So I’ve been a bit lax in posting a followup to my “Unfraid” post. Several readers have emailed me, telling me that they’ve been praying for me and asking about the results of my biopsy. I’m very happy to say that the biopsy results came back negative—the mass is benign (meaning non-cancerous) and something that only needs to be followed yearly. Thanks be to God for that.
Which brings me to a conversation I had with a friend after telling her the results. “God is so good,” she said. “Don’t you just want to praise him from the mountain tops?”
“Oh, believe me, I have,” I replied.
After we parted ways, I started thinking. It’s true—when we receive good news and have a prayer request answered just as we’d hoped it would be, we proclaim how good God is. We thank him for his faithfulness and his power in our lives. But part of me has always been hesitant to outspokenly do that—not because I don’t think he’s faithful and powerful (over and over he’s proved that to me), but because it seems somewhat trite, as if he’s faithful and powerful only when things go our way. So not true.
God is good all the time. Even when our heart is seemingly torn to pieces and cast to the corners of the earth. My life, like most people’s, has had its share of highest highs and lowest lows. And one thing I’ve learned through the highs and lows is that God’s character is not determined by my circumstances.
Sure, it’s easy to praise him when we’re filled with hope (“It’s a benign mass—no cancer”), but what about when the world falls down around us (“I’m sorry, but your [twelve-week-gestation] baby has no heartbeat”)? What then? What about when we feel like our heart has died but the rest of us survived? Is God not good, and faithful, and powerful then? Of course he is, though it may be difficult for us to see at the time. I’ve been there, done that—and I’ve learned that God can take what tries to destroy us and use it to bless us.
So that’s been on my heart lately. Am I thankful and joyful for the results I received? Absolutely. God is good, and God is powerful—but that has nothing to do with the results or my answered prayer. It has to do with God’s character—his love and providence—which never change even despite our circumstances. So I’m praising him gratefully, not necessarily for what he’s done but because of who he is.
Thank you all for your prayers and support!
Recent Comments