Karen…

A long time a go I heard a story on the radio, which while fictional, was one that impacted how I thought about the word and the idea of cancer. I was just a child then, so little did I know how it would impact my reaction to a situation in my life later.

The story starts with a girl of middle school age, named Karen, being diagnosed with bone cancer in her leg. Over the course of the story, the cancer spreads, ending her life on earth. It was a sad story, but her death wasn’t why the story impacted me, it was how she dealt with her illness.This young lady was a Christian, and that shaped how she saw what she was going through. She trusted God to get her through the situation no matter what the outcome. She knew that God loved her and that no matter what happened, it would be for her good. She took everything in stride and was actually at peace even the midst of something so tumultuous.

Several years later I found myself in a situation like hers, this time I was the one with cancer. While I didn’t know it then, looking back now, I see how that story impacted how I reacted to my own illness. Like Karen, God gently reminded me just how much I was loved by him and that he would take care of me, all I had to do was trust him. I see the peace he gave me even in the midst of the most awful moment, when I was the most fearful. He gave me strength, strength I didn’t know I had. I suppose it was faith, but I would say, it was God. I am not the most trusting person. But, he helped me to see he was trustworthy.

I think what Karen’s story taught me all those years ago was this: that God holds you, carries you, through the situation, either to his arms, like in Karen’s story or, to the other side. He is still there, not creating the situation, but being in it, using it for his glory.