Today I take my wife to her first chemo session. It is expected that it will last 8 hours. I met with an executive from the Colson Prison Fellowship yesterday and he remarked that Teresa seemed to be in great spirits while facing such a daunting challenge. My response was that her faith is great and the prayers for her are many, and folks are praying for her literally all over the globe (not only today, but every day).
I’m praying that every cancer cell in her body will be eradicated; that she is spared side effects like nausea; and she stays strong and does not get discouraged. I’m also slipping in a prayer for me that God will grant me serenity with my type “A” personality to sit in one place for 8 hours without exploding or imploding.
I used to manage sales people and many would get disheartened when seeking an appointment if they didn’t get a “Yes” every time they called a customer. It is referred to as cold calling and few can fight through the depressing disappointment of “No” after “No” long enough to master it, but the ones who do are the ones who wildly succeed and reap the big financial rewards. When I trained sales people I encouraged them to think of it in terms of every “No” that they heard meant that statistically they were that much closer to a “Yes”. So instead of focusing on the “No’s” they focused on the “Yes” that was right ahead of them.
I view Teresa’s situation similarly. I suggested that she view each treatment (4 held 3 weeks apart) as bringing her that much closer to being done with it and getting back to normal. So instead of thinking that she has four treatments she thinks of it in terms of after this one, she will only have 3 remaining, and then 2, and then that blessed day when the last remaining treatment is endured and it is done!
My favorite verse is Phil. 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. It doesn’t say that Christ does all things for us; it states “I can do all things”, meaning we must do our parts. When we begin to falter under the heavy burden, Christ picks us up and carries us across the goal line. So instead of going solo, tasks become a partnership endeavor between us and Jesus Christ. I like to think of it as the “Dream Team”. Together we fight the demons of hell who wish to tear down our health, finance, families, friendships, and good reputation; however, with Jesus on our team we are unbeatable. Christ who has promised victory will deliver. I love this song:
I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.
I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing pow’r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and bro’t
To me the victory
I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up ther
The song of victory.
Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.
It is a certainty that we will be besieged with problems in this cursed and fallen world, but we should do all we can to solve each problem and maintain our faith that Christ will do as He stated and see us through each valley no matter how dark they might seem.
Jesus said it best when He stated:
John 16:33
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
May 20, 2015 – Click here to listen