Anyone who has ever been told by a doctor, "you have cancer" experiences the sick feeling that naws in the pit of your stomach. To hear "we don't know what kind it is" fills you with another level of terror and fear altogether. Anyone who has ever endured suffering knows all too well that the hardest part is waiting for an answer.
Seventeen years ago, Mike and I had only been married 14 months, young and in love we were embarking on the journey of a lifetime. Mike had just been drafted two years before by the Chicago White Sox. It was his life long dream to play professional baseball and we were seeing it realized. I was head over hills in love with my buff young baseball stud and we were living the dream. What happened next brought our world to a crashing halt and the hardest part would be the waiting.
We'd just settled into our new apartment in Sarasota, Florida where Mike would play his third season for the minor "A" White Sox team. He'd been experiencing horrible back pain and swelling of lymph nodes prior to and during spring training. Just as Mike earned the starting position at 3rd base, his neck swelled to the size of a grapefruit. An ENT at the local hospital biopsied some lymph nodes and came to us with the earth shattering news "you have cancer" but "we don't know what kind it is." The hardest part was waiting for someone to tell us what to do next.
We immediately flew back to California with hopes for some kind of answers, but instead we encountered confusion and fear. There were no physicians that could diagnose the cancer. Therefore, no one knew how to treat it and the hardest part was the waiting.
These seventeen years later when a friend or a loved one is faced with the same circumstances, I find myself turning to God's word for hope and for direction when we wait. Isaiah 30:18b says, "Blessed are all those who wait for Him." When we wait for God, we are waiting till He is ready. We are waiting for the outcome that is in God's perfect will and in God's perfect timing.
Consider the story in John 11 of Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus. Lazarus was very sick and the sisters sent word to Jesus saying, "Lord, the one whom you love is sick." Mary and Martha were counting on Jesus to come quickly to heal their brother of his illness.
Isaiah 30:18- Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you. And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. Jesus delayed in his coming for two more days after he heard that Lazarus was sick. Jesus said to his disciples, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the son of God may be glorified through it."
God's purpose was to glorify his son by raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus would demonstrate his deity in an undeniable way. Seeing this demonstration of God's power, giving life back to the dead would cause his disciples to grow and for others to believe. God's timing to accomplish His purpose is always perfect.
But for Mary and Martha, the waiting was the hardest part. I'm sure confusion set in quickly. Why hadn't Jesus come right away to heal our brother? Undoubtedly, they'd expressed this to each other over the last couple of days. If Jesus had been here, Lazarus would not have died.
In the waiting, the fear and the 'what ifs' creep in. Satan whispers in our ears and the 'if onlys' arise.
But the Lord tells us to just:
Believe- Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? John 11:40
Pray- Jesus prayed, "Father, thank You that You have heard Me." John 11:41
Wait- Therefore, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me. Micah 7:7
Seventeen years ago, we felt alone, confused, and terrified with no real hope. At the time we were unbelievers but we were surrounded by family and friends, a band of believers who believed for us, prayed for us and hoped for us. We were led to a place called the City of Hope that identified Mike's cancer and treated him. However, it was God who did the healing. Nowadays when faced with trials, we don't have to face the waiting period alone.
Those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
Seventeen years ago, Mike and I had only been married 14 months, young and in love we were embarking on the journey of a lifetime. Mike had just been drafted two years before by the Chicago White Sox. It was his life long dream to play professional baseball and we were seeing it realized. I was head over hills in love with my buff young baseball stud and we were living the dream. What happened next brought our world to a crashing halt and the hardest part would be the waiting.
We'd just settled into our new apartment in Sarasota, Florida where Mike would play his third season for the minor "A" White Sox team. He'd been experiencing horrible back pain and swelling of lymph nodes prior to and during spring training. Just as Mike earned the starting position at 3rd base, his neck swelled to the size of a grapefruit. An ENT at the local hospital biopsied some lymph nodes and came to us with the earth shattering news "you have cancer" but "we don't know what kind it is." The hardest part was waiting for someone to tell us what to do next.
We immediately flew back to California with hopes for some kind of answers, but instead we encountered confusion and fear. There were no physicians that could diagnose the cancer. Therefore, no one knew how to treat it and the hardest part was the waiting.
These seventeen years later when a friend or a loved one is faced with the same circumstances, I find myself turning to God's word for hope and for direction when we wait. Isaiah 30:18b says, "Blessed are all those who wait for Him." When we wait for God, we are waiting till He is ready. We are waiting for the outcome that is in God's perfect will and in God's perfect timing.
Consider the story in John 11 of Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus. Lazarus was very sick and the sisters sent word to Jesus saying, "Lord, the one whom you love is sick." Mary and Martha were counting on Jesus to come quickly to heal their brother of his illness.
Isaiah 30:18- Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you. And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. Jesus delayed in his coming for two more days after he heard that Lazarus was sick. Jesus said to his disciples, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the son of God may be glorified through it."
God's purpose was to glorify his son by raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus would demonstrate his deity in an undeniable way. Seeing this demonstration of God's power, giving life back to the dead would cause his disciples to grow and for others to believe. God's timing to accomplish His purpose is always perfect.
But for Mary and Martha, the waiting was the hardest part. I'm sure confusion set in quickly. Why hadn't Jesus come right away to heal our brother? Undoubtedly, they'd expressed this to each other over the last couple of days. If Jesus had been here, Lazarus would not have died.
In the waiting, the fear and the 'what ifs' creep in. Satan whispers in our ears and the 'if onlys' arise.
But the Lord tells us to just:
Believe- Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? John 11:40
Pray- Jesus prayed, "Father, thank You that You have heard Me." John 11:41
Wait- Therefore, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me. Micah 7:7
Seventeen years ago, we felt alone, confused, and terrified with no real hope. At the time we were unbelievers but we were surrounded by family and friends, a band of believers who believed for us, prayed for us and hoped for us. We were led to a place called the City of Hope that identified Mike's cancer and treated him. However, it was God who did the healing. Nowadays when faced with trials, we don't have to face the waiting period alone.
Those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
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