This was a hard week. Two ZOOM Bible studies brought news no one wants to hear. Monday night’s group has prayed for Adam, a thirty-two-year-old husband and father, for months. Today, Karen, his mother and ZOOM member, forwarded the email he sent her: The tumor in my colon did not shrink nearly as well as the surgeon had hoped. So there will be no reconnection after my colon is removed. Additionally, the lesion is right up against my prostate, meaning my surgeon is unsure if just removing the colon will be enough, and potentially the prostate will need to come out as well, and if that’s the case, there is the potential that they may need to remove my bladder too. Finally, the liver will need to be addressed after all of this takes place.
Again, my surgeon said that she is going to do her best, and if the Lord wills it, I am more than willing to sacrifice my “quality of life” to spend more time with my wife and children.
“If you all could be praying for me and my family. This looks to be a very deep valley that we are currently walking through, but we know that God is good through it all.
Our current prayer is for nothing short of a miracle, as we move closer to surgery. At the very least, we are praying that the cancer can be clearly removed without touching the prostate/bladder, and that God halts the cancers growth and spread in the liver. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support of my family as we continue to walk with God through this. Praying that He blesses you all for the blessing you have been to us. We love you all.
Please pray for Adam and his family.
Tuesday’s ZOOM call had its own share of tough news. My dear friend’s beloved father passed away that morning. When she found out he did not have much time left, she booked her flight to Switzerland, only to be told that because of Covid, she would need to be quarantined for two weeks before visiting him, and if she stayed with her mother, her mother would not be able to visit her father. She canceled her flight and will have to settle for visiting her dad’s gravesite at a future date.
The same day, a text shared a Pet Scan revealing a friend’s esophageal cancer has spread.
We all have our stories, and through our tears, we cry out to God, the One who knows our beginning and our end, the One who can make a difference, imploring Him to fix things. Sometimes we see the miracle; sometimes not. Still, we know that Jesus lacks nothing in the miracle department. The book of John gives seven signs demonstrating Christ’s vast powers:
1. Water changed into wine—Jesus’ power over quality
2. The nobleman’s son healed—Jesus’ power over distance
3. The impotent man healed—Jesus’ power over time
4. The five thousand fed—Jesus’ power over quantity
5. Walking on the water—Jesus’ power over natural law
6. The blind man healed—Jesus’ power over helplessness
7. Lazarus raised from the dead—Jesus’ power over death
Of course, the fact that Jesus can does not mean he will. Our job is not to second-guess but to know that—for all of us– the end-game of this life on earth is death. Unless we are raptured, it is a certainty we cannot deny. We. Will. Die. The key for all of us is to be prepared. All three of the men mentioned above made Jesus the Lord of their lives, and because of that, they will spend eternity with him. I pray you do the same.