Sometimes we tend to think that we have endured more than our fair share of suffering in life. Some get angry at God and shake their fist at Him and others look all the harder for ways to receive help from Him.
I quit asking “why” bad things happen to “good” people because there is no adequate answer. I just accept that God meant it when He wrote in His Bible in Matthew 5:45 He makes his sun rise on both evil and good people, and he lets rain fall on the righteous and the unrighteous. Pain rains down on us all as a consequence of sin and a fallen world.
An old friend wrote to me yesterday and wished me well with my back problems. I have been praying for this man off and on for as long as I’ve known him. He has suffered terribly with cancer and has endured so much pain that it is hard to even hear about it, much less witness him endure it.
He wrote: “As you know I am a cancer survivor. In fact, next month will mark my 35th anniversary as a survivor. To recap, the first occurrence was 1980 with Hodgkin’s Disease, 1987 Hodgkin’s Disease, 1994 Hodgkin’s Disease, 1999-2002 ITP (platelet disorder) blood wouldn’t clot, 2009 B Cell Lymphoma present.
In 09 with the diagnosis, the docs said to “watch and wait” – where have we heard this before? So it has been a regular schedule of scans as we watched lymph nodes in my chest, abdomen and pelvic areas. Sometimes the nodes would grow, some shrink, some disappear and some new ones would appear. The docs wanted to wait until a node appeared in a place that was accessible for biopsy.
In April, a node appeared in my neck that was about the size of an egg. I went to Emory for the biopsy and it was confirmed as B Cell Lymphoma. After many exams and discussions with Emory and TMH, we finally decided on a chemo. Ironically, the doc that I saw at Emory was the doc of a friend whom I’d met when he was going through treatment. God was establishing a relationship for me before I needed it.
I decided to have the chemo in Tallahassee. The docs weren’t sure the chemo was going to work. I have had so much chemo and radiation, I was somewhat limited in what I could take. The goal was to do the chemo with Rituxan (non chemo antibody) every 21 days, evaluate to see if it was working and then decide whether to continue or change to something different.
I did the first round on July 9 & 10th and it took about 8 hours the first day, and 5 hours the second day. I had forgotten how bad the chemo could make me feel but this refreshed my memory! It was rough again, but not as bad as the other times because of all of the new anti-nausea meds they have developed.
My left shoulder had started to hurt really badly, and I thought it was pressure from that enlarged node. I was scheduled for my next treatment on July 30th but I called on the 29th to see if there was anything that could be done for my shoulder as the pain had become almost unbearable. I didn’t have an appointment with the doc on the 30th. I called and talked to the nurse who said she would work me in before the chemo.
On the 30th, as the doc examined me he got this puzzled look on his face. He said, “The node is gone!” I said I knew it had shrunk, but asked if he could find any trace of it. He said, “No it is gone!” Well, being the smart aleck I am, I said, Well I guess that means I don’t have to do chemo today”.
He laughed and said, “That is not a far-fetched idea!”
“Really?” I asked.
He said you are where we hoped you would be two months from now. We didn’t expect this to have worked so quickly. With the adverse reactions you had with the chemo and with as much treatment as you’ve had, I’m comfortable with stopping the chemo, continuing with the Rituxan and doing a scan in a month to reevaluate. I quickly agreed!
As my wife and I left his office, we were in a state of shock. Amazed, surprised, speechless are some terms that came to mind. I was walking out and I told her you know I’m really stupid! I told her, here we are so shocked and amazed that this has happened and it is exactly what we have been praying for, yet now we are surprised that God answered our prayers. I was ashamed for being so surprised. I guess it’s just the human side of me that reacted this way.
I had the scan on Wednesday, 9-3 and the doc called me on Saturday morning. When I heard his voice, I thought uh oh this isn’t good, because docs never call on the weekend. He said I have the scan results and they are normal. Normal I asked, normal for me or normal for a normal person? He said no completely normal. I said so the big node is gone? He said yes as well as ALL of the others. I asked about the ones around my thyroid, chest, abdomen and pelvic areas. He said there is NO evidence of enlarged nodes anywhere!
Wow! Again, I was speechless! He said, “We found something that works with this chemo”. I corrected him and told yes we did, except it was the Lord, prayer and chemo and in that order.
So, we have been celebrating. I still do the Rituxan (non chemo) every 60 days and have a scan scheduled in March.
Since July, the Lord has given me several opportunities to share my testimony. I want to let people know that our God is all powerful and that prayers are important. Hopefully He can use my journey to touch their hearts and bring them closer to Him.”
If you are facing a difficult, painful, even tragic time please stop for a moment and reflect on what God has done for this man who has suffered so much. If there were ever anyone I’ve known who had a right to just give up and develop a terrible attitude, it is him, but instead he remained true to his God.
Sometimes when we pray the answer is “no”, but you know sometimes it is “yes”. Above all God insists upon faith. This man’s faith has remained strong through all of his pain and suffering, (which includes another tragedy that knows no bounds that I have not shared in this post). I plan to encourage him to share his testimony often, perhaps even at Honey Lake Church.
His story of triumph over tragedy is one that we all need to hear on occasion. I don’t know if that is what God has in mind for him aside from making him “shine like a star”, but it certainly has inspired me, just in knowing him and seeing his faith in action.
Thank you Lord Jesus for this brave man of faith. Please bless him greatly for the rest of his life and all of eternity. Amen!
Phil. 2:15
…So that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky
January 28, 2015 – Click here to listen