Hope Road

A Taste of Suffering

This past weekend I was sick with strep throat. It was probably the sickest I ever remember being. I was sick to my stomach all day Saturday too, and I was on an IV for dehydration and got shots for nausea. It was so much fun. (Sorry if that was too much information for you!) That’s why you haven’t heard from me lately.

But my point isn’t for you to feel a moment of sympathy for my tragic illness. Rather, I wanted to share a little lesson I learned. Saturday was a very hard day. If you’ve had the stomach flu for any length of time, you’ll know what I’m talking about. It got to the point where I could never rest easily, where even a sip of water or a pill wouldn’t stay down, and where I could hardly stand up. Thankfully, it only lasted for a day.

And while I was experiencing this, I thought about a couple of ladies from my church who have been dealing with cancer. I thought of one in particular, since I know more about her situation and she’s been dealing with it for longer. She’s not much older than I am, she has a husband and a two-year-old daughter, and she is about to start another six months of chemotherapy. Her faith and testimony have not only remained, but have grown by leaps and bounds during this time in her life. What a witness to the faithfulness and sovereignty of God in the most unwanted of circumstances.

I can’t even imagine going through almost a year of feeling as bad or worse than I did on Saturday, and remaining so steadfast. I know it sounds cliche, but how dare I complain about anything in my life - how can I question His sovereignty when His other children are facing suffering so severe they can barely get through moment by moment? And I know it’s not even just cancer patients who are suffering, but parents who have lost children, children losing parents, poverty, hunger, persecution, abandonment, abuse, depression, and an unimaginably endless list.

Their God is my God too. He is as faithful in my moments as He is in theirs.

Tags: cancer, faithfulness, sickness