Truth #1: Know that God is with you
This may not always be a comfort at first. You may feel abandoned, and I do understand. Even Jesus, in His hour of greatest suffering, asked God why He had forsaken Him on the cross.
And yet if God showed us anything when He brought His love to us through His Son, He showed us that He is near. God hears you, loves you, and, he is deeply moved when you face loss (Luke 7:13, John 11:33, 38). Not only is God with you, He can unexplainably use all you’re going through for His glory. (Romans 8:28 is one of my life-verses—I cling to it often.) You may struggle to see or hear that, right now. That’s okay. I sure did.
Back in 1980, there were very few breast cancer survivors. Treatments weren’t what they are now. We knew what it meant as soon as the words, “It’s cancer,” were spoken. But God . . . He knew and He was with us even when we couldn’t see His presence. I’ll be honest, I couldn’t see him. I saw a God who was taking my mom away from me. A God who could have stopped it. A God who seemed like He was abandoning me as a teenager who needed my mom’s voice in my life.
But from a deep reservoir of faith, my mom’s vision was different. She saw a God who offered clinical trials that gave her additional years of life. She saw a God who gave her the strength to smile and a God who helped her encourage others. Her strength and light in her struggle led many who were suffering to Him! God chose to use her earthly diagnosis in eternal ways. She knew He was there.
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