I recently wrote about the surprise open heart surgery that I underwent in late October. It’s now been over 5 weeks since that surgery, and what felt like an opened and closed case has turned out to be anything but. After a few weeks of testing, it turns out that the egg sized mass that was removed from my heart is in fact a rare and aggressive type of cancer. After shedding some tears and expressing a few fears, plus THOUSANDS of prayers from HUNDREDS of friends, a recent full body PET scan revealed NO CANCER anywhere else in my body at this moment in time. This came as a big surprise to all the doctors involved, because according to them the cancer in my heart was actually made up of elements of bone cancer. No real explanation for the cancer being in the heart but nowhere else seems to exist, except it is clear that prayers were answered here in a display of God’s sovereignty.

I’m not sure what lies ahead. Doctors seem very concerned that the cancer will return, and they are doing quarterly checks to monitor this and are planning to start chemotherapy around the first of the year in an effort to wipe my body completely clean of any bad cells. We will see what the future holds. As I write this, I was just released two days ago from the hospital after a weekend there with pneumonia, and each domino seems to keep knocking over the next, unexpectedly.

In my first post I shared a few musings on all of this, each of which I fully hold to. But here in this update I’ll simply share a few Bible passages and a few lines from old Christian hymns that have encouraged and challenged my soul over what has been a rollercoaster of a past few weeks. How would the words below hit you if you were (or currently are) experiencing a life crisis of some sort? How do they hit you now if all is at peace in your life? I hope that you’ll take 5 minutes and read these through.

A few Scriptures:

James 5- As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

James 5- The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

Psalm 46- God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. 

Psalm 91- He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—  the Most High, who is my refuge— no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.

2. Corinthians 4-  So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 12- So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Philippians 1- For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain…. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 

Job 1, 2- The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”…Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”.

James 1- Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

Hebrews 9- It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.

Revelation 21- And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

A few Hymns

When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace, In ev’ry high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.

Tho’ Satan should buffet, Tho’ trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul. It is well, with my soul.

What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear, What a privilege to carry, Everything to God in prayer, O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry, Everything to God in prayer.

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths of his love, and covers me there with his hand.

All I have needed Thy Hand hath provided, Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.

Jesus Jesus how I trust Him, How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er, Jesus Jesus precious Jesus, O for grace to trust Him more.