Are you in a season of hard? Or maybe a season of impossible?
I can remember emerging from a season of really hard only to be thrust into a season of cancer. It didn’t seem fair! Honestly I thought I deserved a pass. I thought for sure the biopsy would be negative because it was too soon for the next valley.
What do you do when life is hard and God’s not good? What do you do when prayers go unanswered and bad becomes worse?
One of the biggest blessing on my journey with cancer was to travel alongside an amazingly, beautiful young woman who was battling lymphoma. She was determined to beat it like David beat Goliath. She was in the praise band at church and would sing every Sunday that she could. Her worship was pure and beautiful and made my heart weep. As I came to know more about her, I learned that cancer was far from the hardest thing she had experienced in her young life. Lymphoma was just the latest round of hard.
When our journeys aligned, she was 3 years in to her battle and was staring down a stage 4 progression of the disease. She battled fiercely in spite of a poor prognosis. The treatments were brutal and her heart function was compromised. She kept fighting and kept singing and praising the Lord. She was on the brink of losing, and found herself just giving thanks to God for an extra day. She made it through the darkest part of her journey and she kept singing and praising God.
One year later she started singing duets with a handsome guitar player. It was beautiful. They were beautiful. Those of us with a front row seat to her journey smiled and thought no one deserves love and happiness more. They kept singing and praising God together and soon he was one knee. The engagement was followed by a beautiful wedding.
Life was not easy but it was worth the fight. A few months in to their life together doctors told her something she never thought she would hear, REMISSION. She continued to sing and praise the Lord.
Remission didn’t last and the fight began again. Another round of harsh and heavy treatments. In the midst of treatments she kept singing and she kept living the day she was in. Praying and asking God for more, but never forgetting to live the day she had to the fullest her body would allow. And always singing.
Today I opened my Facebook feed to find the lastest report. It was not what she wanted, not what they wanted, not what all of us who love them and pray for them wanted. The treatment is working, but the cancer is working harder. Another round of even more aggressive treatment is being planned, and she will continue to fight on.
It feels like God is not good, but feelings lie.
Here is what my sweet friend has taught me about what to do when it feels like God is not good.
Embrace the truth of His goodness.
1 Chronicles 16:34
O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Psalm 34:8
O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
Give thanks no matter what.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus
Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Never stop hoping and believing in the Power of God.
Hebrews 6:19 We have this Hope as an anchor for the soul.Matthew 17:20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Be honest about hard. (With God and others)
My sweet friend does not pretend that treatment is easy. She doesn’t pretend to be fearless and brave. She is honest about her battle. She knows that God can handle her honesty. She chooses to trust Him with her struggle, fear, anxiety. The only alternative is to turn away from God. Not an option.
Psalm 56: 3
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
Psalm 142:2
I pour out before him my complaint;
before him I tell my trouble.
Sing!
You may not sing as beautiful as she, but you must sing. Not for audiences or crowds but for the Lord. For your heart. For you. Sing!
2 Chronicles 5:13
The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.”
Psalm 95:1
Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
I remember a time in her journey, when friends whispered that she should stop singing in order to “take care of herself”. They loved her and meant well, but they didn’t understand. By singing praise to the Lord, she is taking care of herself-body, mind and spirit.
Dear Friend,
Keep believing, keep fighting and keep singing. You are an #Overcomer. You will #BeatlymphomalikeDavidbeatGoliath.
We will keep praying and watching as God continues to work out His will in your life.
