do was to tell our three children and then the rest of our family. This was one of those moments that I prayed earnestly to God for His strength and to help me keep it together as I called each one of them in turn and felt my heart breaking as I gave them the news.
There have been moments over the past two years when I’ve found it hard to keep it together especially when I’ve been on my own, and my wife couldn’t see me, but I have known the hand of God continually holding me up and giving me the strength to keep going. In fact, there’s one thing that both my wife and myself have known through all of this, and that’s the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, and for that I am eternally grateful to Him. Philippians 4:6-7 ‘do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’
We also know that for us death has lost its sting, and when we leave this earth we don’t die, we simply change addresses. My pain therefore, is at the thought of the absence of my wife until I see her again in glory.
It has been during this last two years that I’ve come to realise that I’m married to one of the most faith filled people I have ever had the privilege to know. She has complete trust in God and has never wavered once to my knowledge, in knowing that He has her right in the palm of His hand, and she has taken every opportunity to let people know this, including the doctors and nurses when they asked her why she had refused all the treatment offered. In fact, if you didn’t know she has cancer you would never know, because she never tells people unless they ask, as her focus daily, is not on her illness but on serving God. I truly believe my wife lives Galatians 2:20 which says: 'I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.'
One of the instances of her faith in action was when the oncologist told her shortly after her diagnosis, that if she didn’t have treatment immediately (chemo therapy) she would be dead by the end of the year (2018). To which my wife’s response was to look her straight in the eye and say, ‘that’s okay I’m not afraid of death, I know where I’m going’, and by the look on the oncologists face, it was obviously a response she had never had from anyone before and was suddenly lost for words.
At the beginning of this diagnosis my wife asked God how she could now pray for other people who were sick to be healed when she had this disease. His response was simply to say to her ‘those who honour Me I will honour’. Two years on from my wife finding the lump her faith is still as strong as ever and she has had the privilege of praying for people and seeing them healed, including two people from cancer. God is always true to His word.
None of us know when our final day will be, but one thing we can be sure of, God knows, and nothing or no one can take us before the date and time that He has set. So for those of you reading this blog, if you know Jesus as your Saviour, then until the day He calls us home let’s serve Him with surrendered hearts, knowing that He has called us, predestined us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come, and look forward to the time we share with each other and Him at the wedding feast of the Lamb. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 ‘Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.’
For those of you reading this blog who don’t know Him or have walked away from Him, you are missing out on the adventure of your lives and are in danger of an eternity for which none of you would want and is described in Revelation 20:11-15. Read it and answer this question: Where is your name written? Know this, God loves you, and demonstrated His love for you on the cross. But you have a choice to make before your last day on earth draws to a close. Both His love and the choice you have to make can be found in the Bible in the gospel of John chapter 3.
To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 24-25)
Author: Kevin Hunt
No comments:
Post a Comment