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PREPARE!
The painful process of preparation enhances the ultimate purpose of one’s existence.
The cause of pain in your life can be your greatest blessing if you surrender it to God in prayer. Think about Joseph in the book of Genesis. A string of unfortunate circumstances literally set him up to become the savior of his people.
...Joseph said to them, "Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
(Genesis 50:20 & 21 - NIV)
Trouble is a tool that God has always used to prepare hearts. He may not create the bad things, but He gently and wisely uses them to accomplish His will. It’s the conditioning of the heart that makes some people better in tough times, while others become bitter?
Your battle is winnable. Get ready, get armed, and get prepared to stand in triumph!
...put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand...Stand firm... (Ephesians 6:13 & 14 - NIV)
PRAYER: The winds of change are blowing. Without You, Lord, I would be so afraid. Your unconditional love is embracing me and preparing me to survive this storm in victory. Please use this season in my life to make me more like You. AMEN.
Two: Rise Above the Storm
I could hardly wait to get out of the bedroom and tell everyone in the house what my heart knew: I had a promise from the Lord! Levoy and the family needed a positive report. Just enough grace to take that next step...that’s all I had. All I could handle was one little baby step, and its discovery was pivotal in transforming my state of mind. The assurance from the Bible on my nightstand was enabling me to cope. God’s Word was giving me courage to face the circumstances. The disease no longer loomed like an ominous threat. The promise was bigger than the problem.
A glance in the mirror prompted a quick touch-up. The distraught face looking back was that of a stranger. I grabbed a hairbrush, ran it through my rumpled hair and fumbled in the drawer for some lipstick. I found my drugstore eyelashes stuck to a pillow, and back they went on my swollen eyelids. Rachel was only six years old...too young to comprehend all this cancer stuff. It was time to see her “Mimi” with a happy face.
Isn’t it amazing what a word from the Lord can do? I stepped out of the bedroom on wings of fresh hope, with head held high, clinging to Psalm 119:116. I shared that promise from the Psalmist David as a declaration of my trust in Him. My family stood with me, according to the scripture:
I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. (Matthew 18:19 - NIV)
We claimed the promise! Tears of joy flowed down our faces and praises ascended. We laughed and danced about the room in the face of the storm, because we believed the promise in His Word. For the rest of the afternoon, we reminded one another of other storms...other uncertain times when our backs had been against the wall. God had never failed. He was literally upholding me according to His Word, as in times past. Anticipation of God’s intervention surged within my spirit.
I chided the girls, “Y’all can stay out of my stuff. Your Mama’s not going anywhere.” Cindy and Suzanne were never shy about going into my closet and borrowing anything they needed—well, almost anything. My girls and I have exchanged everything except shoes. All three of us are really glad we don’t wear the same shoe size. My teasing comment was music to their ears. Everyone in the house knew I was back and in usual form.
Never shall I forget the next day, when I awakened on the brink of the greatest storm of my life. It was not one of those welcome thunder clouds that rained new life into the thirsty ground and made the skin tingle when the hot lightning bolts streaked across the big sky. I was living the real life experience of being caught in the midst of a killer storm that would seem overwhelming in days to come. The forecast was frightening and bleak. Fierce winds would blow against my vessel and would seem to be unbeatable.
Instant healing did not happen and I was disappointed. Although I had support of family and friends, I felt isolated. It was my personal storm and I had to go through it. No one could take my place. God’s providence had allowed it to come and, by His grace, I would find the strength to rise above it.
I have experienced healing many times; sometimes instantly, and sometimes through a long process. The timing and outcome are God’s business. Tongue in cheek, I used to say, “If you have a choice, take the quick one.” I expected a miraculous healing that would astound the medical community. Then it came to me: God does not need my creative ideas to write my testimony. I knew that my prayers were not unanswered, only delayed.
Dr. Fisher pressed hard to schedule treatments. He put forth a precise plan of simultaneous chemotherapy and radiation. For the next week, precisely at 10:00 a.m., I received a call from his office. The message was always a solemn reminder that time was of the essence. Treatments must begin! I stalled. Making the choice to undergo chemotherapy and radiation was monumental.
God, I thought Psalm 119:116 was a promise that I would be healed! What am I to do?
Pressure to make a decision mounted, and so did the confusion. I thought submitting to medical solutions would negate divine healing, and I did not want to miss a great blessing by getting ahead of God’s plan. Impatiently, I waited for signs that the situation was turning around. There were none. Meanwhile, my condition appeared to be declining. My body still had all the symptoms of cancer. The bleeding and pain were not going away.
Dark clouds were hanging low and the storm was encroaching upon the boundaries of my existence. It seemed that all the praying in the world would not change the inevitable. I knew the scripture:
...the effectual fervent prayers of the righteous avail much. (James 5:16)
My human reasoning got in the way. I doubted. There were so many questions and so few answers.
Would I survive the fierce winds of this disease?
...When the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
(Isaiah 59:19 - NKJV)
Isaiah was translated from Hebrew to Greek. A comma, which had initially been placed before the phrase, “like a flood,” was instead placed after the phrase. Changing the placement of that comma altered the verse. The present-day Greek translation, “When the enemy comes in like a flood...”, emphasizes the negative forcefulness of the enemy. The original Hebrew version, in which the flood becomes a positive force, is powerful: “...like a flood the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.”
If ever I needed the flood of the Spirit, it was the day that cancer slammed my world. I was cast down, but I was not destroyed.
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body of the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. (II Corinthians 4:8-10 - KJV)
In 2005, during Hurricane Katrina, a renegade barge slammed into and breeched one of New Orleans’ levees. The ominous, unseen danger was floating in the dark waters, but no one knew it was coming. Only God knows the renegade forces that threaten lives.
At first, a storm cell can hardly be seen with the naked eye. It might be a small abnormality, far away in the atmosphere. The small cell starts turning in a counter clockwise