One year ago, this very day, I was already awake at 4AM when it was time to get ready to go to the hospital to have a cancerous tumor on my left kidney removed.    My wife Barb, and my son (who had flown halfway around the world to be there), were with me.  In the days since the diagnosis, I had gone through that range of emotions that everyone who receives such news goes through.  But through it all, I heard a question.  “Do you trust me? “

It was a question I had heard before.  It was a question I had preached about before.  But faced with such a life-changing challenge, it took on a deeper meaning and called for a more urgent response.  

In the time between that day I heard  my  doctor say “cancer” and May 2, 2024, I felt that in hearing the question, and reflecting on it, I was also hearing the answer.  I had always trusted God’s presence and blessing throughout my life – in good times and bad, in times of great blessing but also in times of deep difficulty.  He had always been present and always guided me in right paths.  Why would I not trust him in this?  

It’s important to say that my trust was not that God would make this all go away.  God’s promise is not he will make everything in life perfect.  In fact, he tells us “You will face troubles”.  The promise is that he is with us- his grace and healing presence is with us.  And so, my faith was that no matter the result of this surgery, or what happened or what it meant going forward, god or bad, that God would be there and would be with me.  It was a reminder that that foundation I had always known and trusted was one – the only one – I could trust in this.  What ever journey he gave me after that day, I knew he would be walking it with me.

I am happy to say the surgery was successful and I am cured.  I thank God for that.  But even if things went in a very different direction, I would still thank him.  Because this experience would be yet another reminder in my life that, as Jesus spoke, “I am with you always”.  It’s a powerful promise.  It is one for days when the sun shines brilliantly, but also, and maybe especially, on days when the storm threatens to overwhelm us. 

I am grateful for how things turned out but even more grateful for the peace and the healing of the soul, such faith gives me.  God knows more than I do and sees things I can’t see.  God has a plan and a journey for each of us.  If mine took me in a tough direction, as it can for any of us, his promise and peace is the rock we can stand on.  There is no storm that can wash it away.  May that be so for each of us.