Have you ever been faced with a situation that seemed impossible yet knew you were to ask for the impossible? On my way back to Georgia, I stopped to visit a friend, Kim, who is battling cancer. When she learned she had cancer, it had already spread from her breast to her back in the bone. It is now in her liver and most recently they told her they found tumors in her brain. I don’t know how much you’ve been around cancer, but once it hits the liver and brain, the odds are not in your favor.
Kim has a husband who adores her and three beautiful children ranging in age from 4 to 12. She is fighting with everything in her to win this battle against cancer so she can grow old with her husband and watch her children grow up and get married and have children of their own.
As I drove to her house, I could feel a battle going on inside me. I knew I had to see her because God told me I was to pray for her healing. Specifically, He told me I was to pray her tumors away in Jesus name. I felt very inadequate for this job. I remember thinking, “This is the kind of job you reserve for Billy Graham, not me.” But then I heard God ask me “Why?” I am too stubborn to let the enemy win without a fight so, in obedience, I rang the doorbell.
We had a wonderful time catching up with each other. Even though we have kept in touch through phone calls and emails, it had been years since we had sat down face to face. It felt like old times with the laughter and retelling of old stories.
I knew I needed to get back on the road and head home, which told me it was time to pray. The end of Romans 4:17 says “– the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.” I took that as my cue to go after the evil, cancer, and declare it no more in Kim’s body.
As we prayed, Kim had to lean on her side because of her back pain, which caused her to lean onto me. I put my arm around my sweet friend as I prayed for her. It took me a minute to be able to speak because God was not only giving me a picture of how we are to lean on one another, but also what we are to do with Him. When we are facing difficulty, we are to lean on the body of Christ and lean on the Lord. We are to allow the Lord to take our burdens and allow our friends to love us through them [Luke 5:18-25, 1 Peter 5:7]. It was such a sweet time. I felt the presence of the Lord with us.
As I backed out of her driveway, I had a little talk with the Lord. I told Him I had done what He asked of me and then I begged Him to do what I asked of Him. Kim goes to the doctor this week to determine her next plan of treatment. I want nothing more than to hear her body is cancer free. Like the father of the young boy who was sick, I was telling God, “I do believe, help my unbelief” in this situation [Mark 9:24]. No matter what the results of Kim’s doctor’s appointment are, I’ve learned a very valuable lesson. When we are obedient to God and take a step of faith, He blesses you. I will never forget the God moment Kim and I shared as she leaned on my shoulder and I wrapped my arm around her to pray. God showed me how precious we are to Him and how He loves us and desires to hold us close. I am still holding out for a cancer free diagnosis, but I have already received a blessing.