How to Trust God When You’re Diagnosed with Cancer
The house opposite is being demolished today – you might be able to hear the rumble in the background.
There’s a bulldozer out front tearing it apart – not in a clear systematic way, not neatly or thoughtfully, taking care to be gentle or not damage too much around it.
Nope. having torn the bushes and trees from in front of the house it’s raising its mighty claw into the air and simply smashing its way through what once was someone’s family home.
We’ve known for months our neighbors house was coming down but still the shock of seeing the bright yellow bulldozer rattle its way up the driveway and begin its work was shocking.
And I know that whether we’ve known our diagnosis was coming or it slammed into us completely out of the blue, hearing we have cancer can feel like a bulldozer has driven up our safe little neighborhood street, turned into our driveway without any warning and simply started knocking down our home.
Hearing we have cancer can feel like a bulldozer has driven up our safe little neighborhood street, turned into our driveway without any warning and simply started knocking down our home.CLICK TO TWEET
When the cancer bulldozer starts smashing into our lives it’s not just our health and our families that start to crumble. Our faith and especially our trust in God doesn’t escape unscathed either.
If you know my story, you’d probably think that by now that I’d be a dab hand at trusting God.
But believe me—I’m not.
I still find it as difficult as squeezing into my tumble-dried skinny jeans.
Wouldn’t it be nice if trusting in the Lord with all our heart and not leaning on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6) was straight forward, no matter what life threw at us?
When my mum was told her cancer had spread to her brain and there’d be no Christmas dinner for her that year (yes, those were the words her oncologist used mid-way through October!)—I discovered that when I trusted God in the pain of loss, He brought the comfort I longed for.
When my sister died of the same disease at just 43 and I shouted my anger and frustration into the wind as I ran the rugged cliff paths near her house on England’s south coast—I discovered that when I trusted God, I felt heard and understood, even if He didn’t magic her cancer or my grief away.
He had proved His trustworthiness in those moments and a million others like them.
So why did I struggle to trust Him when I was diagnosed just six weeks after my sister’s funeral?
I wanted to trust. I needed to.
I knew he was trustworthy.
But still I struggled.
I knew trusting Him would help me find the peace, comfort and strength I was desperate for, but at the same time, it was just so ridiculously hard.
I trusted. But I didn’t.
Maybe you’ve hit that place too.
You know you need to trust God and you do, (kind of!), but it’s just plain hard.
Every fiber of your being wants to trust God, but you find yourself clinging to what you can see and touch rather than a God you can’t.
If that’s you, listen in to today’s episode as I share a quick story along with the 5 Steps to Trusting God When You Don’t Feel Like It I made for myself when I was struggling most.
- Check out God’s credentials
- Ask for his help
- Let go of what you’re holding onto
- Grab hold of God
- Keep a record
This simple plan will help you rebuild your trust in God and pave the way for unshakeable faith during your cancer.
What are you struggling to trust God with most?
Leave a comment and I’ll be sure to reply. xx
Grab your 5 Steps to Trusting God When You Don’t Feel Like It INFOGRAPHIC
(you’ll also get all the other bonuses and gifts that go along with my book, Breathe Again: How to Live Well When Life Falls Apart)
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