A Bump In the Road

 

Written by: Stan & Katy

Have you ever felt like when it rains, it pours? That trials seem to sometimes come all at once? Though we know that the rain falls on the just and the unjust, at times it can feel like there is a target on your back. We know from Scripture that Job and Jeremiah felt this way. Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him (Job 13:15). He has made me desolate, he has bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow (Lam 3:11-12). This year we have felt like we have been caught in a downpour. Stan’s heart attack, losing Stan’s Mom, Katy’s stroke and surgeries and now…prostate cancer.

Tomorrow morning (Tuesday, September 6), Stan begins five days of radiation treatment (cyber knife) for prostate cancer.  Because of a rising PSA and his family history, the diagnosis wasn’t really a surprise and the prognosis is good, but still… did we really need this? Did we really need to add cancer to the list?

To be honest, we are facing this new development with minimal anxiety or dread. After all we’ve been through, this feels more like an annoying bump in the road. Though some have commented on what they perceive to be our “godly” response, for us, it feels more like numbness, or perhaps even cynical stoicism.

When messengers came to Job one after another telling him of the loss of his servants, the capture of his livestock, and the death of his children, Job’s response to the unrelenting kaboom, kaboom, kaboom of calamity was truly heroic.

Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” (Job. 1:20-22).

To state the obvious: we are not Job and our sufferings are minor compared to his. He was a giant of the faith. We are not. And though we may be a bit numb, we do pray that our response will continue to be like Job’s. We pray that the Lord will give us strength to continue holding on in this downpour. In a hurricane, the point is to find something solid and just hold on for dear life! Persevering stick-to-it-iveness is the point. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23).

Joy will come in the morning.

We can declare that even in the storm, All is Well.

Thank you for being our family of faith. In light of all we’ve been through together we wanted you to know what Stan faces this week and humbly ask for your prayers yet again!

We can’t even begin to enumerate the countless ways your love and prayers have made the difference during this journey we are on. A French worship song states it succinctly: La vie est dure mais Dieu est bon (Life is hard but God is good). That about sums it up!

 

*This song and message have really ministered to our family at this time of suffering. Hope it also is a blessing to you!