Category Archives: Hearing from God

Palpable Peace

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Yesterday, at a high-performance Chicago hospital, Mary, Bervin, and several of their adult children were on the oncology floor awaiting time in the conference room. They were there to listen to a handful of highly-reputed doctors explain what was happening inside Mary’s body, along with what they felt ought to be done about it.

praying handsAt my home in Michigan, prayers were going up every hour requesting wisdom, discernment, and understanding, both for doctors and also Mary and family. We prayed God’s preparation into all of them and also his peace, confident he had heard and delivered.

But the scores of steady prayers rising from Michigan were just a drop in a very big prayer-bucket. All around the nation and in several foreign countries people were praying for Mary in droves.

I attended one of those doctor-meetings with Nate and know the stress of those moments. Finding out if someone will live or die is about as difficult as it gets, which is why all the people who love Mary were unceasing in their prayers. And when the meeting began with each doctor taking a turn, a remarkable drama unfolded.

As Mary told it, “I’ve always been on the praying end of a crisis, but this time I was the one being prayed for. The presence of God’s Spirit in that conference room was palpable. I saw it in the behavior of the doctors and in the faces of my children.”

She went on to say, “In my 70 years, I’ve never felt the strong, literal presence of the Lord that powerfully.”

???????????????????????????????Many people feel that since we can’t see the spirit world, we can’t be sure of what’s happening there, but Mary testified otherwise. As she described yesterday’s events, she said she became aware of God actively answering thousands of prayers prayed over her. “I absolutely knew it,” she said. “It was real, and he was moving among us, accomplishing answers to those many requests.”

Mary said that as she sat listening to doctors, she was completely enveloped in a bubble of peace. Because of the nature of the meeting, experiencing such tranquility wasn’t natural. The only explanation is that it was supernatural, a gift from God, an answer to many prayers.

God isn’t stingy with this kind of atypical peace. He offers it to anyone who wants it, in any set of circumstances. He says, “Ask me, and then trust me to deliver it.” We don’t even need a life and death crisis for him to wrap us in that same unlikely peace.

The Spirit is ready, whenever we are.

“The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.” (John 14:26-27)

Mary’s prayer requests (from Mayo Clinic, where they are getting a 2nd opinion):

  1. For courage and strength as additional blood test results come in tomorrow
  2. For Bervin and Luke as they try to be strong for Mary while suffering themselves
  3. For God to be glorified as “his power is made perfect in weakness.”

 

What’s your moving date?

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This week I cooked a traditional dinner, a “three-pile-meal” as we used to call them when the kids were growing up: meat, veggie, and starch. I haven’t done much three-pile cooking since Nate died, but I go back to it when others join me at the table.

This time, however, when I made such a meal, I did a little gambling. I had promised to make “cheesy potatoes,” Betty Crocker’s version of homemade scallops, which comes in a box. Since her products are laced with preservatives, I figured the expiration date didn’t really matter.

???????????????????????????????After dinner I said, “So… how were the potatoes?”

“Great!” said Nelson.

“Tasted fine,” said Birgitta.

“Especially good!” said Louisa.

“I’m glad,” I said, “because they were nearly 3 years expired.”

*            *            *            *            *

Processed food isn’t the only thing that expires. Eventually we all do. The dictionary defines “expire” as: to die out, to come to an end. When we use the word in reference to a human being, we mean they’ve died. A life has ended.

But God doesn’t see it that way and doesn’t want us to, either. Death is simply a life-shift to a new dimension and a new way of living. This is the reason Christians don’t fear dying. They believe earthly death is merely the route that moves them from one neighborhood to another, and it’s an upward move to be sure. In that sense, the concept of a human expiration date just doesn’t fit.

Ticket to heavenWhen Mary first received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer she said, “I think I just got my ticket out.” In other words, she (and all of us) thought this was the beginning of the end of her time on earth.

She made her ticket-comment without fear or sarcasm but with a sincere belief in God’s truth about moving from the here-and-now to the hereafter. Though she didn’t know “how long she had,” she figured her moving date was about to come into sharp focus.

But today, after many tests and a long meeting with multiple doctors, she was told her “ticket out” will be dated far in the future. The experts are optimistic that a surgical procedure called the Whipple can remove Mary’s existing cancer (all in one place) and give her an indefinite earthly-life expectancy. Although the operation is both complicated and temporarily debilitating, they linked the word “cure” with a successful surgical outcome.

The Whipple

So, does Mary still have a “moving date” on God’s relocation plan? Of course. All of us do. But her ticket out, once thought to be close, has been moved to the vast unknown like the rest of us. And because of that fabulous news today, we are all singing, “Hallelujah!”

(BTW, the night I served those expired cheesy potatoes? I didn’t eat any, just in case we needed a designated driver to the ER.)

“If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” (Romans 14:8)

Mary’s prayer requests:

  1. Clarity for the doctors as she seeks a second opinion
  2. Wisdom to make decisions over the next few days
  3. Praise to God for today’s good news!

An Important Preposition

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Mary and I have been working through a challenging Bible study together in the last few weeks. Louisa and Birgitta have been doing it too, and all of us have become aware that the preposition “in”, though little, has big significance.

Believing GodOur study is titled “Believing God,” and one of the first things we learned was the monumental difference between believing God and believing IN God. Most people, if stopped on the street would say, “Sure. I believe in God.” But is that the same as actually believing him?

In our Bible study we’ve memo- rized 5 statements that are critical to God-belief without the “in”:

  1. God is who he says he is.
  2. God can do what he says he can do.
  3. I am who God says I am.
  4. I can do all things through Christ.
  5. God’s Word is alive and active in me.

In our Bible study we repeat these powerful truths aloud at the beginning of each session, reminding ourselves that if we don’t agree with these five, we’re believing IN God, not believing God.

I'm believing God.And that’s not all. Our video instructor asked us to find a blue ribbon or cord to tie around one wrist during our weeks of learning. Much like a string tied around a finger, it was to be a reminder of those 5 truths. When we saw our blue cord many times each day, we were supposed to say, “I’m believing God,” accompanying it with sign language: “I’m (pointing to chest) believing (pointing to head) God (pointing upward).”

Two Thursdays back, Mary had a fever and wasn’t feeling well, so she missed our study time. We decided not to proceed without her, hoping she’d be back the next week, but by then she’d learned about her cancer. Now we’ve pushed the pause button indefinitely, because our little band of believers wouldn’t be the same without her.

When I visited Mary the morning after her diagnosis, her blue cord was peeking out from under her hospital gown, not much more than a few threads now. But there it was, testifying to those 5 rock-solid reasons for continuing to believe God, despite pancreatic cancer.

Believing God, even nowI’m wearing my blue cord, too, and as we chatted that first painful morning, I quietly planned to do the finger exercise at an opportune time, pointing to chest, head, and upward. Mary would know what it meant. But she beat me to it. Only a few minutes into our conversation her arm went up, she pointed to her blue cord, and did the point, point, point: I’m – believing – God.

So how, specifically, is she believing him? Today, she said it was this way:

“The Lord will cover [me] with his feathers. He will shelter [me] with his wings. His faithful promises are [my] armor and protection.” (Psalm 91:4)

Mary’s prayer requests:

  1.  For God’s wisdom in making treatment decisions
  2.  For preparation of each family member for what they will learn this week
  3.  For comfort, especially for her children

Thank you!