Lately I've been having a lot of "conversations with God" about the health situation of our son Matthew.
Click Here for "Conversations With God" In looking back over the past four years, I realized that this has been a recurring theme throughout my blog writing.
Click Here for "A Prayer for Our Son" from October, 2012. There are several more such postings, but I won't list them all for you here. I think you get the message.
We are praying for the healing of our son, even though the doctors have now given up hope for any further treatment plan that could be of any help to him. They have actually said the words out loud that, at best, he only has
three or four more months to live.* Even though we've known in our minds that things were not looking very hopeful, hearing it spoken out loud has a way of slapping you in the face and punching you right in the gut, knocking all the wind out of your spirit.
(*A few days after this writing the Doctor changed that to prognosis to weeks instead of months...)
Many of our friends and loved ones have offered prayers and words of comfort and encouragement, for which we are extremely grateful. Knowing that others are standing in the gap for us is a great comfort. Many have also thoughtfully and lovingly offered suggestions of getting a second opinion, trying a different cancer treatment center, seeking other forms of healing through eating certain foods, vitamins, reading books written by people who claim to know the secret to healing cancer that is found in the Bible. (
If there was a cure for cancer in the Bible, I don't think God would keep it a secret, nor would He make us pay some man who thinks he discovered it to tell us about it...but that's just my opinion).
Although we appreciate everyone's concern and thoughts and attempts to find an answer, I have to say that it would appear that most of
man's attempts to cure our son have already been tried and have failed. For four years our son has sought wisdom from the very best experts in the field of treatment for this particular type of rare and aggressive cancer. He has followed through with every option that seemed reasonable for him. We are extremely thankful that what treatment he has received has allowed him to survive these four years so that he could be a loving son, husband and father, and enjoy watching his son grow and mature into his teenage years. Many others with this same type of cancer have not had lasting positive results even though they desperately sought further treatments, surgeries, and other opinions. (
Click here for info on DSRCT)
We are not giving up hope. But we are at a point where we realize that man's wisdom and authority is very limited indeed. Although it has
always been up to God to determine the course of our son's life, it is even more so now. Man has had his opportunity and has had to withdraw from the fight. It is completely and clearly up to God now.
This reminds me of some verses we read this morning in our devotions from Psalm 33:16-22 ~
"No king is saved by the
multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.
Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
To deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive in famine.
Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
Because we have trusted in His holy name.
Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,
Just as we hope in You."
In a message we recently received from an old friend who was a former parishioner in one of the churches my husband pastored, she reminded us of a song that my husband and I sang as a duet one Sunday. This was a song that was
shared with us by a woman whose husband was dying from a brain tumor. It was also at the same time as our son, Matthew (yes, the same one we are praying for now), who was only 18 at the time, was having surgery to remove a brain tumor.
(Click Here for this story: God's Perfect Timing) She gave us a tape of some music that was very meaningful for her during that difficult time, and thought it would bring hope and encouragement to us. It did. And still does. Here are the words to that song. You might find it helpful in whatever current trial you may be experiencing in your life. It is entitled, "Trust His Heart".
"All things work for our good, though sometimes we can't see how they could.
Struggles that break our hearts in two sometimes blind us to the truth.
Our Father knows what's best for us, His ways are not our own.
So when your pathway grows dim, and you just can't see Him,
Remember you're never alone.
Chorus:
God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind.
So when you don't understand,
When you don't see His plan,
When you can't trace His hand
TRUST HIS HEART.
He sees the master plan,
He holds our future in His hands
So don't live as those who have no hope
All our hope is found in Him.
We see the present clearly
But He sees the first and the last
And like a tapestry
He's weaving you and me
To someday be just like Him.
(Chorus)
He alone is faithful and true. He alone knows what is best for you.
So when you don't understand,
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
TRUST HIS HEART."
(Words and music by Babbie Mason and Eddie Carswell, 1989)
 |
Please keep praying for this precious family.
Thank you.
"And when you don't understand,
When you don't see His plan,
When you can't trace His hand,
TRUST HIS HEART." |
That's what I am trying to do.
