This week I had a checkup at MD Anderson. The typical stuff was the 24-hour urine collection, always a hit, and blood work. The new thing was a PET Scan. The purpose of all this was to see how or if the cancer had progressed to the point that treatment was appropriate.
Wednesday my wife and I met with the doctor to hear and review the results. We discovered that yes, the cancer had grown, but not enough to warrant treatment. The new thing that was a surprise, there was a spot on my left lung that had lit up. It is too small to biopsy and it did not light up much but it seems to be there.
Yesterday I was chatting with a friend in another country. He asked how things were going and I shared all of this with him. His response caught me off guard, “Oooh my, your courage is one of the things I admire about you.”
What shocked me about that response was his attributing courage to this situation. I don’t see it that way. I think that I shared earlier that when I first heard about having cancer my initial response was, “Hmm, that changes things.” Followed closely by, “No, Psalm 139:3 (here @ Bible Gateway) was true yesterday, it still is today, this is just another part of the path. This just changes the logistics.” As it has turned out thus far, the logistics have changed but are not too difficult.
Further Psalm 139:16 (here @ Bible Gateway), informs me that all my days were set before I started this journey. Matthew 6:27 (here @ Bible Gateway) and Luke 12:25 (here @ Bible Gateway) inform me that there is nothing that I can do to extend that time by even an hour. Psalm 49:8 – 13 (here @ Bible Gateway) tells me that it is foolish to try.
So it is not so much courage as trust. It is my conviction that the Word of God is accurate, reflecting the thoughts, nature, and character of the Lord. It was committed to us in its current form by the Holy Spirit inspiring men to write the words that we read. Yes, I know that applies to the original autographs which we no longer have. However, I have studied enough Hebrew and Greek as well as text criticism to know that what we do have is very close to those autographs.
So, I trust it. I trust Him. So, what do we do with all of that? ...More on that tomorrow...
Wednesday my wife and I met with the doctor to hear and review the results. We discovered that yes, the cancer had grown, but not enough to warrant treatment. The new thing that was a surprise, there was a spot on my left lung that had lit up. It is too small to biopsy and it did not light up much but it seems to be there.
Yesterday I was chatting with a friend in another country. He asked how things were going and I shared all of this with him. His response caught me off guard, “Oooh my, your courage is one of the things I admire about you.”
What shocked me about that response was his attributing courage to this situation. I don’t see it that way. I think that I shared earlier that when I first heard about having cancer my initial response was, “Hmm, that changes things.” Followed closely by, “No, Psalm 139:3 (here @ Bible Gateway) was true yesterday, it still is today, this is just another part of the path. This just changes the logistics.” As it has turned out thus far, the logistics have changed but are not too difficult.
Further Psalm 139:16 (here @ Bible Gateway), informs me that all my days were set before I started this journey. Matthew 6:27 (here @ Bible Gateway) and Luke 12:25 (here @ Bible Gateway) inform me that there is nothing that I can do to extend that time by even an hour. Psalm 49:8 – 13 (here @ Bible Gateway) tells me that it is foolish to try.
So it is not so much courage as trust. It is my conviction that the Word of God is accurate, reflecting the thoughts, nature, and character of the Lord. It was committed to us in its current form by the Holy Spirit inspiring men to write the words that we read. Yes, I know that applies to the original autographs which we no longer have. However, I have studied enough Hebrew and Greek as well as text criticism to know that what we do have is very close to those autographs.
So, I trust it. I trust Him. So, what do we do with all of that? ...More on that tomorrow...
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