Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding (Jeremiah 3:15 NIV).

Strong, passionate, and longtime Christians often receive a cancer diagnosis and lean into their faith. Maybe this is you? After your diagnosis, you may have prayed more consistently and passionately. Verses may have come to mind and resonated with new meaning. Friends probably called to offer help and to say they were praying for you. Praise God for all the seeds of faith planted in you so you would have the blessings of prayer, scripture, and fellowship on your cancer walk.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth (Isaiah 53:7a NIV).

After the initial spinal tap and bone marrow extraction, my wife and I were insistent we would always be with Justin for those procedures. The staff had been insistent that patient and parents didn’t do well together during the trauma of the procedures. The child was awake for the procedure, even when they placed the needle into the bone. Keeping the child still was important and emotional parents would not help.

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him (Luke 15:20 NIV).

Jesus told a parable of a prodigal son, a young man dying to be free and see the world. He demands that his father give him his inheritance now. It’s a huge insult, like saying, “Father, you are dead to me.” Yet the father acquiesces. The son takes his money and heads for a distant land and greener grass.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” (Matthew 14:27 NIV).

Dear Sandy,

It’s hard to write through tears. Reading your honest email, so full of transparency, is helping me deal with my journey.

I, too, have received some not so good news. The spot that began in January has grown to be 2.0 cm. The danger zone. The type of surgery I need is called an ablation. A needle in my back. Freeze the tumor. The location of my tumor is such that traditional surgery can’t be done. First, because of the location, and second, I don’t have much kidney left. This means any type of surgery would destroy what I have left, putting me on dialysis.

For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears. Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus (2 Corinthians 7:5-6 NKJV).

Sometimes I believe I have more friends than I can keep up with. Other times, I feel alone and search for a friend to call. Paul is going through a spiritual and emotional drought, as he writes in his second letter to the church at Corinth. Outside are conflicts, and inside are fears. I have been there!

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you (Isaiah 26:3 NIV).

Lately, God has been teaching me about how little control I have over things. In fact, even as I type this, I’m sitting 35,000 feet in the air, in an airplane that will land later than it is scheduled to arrive. There is a good possibility that I will miss my connecting flight as a result. I have absolutely no control over this situation. All I can do is sit and pray I will make it in time.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew‬ 19:14‬ NIV‬‬).

‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬Recently a young mom joined a cancer support group I belong to. Unlike the rest of us, she did not have cancer. Tragically, her eleven-year-old daughter did. Almost two years ago, she had been diagnosed with the same type of cancer as the rest of us.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: … a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance (Ecclesiastes 3:1,4 NIV).

They say laughter is the best medicine. It’s been proven to send those feel-good hormones, endorphins, rushing around our bodies, lowering our heart rate, and reducing stress. When we’re up to our eyeballs in appointments, treatments, and nausea, though, laughing can become a distant memory.

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord” (Psalm 122:1 NIV).

The Israelite people were commanded by God to gather together if they could in His presence three times a year for holy meeting, feasting, and celebration. God’s Holy Temple was in Jerusalem, the highest city in their land. The plains and hillsides below were the so-called Holy or Promised Land, where most of the Hebrew people lived. Getting to Jerusalem was no easy journey or pilgrimage. Going it alone was dangerous. Going together with family and friends, however, was more doable and far more enjoyable.

And He said to them, “Come aside by yourself to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat (Mark 6:31 OSB).

When we are so busy that we don’t even have time to eat, it might be that we are just too busy. Our society rewards working long hours until exhaustion. Yet, our God felt it necessary to rest on the seventh day after creating the heavens and the earth (see Genesis 2:1-3).

So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great (Job 2:13 NKJV).

Have you ever stuck your foot in your mouth? Have you ever said the wrong thing at the wrong time? A friend confides in you that they have just been diagnosed with cancer, and you start talking and can’t stop. Someone shares their fear of dying, and you immediately offer false assurances and cheap solutions. We have all been there.

… and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19 ESV).

Linda worked at my bank. Occasionally I would stop in to make deposits, and she would always strike up a conversation with me. She was a very sweet woman in her late sixties and always seemed to be in a good mood. She was kind to everyone she spoke with, greeting them with a smile and a word of encouragement.

They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord (Psalm 112:7 NIV).

In God’s great timing, He blessed my husband and me with two precious daughters. I have always asked God for His love and guidance in how to raise Grace and Hannah, knowing they are His and we are entrusted with their care. I love my girls with an enduring and unconditional love. I am full of that “Mama Bear” instinct of wanting to protect them from the evil and ugliness of this broken world. Have you experienced this love for a child or someone like a child to you?

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles (Psalm 34:17 NIV).

My husband would not eat. He had major surgery with an organ removed. His body was learning how to function without it. That alone was interesting. Cancer had completely engulfed the organ, and now his body was learning how to function with the surgical removal of the organ, along with the cancer. But he would not eat. He would barely drink. He would just sip enough water to take his medicine.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself (Matthew 6:34a NIV).

I am not the person anyone should turn to for tech support. When God created earthly geeks, I may have been the last person He had in mind. My only advice, should anyone have the misfortune of asking me for such, would be, “Have you tried unplugging it?” Beyond that I’m not often sure what to suggest. If you’ve already tried rebooting, then I don’t know.

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:8-9 ESV).

She lived in a nursing facility. She had been abused all her life by men. She would have nothing to do with a male chaplain. Her nursing assistant had tried to get her to call me to come, but to no avail. About two weeks passed, and as her health began to deteriorate, she finally asked for me to come. Within fifteen minutes after receiving the call, I walked into her room. I kept a respectful distance from her. After a few minutes, she wanted to talk about eternal life.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8a NIV).

Sitting at my desk, I see a picture of my 21-year-old son jumping off a bridge into a massive gorge. He’s attached to a giant rubber band. This picture is of his second jump. (Twice? Really?) And do you know what captures me as I look at it? His joy. He has this massive smile, with joy radiating through every pore. There is no doubt, in his mind or mine, that on that day he was alive.

But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on” (Mark 12:42-44 NIV).

I lost control of myself. In the middle of my granddad’s funeral, I began to sob and weep uncontrollably. The harder I tried to control myself, the louder and more unmanageable I became. My heavy sadness surprised me because my granddad had fought a long, hard battle with lung cancer. We had prepared for his death.

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted (Isaiah 12:4 NIV).

When I was diagnosed with breast cancer I was told it was curable, but the coming months would be like living a nightmare to get there—chemo and its side effects, surgeries, emotional consequences for me and my loved ones, and so on. I had a choice. I could grab onto God’s hand and let Him show me the goodness He brings out of the pain and praise Him for it. Or I could sink into a hole of hopelessness, which is what Satan was rooting for.

Yes, he did mighty miracles and we are overjoyed! Now, Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory! May streams of your refreshing flow over us until our dry hearts are drenched again (Psalm 126:3-4 TPT).

“No evidence of disease,” my oncologist said with a smile. “The cancer is gone!”

After a year and a half of cancer treatment, God had answered our prayers. The chemo and radiation had worked. God had healed me. “Thank you, God!” “Glory to God!”