Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Nov/79

Contributor - June Van Farowe

Title - Before and After Surgery

Topic - Health

"Mrs. Van Farowe, are you listening? The biopsy showed the tumor was benign." The nurse spoke to me as I lay on the recovery room table. "Yes," I said, "Praise the Lord!" I guess she was not sure I'd heard her since I was groggy. "Everything is O.K. Isn't that great?" "Yes, I heard it, Praise the Lord!"

When you are faced with a tumour you do some earnest heart-searching. I read many Psalms and I hoped that God would reassure me from them. They helped.

But still, I knew that the Lord sometimes uses sickness to show his own kind of "strength made perfect in weakness." And faith is often tested to see of what sort it is. Would mine be tested now?

All of us desire good health, but we cannot demand it from the Lord. We must be submissive before Him. Who am I, to insist that only in good health could I praise God. So in submission I spoke the words of Psalm 133 to the Lord.

My heart is not proud, 0 Lord, my eyes are not haughty;

I do not concern myself with great matters Or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child with it's mother, Like a weaned child is my soul within me. (N.E.B.)

My Thankful praise

But Praise the Lord, the tumour was benign. I give the Lord this verbal bouquet in thankfulness. But I found that even our sincerest praise can be a shallow thing. Praise is deeper and more mature if you have gone through surgery, drug-treatments and weakness and still show thankfulness. Praise in such adversity, is magnificent music to the ears of God.

She is thankful in spite of cancer

I received a phone call from a person who did not have a good report after her surgery last year. She has endured a year of monthly Chemo-Therapy. Her hair has fallen out, grown back and then fallen out again. (This was the hardest thing for her to accept.) I was humbled to hear her say, "I thank God for my cancer."

With a quavering voice she shared with me the words of Ps. 119:67-72. "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I give heed to Thy words.,, She told me how her struggle with cancer had brought her closer to God. Because of her victory she wanted to encourage me not to be discouraged if my surgeons' diagnosis was negative.

Solution to superficial praise

We are usually self-centered. We praise God loudly if He does something good for us. We always see sickness as a threat to our personal happiness. We express this in the same way our four year old did, when he heard that his Mommy had to go to hospital for surgery. "Who will give me my breakfast if you go?" "Lord, if I have cancer, how will I bear it?" And this one, 'Why me God?" Sickness could be used by God to make us better Christians, but we are sure that could not be true.

Our praise should not be, so shallow that one breath of cold air can freeze the words to our tongues. We must not be superficial in our submission to the Lord.

Satan thinks he knows all about our self-centeredness. He had Job all figured out. He said to the Lord, "You have a protective fence around Mr. Job. That is why he serves you so well. Take away the fence. Touch his body with boils or cancer and he will curse you to your face." (Job 1 and 2) The experience of Job with sickness and devastation showed that he was not a shallow or superficial Christian. "Even tho He slays me, yet I will trust Him." Satan was all wrong. Not all people curse God and die. Some are able to say thanks in spite of my adversity.

I'd really hate to go through what Job did. But I'd hate to be so shallow that Satan would wipe out my faith in one sweep. Then the Lord could never be so pleased with me as He wants to be. The following prayer is a hard one to pray. But it can help us express our submission to the Lord. I recommend it to myself and to you.

DON'T SPARE ME

Don't spare me trouble if it will bring me close to Thee

Don't spare me heartaches, you bore a broken heart for me.

Don't spare me loneliness for I recall Gethsemane

Don't spare me anything that you endured for me.

Don't spare me failure if this is best for me

Don't spare me sickness if this will make me call to Thee

Don't spare me suffering for I recall your agony

Don't spare me anything that you endured for me.

BUT GIVE ME STRENGTH TO FOLLOW THEE

by Audrey Meir

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