Faith Through the Journey

The first week of June in 1974 held three significant life events for me. I turned 18, graduated from high school, and was finally diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease (after nearly a year of trying to get answers). Fast forward to the first week of June, 2018. Rather than turning 18, I am contemplating whether or not to apply for Social Security in my first year of eligibility, and high school is a fond but distant memory. However, that other significant event, the Crohn’s diagnosis, has reemerged and is once again front and center in my life. I saw my GI doctor this week and she confirmed what I have been experiencing as a Crohn’s flare. Since the immunosuppressant drugs I had been taking for 5 years to keep the Crohn’s in remission had to be discontinued due to my cancer diagnosis last summer, we knew that there was a good chance the Crohn’s would recur. The only risk factor I possessed for this particular cancer, squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, was a suppressed immune system that allowed this cancer to develop. Life just got a little more complicated, trying to treat two major health issues without aggravating one another.

As tempting as it is to just close myself in the house and give up, that isn’t any sort of answer! I’m so thankful for the days (or sometimes hours!) I feel well enough to participate in normal life activities. We are trusting that the short-term infusion of steroids might ease the Crohn’s inflammation enough for me to live with it and not have to go through long days and nights of out-of-control pain. Along with it, of course, the cancer follow-up is critical so those scans and doctor visits will continue regularly.

God’s design for creation NEVER included sickness and suffering. Man’s choice of disobedience rather than following God’s plan brought imperfection into God’s perfect world. But because of His love for His creation and in particular, the humans He created, He wanted us to have a way out of this imperfection. That way was Jesus, and the perfect life we get is not here on earth but in eternity through our relationship with Him. Could God have prevented my having another Crohn’s Disease outbreak? Of course He could. I don’t know why He didn’t, but I do trust Him. My life, here on earth and in the world to come, is in His hands. I don’t believe I’m just flailing along at life without a purpose, wondering whether He really cares when I’m going through tough days. I have been immeasurably blessed to walk with Jesus as my Savior for over 50 years now, and I hope I’ve learned a thing or two about His ways and His character during that time.

This morning my Bible reading took me to John 16, where Jesus was spending his last earthly hours with His disciples. Of course, they couldn’t really grasp at the time all of what He was saying, but after His crucifixion and resurrection they would remember and it would make sense to them. John 16:33 says: “I’ve told you all of this so that trusting Me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.”