Triumph in the Midst of Difficulties

By Luane Maddock

I Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice Always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Do we just give thanks in the good times, when our life is filled with people we care about? When things are fun, full of laughter, and good times? When people are sharing their love or admiration of us? When our plans work just the way we wanted them to?

Can we be thankful when we get an emotional punch in the gut, in the worst of times? Is it possible to rejoice and give thanks? Not only is it possible, but God can provide an indescribable peace that is beyond our understanding.

We may be tempted to languish in grief through trials, but we should not let our feelings dictate obedience to God’s Word.

Let’s look at the book of Job.

Job 1:6-10

¹One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.

“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?”

²”But now stretch your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”

We see what happens then, messengers come to Job and report to him that his animals are taken, property destroyed, and his children are all dead. In verse 20-22 we see Job’s response to this:

²⁰At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship ²¹and said: Naked, I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” ²²In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Then God told Satan that Job maintained his integrity even though Satan incited God to ruin him for no reason.

Chapter 2 verse 4

“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life.” But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and surely he will curse you to your face.”

So the Lord allowed this, but told Satan to spare his life.

How do I know how to live through pain and suffering in a godly way? 

I Corinthians 11:1

Paul said, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.”

I recalled seeing the lives of my sisters. (God-centered lives and reactions of my sisters in Christ), I believe I knew how to react by watching these sisters' lives in the face of receiving a devastating medical diagnosis.

My first example was a sister in Christ who found out she had an aggressive form of breast cancer. The doctor told her she had to have a mastectomy first. He also said that after the surgery, they would give her chemotherapy, however they did not know if the chemotherapy was even effective for this type of cancer. Well, instead of going into “save yourself” mode, she told the doctor “Let’s find out if the chemo is effective for this type of cancer. Do the chemotherapy treatments first so you can see how effective it is, then do the mastectomy. I admired her courage to not just “save herself” but also to help all women in her set of circumstances. 

God blessed her in this because not only did they discover that this treatment completely cleared up all of her rapidly growing cancer, she then did not even require the mastectomy. When we choose to be a blessing to others, we may also be blessed in great ways.

I then have another example of a sister living a godly life through the pain and suffering of her devastating diagnosis.

I watched as she handled her cancer diagnosis and then the treatments that were quite painful, but also the emotional and mental suffering she went through. Not easy for her,, but I saw her going through it as “not my will, but God’s be done”. I never saw the anger and the complaining that would normally be seen with this.

When I developed a near-fatal diagnosis of Leukemia (when I was in my right mind and could think for myself), I followed my sisters' examples.

Because these sisters handled their situations with grace and love, trusting in God, I was able to do the same. 

How did I handle living through some of my top fears?

As a nurse for over 30 years, I have seen a lot of pain and suffering. I decided for myself what I could deal with. I could see what I could handle and what I felt I would never, ever want to have to live with and did not think I would be strong enough to handle. 5 things on my list included:

1. Cancer
2. Chemotherapy
3. Bone Marrow Biopsy
4. Bone Marrow Transplant
5. Being placed on a ventilator

Looking back I think that perhaps God saw that I had a self-reliant attitude, and not God-reliant. If I think I can “deal with things on my own” I am not surrendering to God. Spring of 2015 rolls around and I start feeling sick: short of breath, headache, fatigue. I saw the doctor and he prescribed antibiotics for an ear infection. By June, I was pretty convinced that I was dying. I had every symptom of Leukemia. When I shared this with my friends, coworkers, and my husband, no one believed me, not even my doctor. I had to convince him of my symptoms so he would check my blood work.

What did the bloodwork show?

My worst fears were being realized. “Go to the hospital immediately”, the doctor said, I will be admitted.

I did have leukemia (blood cancer). I had to have a bone marrow biopsy (not just one, but 5 through the course of treatment)

My biopsy result, as my oncologist said, was “unfortunate”. This is rapidly fatal. If I did not have a bone marrow transplant I would die by the end of the year. The chemo would only work once after that the cancer would come back and I would quickly die. 

What happened next?

When I was preparing to get my bone marrow transplant,Our church body each wrote a note to me with a scripture. I had a large pile of cards. I took the scriptures from each card and wrote each one on a set of 3x5 notecards, so I could have them while I was in the hospital. Also, I decided I would memorize 2 Corinthians 4 while in the hospital.

I asked my husband to bring me a journal. I started writing down my blessings. I had many, many blessings. Soon the fear was gone and God gave me a peace that I could not describe. The staff were very concerned about my attitude. I was not mourning, I was not scared, I was not complaining, NOPE! The tools from God got me through this.

I did not get angry at God, I filled my thoughts with thanks to him. The hospital staff felt that I was not safely grieving. They sent in therapists, social workers, priests, and art therapists. They tried to get me to tell them about what I was going through and how I felt. All I could come up with was peace from God and thankfulness for all he did for me.

Prior to this experience, the Book of Job was depressing to me, so I purposefully avoided reading it. But during my illness, Job was just what I needed! So, I tried to learn from Job, and I felt like I had company in my misery, too.

Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Some days I was so sick all I could do was repeat Romans 8:28 over and over, because that was the only thing I was able to do.

I was on a ventilator for a time and once I was weaned from that and my mind became aware of reality again, I had to take stock. I could only move my arm up about 12 inches, nothing else. At this point I had lost all my muscle, could not swallow without choking, was completely bald, had a mouth full of sores, rotting teeth, bedsores on all my pressure points, and my body was swollen to the point that if I touched my finger, it would split open. My Blood glucose was checked every 4 hours. I was in a lot of pain. My skin turned black and sloughed off over a period of weeks. I took a selfie because there were no mirrors in my ICU bed. I looked just like Uncle Fester from the Addams Family.

At that time, all I could do was repeat “Help me Jesus” over and over for hours. I could not stand how I felt, but God saw me through it.

My husband told me later that while I was on the ventilator, the only thing that calmed me was for him to sing to me. He said I tried to sing along with him. Picture me intubated and on a ventilator singing along. He said it was like a horrible moan.

Sisters came to visit and pray with me - some who never met me before. They would ask me to pray, but I was too sick. All I could get out was “you pray”. 

Rejoice always? Yes.

Pray continually? Yes.

Give thanks in all circumstances? Yes.

Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Here are some practicals:

• Accept visits from godly people, (even if you don’t feel up for it). Pray with them, even if you are too weak to speak.
• Write out or read scriptures in the midst of trials. 
• Sing praises to God, even if it comes out as a moan.
• Write in a thankfulness journal, thank God for even the littlest things.
• Share what you are thankful for with others.
• Read the book of Job.

I am sharing this with you because with God I was able to triumph over my worst fears and my thankfulness to God has been a light to myself and others.