Week of January 28 - February 3

January 28

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.
     Psalm 40:1

Patience is one of the most difficult virtues to possess. We often do not wait patiently. We seldom like to wait at all. Especially when we are sick, our patience grows weaker and more limited with each difficult day. But just when we are most impatient, it is important to stop, to look back and to remember how God has helped us through our most troubling times, how God has delivered us day by day. It is in remembering that we have been redeemed from pain before that we will gain confidence in the hope that we can be set free again.

Dear God, I’m listening for you. I’m watching for you to reach out to me. I’m asking for your help. And I’m waiting as patiently as I can to recognize without doubt that you are looking out for me. Amen. 


January 29

… and hope does not disappoint us, …
     Romans 5:5a

Disappointments abound with cancer. First, hearing the news that we have cancer is disappointing – and distressing – enough. And then the indignities and uncertainties it forces on our lives just compound the disheartening energy cancer brings. It’s very easy to become discouraged when cancer affects us so completely. But we must not give in to the disappointment. Giving in just leads us down a negative path. Instead we must hold fast to everything that is positive, everything that stirs hope in us. Hope lifts us and revives us. It is our best resource because hope comes from God. And God will never fail or give up on us.

Your name means hope, O God. Your promises inspire hope. Your goodness proves hope is not in vain. So I reach out to you today in hope, to catch a glimpse of the healing grace you offer me. Amen.


January 30

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
     Isaiah 27:1a

Fear has a startling way of getting the best of us. It can prevent us from seeing or believing that we will ever have a better day. Fear brings dark, troubling clouds to rest over us. Fear haunts us and robs us of joy in our lives. But God is a light that penetrates fear. God unmasks fear by showing a greater and more lasting power than fear can ever show. God’s warming light moves fear into the shadows and bathes us with a calming, confident grace. When we connect with God fear is diminished and is put in its proper place.

In the moments when I realize how weak fear is and how fear weakens me I am renewed. Dear Lord, I pray for fear to lessen in me. I ask that your light drives fear from my heart today. Amen.


January 31

… I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;
     Acts 2:25

Cancer has a way of shaking us to the core. Sometimes we shake with fear. Sometimes we shake with uncertainty. Sometimes we shake from worry. Sometimes we shake from pain. Sometimes cancer shakes us with news that stuns us and takes our breath away. Sometimes it shakes us with loneliness. Sometimes it shakes us with utter fatigue. While we may shake from it, we do not have to be broken apart by it. God is with us to show us that we do not have to go through this alone. God is so concerned for us, so invested in our well-being, that God stands with us and accompanies us every step along the way. In this faithfulness, we are assured that we can withstand anything that confronts us today.

Faithful God, it’s really easy to think I will be broken apart by the force of cancer’s power. But remind me today that your power is far greater and much more enduring. Help me to see like I’ve never seen before how strong and available you are for me. Amen.


February 1

O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.
     Isaiah 33:2

One key in gaining strength for the journey is to make a determined choice to rely on God as you begin every day. Don’t wait until some trouble confronts you. Don’t delay until some problem breaks you down. But start each day with the resolve to remember God’s faithfulness. Focus right away on the power of God’s presence. Commit at the first to allowing God to help you through. Anticipate that God will act and guide, for God surely will. When we believe that help is there even before we run into difficulty, the help that comes from God will already be working for us to set us on a much more positive path from the start.

I realize that when I establish my focus on you first, I am already more confident and better equipped to handle what comes my way. Dear God, I know I need to rely on you before anything else to put me in the best position to deal with all that challenges me today. Amen.


February 2

You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.
     Acts 2:28

There’s a lot about life we don’t easily understand. There’s certainly a lot about cancer that we don’t comprehend very well either. There will always be mysteries and circumstances too veiled to know. Yet, even in our incomplete view of the world and our place in it, we are given assurance after assurance that God is watching over us in ways too great to recognize from our human perspective. This unflinching care for us can be enough. It can be enough to show us that even though we don’t know everything we can rest assured in the certainty of God’s protective, loving presence in everything we need to face.

When I finally grasp that I don’t need to know or control everything I really do feel freer to rely on you for guidance and support. It’s amazing how good that can make me feel, O God. Knowing that you have things under control, and I don’t always need to, gives me a tremendous confidence and serenity. Thank you. Amen.


February 3

What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun?
     Ecclesiastes 1:3

Many of us often wonder why we got cancer. We ask, what is cancer’s purpose in our lives? What does it mean? What are we to do with it now that we have it? How can we make sense of it? Those are important questions to ask. Cancer can be used for a good purpose – to reprioritize our life, to take a look at our attitudes, to reassess our relationships, to reexamine our goals, to refocus on healthier eating, to recapture joy, to renew a passion for something, to rejuvenate the connection to our spirits. When we use cancer in this way, and refuse to allow cancer to use us, it will have a healing purpose. The effort will not be in vain.

Rather than looking at this disease as the bane of my existence, I want to look at it instead as an opportunity to change my life for the better. Dear God, I need your help to see what I can do with this. I’m looking for your guidance to show me a purposeful way. Amen.