Diamonds among the Pebbles

Nate led a healthy life. He didn’t have a relationship with a general physician and took no prescription drugs. Except for bunion surgery, he was blessed with flawless well-being until his sixties, but then several things popped up simultaneously: colon polyps, skewed prostate numbers and lower back pain. He faithfully followed medical instructions, after which problems #1 and #2 disappeared. He was in the process of tackling problem #3 when cancer arrived, and no one could offer a remedy for that.

Nate knew how fortunate he was to experience six decades of good health and felt sincere sympathy for friends who underwent physical suffering. When his own health received a terminal blow, he knew it would crush him physically but refused to let it crush him emotionally. He understood there was nothing he could have done to prevent it and didn’t spend one minute bemoaning his assignment. Instead he moved into it with a mind-set of determination. As his physical vigor diminished, his emotional vitality remained stable.

Lately I’ve been thinking about my own health. Just like Nate, I recognize the tremendous, unearned blessing of a disease-free life. Except for minor issues here and there, I’ve had nothing to complain about. Watching my husband go through his calamity taught me a great deal about how to weather my own storm, whenever it comes.

At some point good health will end. Short of a sudden accident, I’ll one day be sitting in a doctor’s office receiving bad news. It’s logical and inevitable. When that moment arrives, whether later or sooner, I hope God taps me on the shoulder with two reminders: (1) to accept the news as Nate did, and (2) to refrain from asking, “Why me?”

Learning of a serious health crisis will make both of those reminders difficult to follow. But having watched Nate’s example up close gives me assurance I’ll be able to succeed, too. When my bad news comes, I hope I’ll have a lightning response to turn toward God before anguish gets a grip on me. As the Great Physician, the Lord still makes house calls and comes armed with a doctor’s bag chuck full of remedies for fear and despair.

Although he doesn’t often perform miraculous physical healings these days, he does faithfully rescue from hopelessness. I see God as a loving doctor who eagerly awaits our call so he can minister spectacular help. He delights in racing toward us to sprinkle the treasure of comfort over our misery like diamonds sprinkled among common pebbles. But if we aren’t looking, we can miss them. When we find them, they’ll utterly dazzle us.

Ultimately God will use the power behind his promises to fix every physical problem, but we won’t experience it until the moment when it seems illness has conquered. Just when death readies to roar with victory, exactly then we’ll be gloriously healed!

“By his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5b)

5 thoughts on “Diamonds among the Pebbles

  1. So true Margaret!Nate’s determined steadfastness to embrace what he was about to face and walked through is a constant inspiration to me, especially during days or weeks of a fibromyalgia flareup or exhausted adrenal phase, which stops me in my tracks with exhaustion and pain. You both have been a strong example to find the good/positive in the most difficult situation and give God the praise and thankfulness for it. May God bless you abundantly for your willingness to share your life with us.

  2. Everyday, I look forward to your message and your photographs. I am blessed. Love and hugs over these cooler, but sunny miles.

  3. Dear Margaret,

    As I write this my 63 year old sister is having a double mastectomy and some cancerous lymph nodes removed. She is not in the best of health, as she has had two heart attacks and suffers from diabetes and asthma. But, like Nate, her “emotional vitality remain(s) stable.” Her faith in her heavenly Father is secure and she knows that if He calls her home He will take care of the “details.”

    Interestingly, when Karyn returned for a six month follow up for a “suspicious area” in her RIGHT breast, she insisted they also re-check her left breast even though insurance would not cover it. She had had to travel over an hour to get this mammogram and she wanted to make it worth the drive! It was in the LEFT breast that they discovered the cancer. God was watching over her then, as He is now.

    Karyn is my second sister to be hit with breast cancer. Nancy had a double mastectomy in her 40’s and has been cancer free for 15 years, praise the Lord. I am praying for the same successful outcome for Karyn. And while I am at it, I wouldn’t mind if the Lord decided to leave me out of this cancer club! But in the end, I do want His will for my life.

    I am thankful for all I have learned from you, Margaret. Thank you for sharing your life with us!

  4. I’ve often thought the same thoughts you’ve written here. Through all my years of migraines and back/shoulder pain, I keep trusting God to help me suffer well, and to never lose faith in a faithful, loving, sovereign God.