“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.” Philipians 4:6-7 (NLT)Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Cancer stole my peace and I didn’t realize how peaceful life was until I was diagnosed with cancer. All my problems that were so big suddenly became so small and I wished for those days to be back. I wondered if I ever will have days of big problems that really are quite small.
God tells us to not worry first and foremost. He then asks for us to tell him everything we need and thank him for all he has done. Remember that for God the future is completed for us. Our healing is real, it exists, it is done. He promises peace will return to us even as we learn to cope with cancer. How is that possible? It’s one of his great mysteries. We can have peace, when we fully understand just how trustworthy God is.
He chooses our doctors and our courses of treatment. He places the right people in our lives at just the right time. He rains blessings down on us; blessings we can’t predict or anticipate. He speaks to us in a way we can hear and we will hear him everywhere: in the lyrics to a song we may have heard a hundred times before, a sermon from a pastor who may not know we have cancer, a friend who has just the right words of wisdom.
God will speak. That knowledge brings me to tears as I think of how he makes such an effort for me to have peace in this time of trauma. He promises his peace will guard our hearts and minds. With cancer, that protection is designed to fight the fear that is bigger than what we can fight on our own. It’s very easy to let cancer shake us to the core, put doubt in our faith, and erode our trust.
This verse proves that God knows exactly what we experience emotionally and spiritually when we have a cancer diagnosis. He means what he says- do not worry, pray, thank him and experience his peace.
Take time today to watch and listen for God’s words that he is speaking just to you to provide you with this peace.
Write down these moments for they prove to you that God is with you every step.