Coincidence? Hardly.

When Mike was diagnosed with leukemia, each of us were (and still are to some degree) placed on an emotional roller coaster of sorts. I don't know how its possible, but it's not uncommon for each of us to experience fear, anger, peace, comfort, and joy almost simultaneously. When we are faced with a situation as drastic as this, the only place we can turn to calm our fears, squash our anger, rejuvenate our peace, fill up our joy, and receive our comfort is to the Lord. Along the way we have all dropped to our knees asking for His immediate presence and have received His Holy Spirit in abundance! Some of us have had more spiritual experiences, while others have witnessed more concrete examples of His presence. Either way, we KNOW that He is with us every step of the way and we are eternally thankful for His grace.

During this journey one major doubt that I have been feeling in particular is that perhaps our sins, maybe even Mikey's wrong-doings brought on this disease. Even worse, I felt that the Lord was just sort of throwing His hands up in the air as if to say, "Hey, you brought this on yourself," and was turning His back on us. I have been struggling with this for a while, partially not wanting to believe this but still feeling myself give into that realization. I mean, why not? After all God has done for us and this is how we repay Him? Come on! I'd probably turn my back too. But as I am human, I am in no way God and I can't fathom the type of love He feels for each and every one of us.

Those doubts were put to rest once and for all last night when Bret called me. Together we discussed 2 passages of scripture that the Lord placed on his heart. The first one is in the book of John, Chapter 9, Verses 1-3. It reads: "Jesus went along and he saw a man born blind from birth. His disciples asked, 'Jesus, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' (Which is exactly what I thought...what sin brought this in to Mikey's life?) And Jesus answered, 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happned so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.'" How awesome is that??!! With this we know that we are not alone AND that this is the work of God. As the old saying goes: Everything happens for a reason and such is the case in this instance.

The next scripture that we discussed is in the OT in 2Kings, chapter 5, which talks about our old buddy Naaman. Basically Naaman was a man who was a leper and was sick. No one would go near him nor touch him as they were fearful of him. Naaman went to the King of Isreal and took him tons of material items: money, gold, silver, and clothing. He offered them to the King and asked to be healed. The King turned him away, wisely telling him that he is not God and he doesn't have that kind of power. During all of this, Elisha, a prophet of God overheard all of this and said, "Tell Naaman to come to me." So Naaman went to his house. Elisha told him, "Go wash yourself 7 times in the Jordan River and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed." But Naaman didn't like what he heard. He thought that Elisha could just call on God, wave his hand over him and he would be healed right there on the spot. Besides there were 2 rivers that were a lot closer to him than the Jordan. Why couldn't he just wash himself in either of those? So Naaman left angry. After a while, his servants talked him into taking Elisha's advice. He went and did as he was told and was ultimately healed. As Bret pointed out there are too many likenesses to Mikey in this story and this is not just some fluke of a coincidence. Just as Naaman noticed that there are 2 rivers near him, there are 2 hospitals that are near Mikey. But just like Naaman had to travel to be healed so must Mike. Just as Naaman had to endure this as a process, so does Mike. Just as Naaman had to wash himself 7 times, Mike's body must also be washed for 7 days with the chemo. Coincidence? Oh no my friend.

Both of these scriptures are so very reassuring. The Word of God is very real and is as pertinent today as it was 2000+ years ago. There is a reason the Good Book is the most read book in the world, year after year - everyone can relate to its scripture.

I'm sorry - I didn't mean to go all Billy Graham on you today but this was very moving to me and I just wanted to share it. Besides, it is Sunday after all and by a show of hands, how many of us missed this morning's service??? That's what I thought.

Don't feel bad. I didn't go either. :)
Rachel