Shock and Peace

It’s been three weeks since Michael was in the ICU and he was recovering well at home. As hard as it is for him to be still, he listened to his medical team and took it easy so his body could heal.

When he had the first procedure done, we were told that after the initial three days, this kind of internal wound does not reopen. He would be able to get his hemoglobin back up and not worry about recurrence. However, Michael started bleeding internally again a few days ago.

They will put him under again today to look for and stop the bleeding. We don’t know if it’s a new opening or somehow the first two places began to leak, but we’ll have answers shortly after the procedure.

One of the harder realities in this season, is that until he heals fully, there are a lot of cancer treatment options completely off the table. The tumors in his lungs are inoperable and have grown while he’s been recovering. In the past few weeks, we’ve both been hit with fear more than any point during this season. Worship and prayer have been the only things that have lifted our heads and calmed our mind and spirit. But the hits just kept coming.

However, the morning he learned the bleeding issue had returned, along with the tumor complications, Michael said he felt shock then peace. And I agree.

There’s something utterly beautiful and completely freeing about total surrender.

We can’t fix this. It’s outside our control. God has to be the One who heals and restores. And that’s exactly what we’re praying for - that every cell in Michael’s body function the way the Creator designed them to function and for complete and total healing in every organ, tissue and fiber of his being. Just as the wind and waves must obey their Creator, the cells in his body must do the same.

We’re taking captive thoughts of fear or anxiety or doubt and casting on cares on Jesus because He cares for us. We’re leaning on His wisdom and strength.

And remember, when things don’t make sense, when it seems like the odds are stacked against us, by faith:

Jehovah Jireh provided a ram for Abraham.

Yahweh parted the Red Sea and set His people free.

El Shaddai shut the mouths of lions.

Jesus rose Lazarus from the grave.

And hundreds of biblical accounts and millions of stories from believers since just try and capture the power and might of our God.

Every one of those examples have something in common. God could have responded differently. He could have solved the problem in seconds. The Israelites could have had a leisurely stroll out of Egypt, after all it was God Himself who commanded Pharoah. Can you imagine the terror they felt as one of the world’s greatest armies pursued them into the desert? Can you picture the fear that overwhelmed them as they came up against the sea?

God waited to provide a miracle not because He was slow to respond to the situation or He was uncaring or unmoved by their fear. He’s a good and faithful God, not an unresponsive one. He sent His Spirit as a cloud by day and a fire by night so they would know His presence went before them. But He didn’t remove the army. Not yet.

God knew where they were headed. He could have even told them all exactly what He was going to do. But He also knew what lay in wait beyond the Jordan and what was needed to fortify a people for the years ahead.

I wonder how different Moses’ faith and the faith of a nation would have been shaped without this incredible, miraculous witness of God’s power on display.

Would they have credited their leaders with their deliverance? Would they have praised Pharoah for his kindness in letting them go? Would they have been tricked to turning back to the place of their bondage?

Would they have been able to go into the Promised Land at all? Would they have completely abandoned their Creator?

Instead, for thousands of years, each generation has told this story. The story of how God Almighty opened the roaring waters, led them through on dry land, and shut the sea behind them, taking their enemy and their evil plans with it.

Throughout time and history, God has showed up just in time because He’s the omniscient Most High God who knows exactly what we need and when we need it.

And He’ll do it again.

Our prayer this morning is simple.

Lord, may Your name be glorified in our lives and in this situation. And when you heal Michael, may only Your name be praised. There’s never such thing as too late with You. And just like the Israelites fleeing Egypt, we don’t see the path through, but You do. You turn seas into highways. We serve a God who does the impossible all the time. Not only have You conquered all sickness, darkness and disease, You conquered death itself. Whom shall we fear? The Lord is great and mighty and able to save.