It’s Personal… A Follow-Up

Oct 13, 2021

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.

- Proverbs 3:5-6

I was overwhelmed by the responses received from my devotional entitled “This One’s Personal.” My intent was to write on the value of Worship Night... it is what I wanted people to hear... but I did not anticipate the number of people who would pick up on the fact that something was going on with me that led to my response to God that Worship Night.

As a result, I feel inclined to write this follow-up...

First, let me say, you are all so amazing! I cannot express what it means to me to experience the love and compassion I feel from you.

During my most recent CT Scan (for those of you who do not know, I have Kidney Cancer that has metastasized to my lungs and adrenal glands. I receive immunotherapy treatments every four weeks and it has kept the cancer from growing and spreading). I briefly explained to the technician what I was experiencing as he noticed me limping and he needed to help me up from the table following the scan. I have been experiencing some intense pain these past few weeks in each of my ankle, knee and wrist joints. It has been debilitating, but I have done my best to not show it, as I don’t desire sympathy and want to do my best to serve my God. As the technician and I talked, he said, “You have to have faith in...” He hesitated, then said, “Your doctor.” The hesitation was all I needed to hear, so I responded, “Yes, I have complete faith in my God and in my doctor.” He said, “I wanted to say that.” I said, “I know, but you have to be careful. I don’t. So, thank you.”

I do have complete faith in both my God and my doctor, but mostly in my God.

Proverbs 3:5-6 that I quoted earlier, is what I call my “Life Verse.” It is how I seek to live my life and is the beautiful Blessing Block (given to me by one of our church members, Jim Bradbury, who makes them by hand) I carry with me in my vehicle to keep the reminder before me daily.

This past week, I went to see my oncologist in preparation for receiving my regular 4-week immunotherapy treatment. He already knew what I had been going through, and after seeing the results of my most recent blood work, completely surprised me by saying, “I think what you are experiencing is a late-developing side-effect to your cancer treatment, so we’re canceling your immunotherapy treatment today and, instead, putting you on a steroid to resolve the joint pain. I want to see you feeling better, even within a couple of days. We’ll figure out the next step with the cancer treatment when I see you again in four weeks.

I am happy to report that the steroid worked, and I experienced immediate, and almost full relief, from the joint pain. I sent him an email thanking him for being my doctor, for how he cares for me, and, oh, for being right on this.

Sure, we now must determine the next step for treating the cancer, but isn’t that what life is all about… Thanking God for how He is working in our life and then trusting Him for the next step?

It’s Personal… A Follow-Up

I do have complete faith in both my God and my doctor, but mostly in my God.

I want to encourage you, in all that you do, to “trust the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, but acknowledge Him, turn everything over to Him, for His promises are true. He will direct your paths.”