50- WHAT'S GOD GOT TO DO WITH IT? 3 PATIENTS WEIGH IN

Jim, a marathon runner and young father with testicular cancer proudly told me  "I've been in remission now for two years and just now am becoming less fearful." By this, he really meant that his life had filled up again with enough normal things and his medical appointments were sufficiently far apart that he wasn't constantly reminded of his disease.

Then he confessed that he used to dread looking in the mirror or washing his body. Any new spot or thickening of the skin, any new ache or hint of a lump would trigger panic. In other words, fear had been still alive and in total control, just not always in view, but now it had changed. Then he said "Fear is not something you negotiate with or try to control or ignore. It’s a bully. It won’t go away until you stare it in the face and spit in its eye. And you can’t do that unless you have a great big, awesome God standing right at your side!” WOW, that got my attention. Where did that come from? I wonder what he really means. Then I noticed how fast he was running and what a long and easy stride he had: all the anxious uncertainties (euphemism for fears) that every healthy young father has a right to have: career, financial security, masculine image (he missing something and impotent), balance of time and relationships etc. didn’t seem to bother him much either. He told me “when I got cancer I figured some stuff out. Life is better now.” 

not an eternal blessing machine for man".*7 He is not a genie to put to work on our personal agenda.

 Sharon told me one need not earn the right to be heard through righteous, rule abiding living or belonging to some church, and fortunately God is not selective about who he listens or respond to, but  it is we who are selective in hearing what he has to say. If we can't or won't listen to him, then it doesn't do much good to speak to him in the first place.’ But patients that know Him tell me prayer to their God who is on call 24/7 is an amazing source of comfort when faced with fear

Wendell told me “Danger gets our attention. We go on full alert with whatever it takes to escape or overcome it. Thoughts about the leaking roof, the mortgage payment and the next vacation are dropped, the slate is cleared and attention is riveted on the immediate threat. In that moment Christ wants to enter in and grab our attention. He may bless us straightaway or he may want to teach us something first. The blessing may come later – even much later and often with a new understanding of what is really going on. However, if it is only the blessing one is looking for, the real message and the gift of understanding may be missed, and the real blessing may never come.”  Wendell was on a spiritual journey that clearly meant a lot to him and steadied his run. Curiously he outlived his prognosis by 2 yrs!