Recently I received a text message from a dear friend of mine who has been fighting a very difficult cancer battle. This particular day would bring her to the beginning of a three-day series of chemotherapy and she knew going in, it would be a tough run. I assured her I would and stopped immediately to pray knowing full well she would be in my heart for the duration of this session.
To date, I have never experienced such a tremendous health issue, but I know pain, I know fear, and I can only imagine the isolation of such a journey. It’s just you, the medicine, and the illness.
More than several years ago, I was having significant heart rate issues. To diagnose the issue, a monitor was attached to me for thirty days. I was told to live my life as usual. “I’m a glass artist,” I said. “I stand in front of hot furnaces. Will this be a problem?” “No. Just do life as usual and we’ll have a better understanding of what is causing this.”
One day I was scheduled to blow a big piece of expensive glass. It would be a one-hour process with no breaks requiring intense concentration, frequent visits to the front end of an open furnace with fire at nearly 2,500 degrees, and a lot of pressure.
I was nervous. Real nervous.
That morning I prayed very specifically for calmness and His presence. As I began to prepare for the work I imagined Him covering me with His own skin, as if He were a glove around my body. I asked the Holy Spirit to flood my insides with His presence. I talked with Him the entire time as if we were doing the work together. I invited him into every thought, every move, every technique that I was so intuitively familiar with. I asked Him to control every beat of my heart and the rhythm of my breathing. I was consciously aware of His presence with me. And I said, “Lord, You are in charge. Whatever happens here is all because of Your sovereign will and I will rest in the process.”
Well, we finished the piece with no error. I cried a bit when it was all over. Maybe as a release of pent-up emotion but mostly, because of the faithfulness of God. He says in His Word in so many places, throughout so many passages, and down through the ages, that He is peace. Even in pain, even in sorrow, even in fear, even in suffering… if Jesus is there, and you see Him there, and you know He is there, the experience becomes profoundly different. There’s a peace that passes all understanding. It becomes a blessing because you learn the truth of this statement, “Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)
It’s one thing to know that God is with you and loves you, but it’s a whole other experience to put Him on and acknowledge that He is in you. You are never alone but filled with His glory. What an incredible life it is to walk with the Lord. Put Him on. Do it on purpose and most specifically when the battle is on. Enjoy the ride. He will not fail you.
