Overcoming FearSample

Worship

During those first few weeks of our trial, God also told me to worship. So I did. And worship has been one of the biggest weapons that I have used over this past year. It has refocused my mind on God and who he is, convinced me of truth, and brought me so much peace.

Whatever you focus on, you worship.

Make sure you are worshiping God alone – not your circumstances, not your problems, and certainly not the enemy. You see, the fundamental part of worship is that we magnify God. And when we do that, we are brought into his presence (Psalms 100:4) where we get the full perspective of his majesty. And when we get the right perspective of who God is, then our problems certainly don’t look that daunting. Look at who our father is! Is anything too difficult for God (Jeremiah 32:27)? Certainly not! There are so many times that I have had to worship my way into belief.

When circumstances or news from the doctors assaulted me relentlessly and the facts of our situation seemed to scream louder than God’s promises, I worshiped until I believed. I worshiped to convince myself of God and his truth. We are repeatedly commanded in Scripture to rejoice, give thanks, and praise God (Psalms 147:1). And this is why: Worship will completely change the atmosphere. Try it the next time that you are having a bad day or have lost hope in your present situation. Get your eyes on him. Focus on things above (Colossians 3:2). Thank God, praise him, turn on the worship music and sing at the top of your lungs. Sing it until you believe it. Things will start looking up! You will be comforted, strengthened, and refreshed, for truly, “if God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

So you may be wondering where we are now in our story. Eleven months after his diagnosis, my husband underwent major brain surgery – yes, the one that we had been so direly warned about the previous year. A significant change in the tumor discovered during regular MRI monitoring prompted an emergency attempt to remove the tumor. We had to drop everything and fly to another city for two weeks for this intense surgery. Unfortunately, the tumor was not able to be removed. However, God miraculously brought my husband through that incredibly risky surgery with the most minimal of side effects that healed on their own within weeks. You see, the doctors’ predictions were not the truth - God holds the ultimate truth!

My husband now sports a large 6-inch scar on the back of his head and neck, a forever reminder of what he has been through. And yet, there was more. Three months after surgery, he went through a round of radiation. They attempted to stun the tumor to stop its growth. They told us that was the best we could hope for - that the tumor would stop growing. If it ever started again, there would be nothing more that they could do for him. They told us it would never shrink, much less disappear. But you know what? Much respect to doctors who study their craft, but our God has the last word. And he still heals. He still does miracles. And he is faithful to his word. You see, at the beginning of our whole story, I felt he had shown me that the tumor would disappear completely. And you know what? As we worshiped him, sought him, found him, cultivated a relationship with him, and solidified our understanding of him and our own identities through that close relationship, we finally entered REST. And when we did, we received our miracle. Without natural explanation (though we did use some supplements and other things - these are listed in the back of our book), the tumor began shrinking and did not stop until it was completely gone. Today, my husband is cancer-free and completely healed. And on this journey, we both found God. We found ourselves. We found freedom and true life. And we have had a new beginning, as everything in our lives has grown and shifted in the best possible way. Our journey took two and half years of major attempts at medical intervention (all of which failed), so many disappointments, desperation, vulnerability, tears, twists and turns, and adventures, but it ended in a miracle. And today, we can both say that we would never have it any other way. Our journey through brain cancer was the worst thing that ever happened to us, but God took it and brought so much good out of that situation (see Romans 8:28!) that we can easily say that it was also the best thing that ever happened to us. We would not trade that experience for anything. We are fundamentally changed in every possible way for the better.

Did our story go the way that I would have chosen? No. But in the end, was the result good? Absolutely. And because of what I walked through in that fire, I now know without a doubt that my God is with me. He is for me. He loves me, and he is working all things out for my good whether I see it right now or not. And I know that my Redeemer lives. And because of this, I can trust, I can rest, I can worship, and I can choose to put one foot in front of another and keep walking with him in his joy, peace, and strength. And my dear sister, I pray that you can too.

Prayer for today: Father, thank you for revealing to me the importance of worship. Please imprint this on my heart and help me to daily worship you by placing you first. Show me how to do this! May my life be a fragrant offering to you – every moment of every day, as I walk in faith. I love you and I lift you higher than any circumstance, person, difficulty, or impossibility in my life. Help me as I honor you by walking by faith and not by sight today. In Jesus’ name, Amen!