Trusting Jesus! Jeremiah 17:7-8

Our guest blogger today is Kari Dent. I’m not sure when I met Kari, sometime ago when we lived in St. Marys, but I’m so glad I got to meet her on my life journey. She has many titles behind her name—wife, mom, grandma, Christian DJ, pastor’s wife, leader, Bible scholar, and adventurer. You know what I appreciate the most about Kari? She shoots straight with you, she’s a prayer warrior, she’s missions minded and she knows and loves the Word!

We have also both walked through the waters with cancer. She had breast cancer and I have Ovarian. Our end stories do not match–she is cancer free and I am not. But do you know what we have both learned on our journeys? To trust in Jesus. Trust Him when the news is good, when its awful, and when it’s neither. Trust Him.

Here is her story; I know it’s going to encourage you today!

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is in the LORD. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

I read those verses during my regular morning quiet time the morning of January 14, 2014.  As I read the words, I had a strong sense that God was speaking them directly to me in that moment. I felt sure that He was preparing me for something even though I wasn’t certain about exactly what. A few hours later, the reason became clear. I received the call that no one wants. I had cancer. I thought, “Here it is. The drought has come.”

Of course, I already knew that there was a good possibility that I had cancer. I had already had the test and was awaiting the results, but I didn’t know for sure. When I had read those verses earlier that morning, I had felt the Spirit of God wrap His arms around me and say I was getting ready to go through a time of “drought” or great difficulty. However, it would only be a year. I didn’t believe that God was telling that it was going to be a literal twelve month year. But I did feel like He was telling me that there was a beginning and an end to this trial. Through His Word, He was assuring me that I could trust Him and there was no need to be anxious. He was going to bring me through. So, when I received the phone call shortly after that, I was almost eerily calm. In fact, the nurse who called me told my doctor that she had never told the news to anyone like me before. She said, “It was almost like she was waiting for my call.” Little did she know, I kind of was.

Of course, that phone call began a journey that many people compare to a roller coaster ride. Yes, there are ups and down, but it is more like a never-ending bungee jump. Mostly down, very little up, and absolutely no catching your breath. When you finally make it back to the platform safely, someone pushes you off again!

Anyone who has had any kind of major medical event knows what information overload is. You simply cannot take in one more piece of information. Almost every appointment was like that for me, but when I went to the first appointment with my primary surgeon, she said something that jumped out at me and I heard it clearly. She said, “This is going to be about a one year process.”

One year? One year! Immediately, the words of Jeremiah 17 came to me along with the Lord’s sweet promise that this trial had a beginning and an end. That was sweet confirmation from my precious Lord to me. I held onto those verses very tightly through the long process of major surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and minor surgeries and procedures. (It actually took about two and half years from the date of my diagnosis to the very last procedure, but, as I said, I never took a “year” to mean 365 days. I always understood it to mean an end would come.)

That nurse was right. Before she called, I knew. I knew when I went for my regular mammogram that my doctor was going to find something. I knew when I went for the biopsy that it was not going to be okay. I knew when the nurse called that is was going to be “something.” I knew because the Lord, in all His goodness, had been preparing me for the cancer diagnosis long before the morning I received the call. As early as the previous Thanksgiving, He had been speaking quietly to my heart that I was getting ready to go through something that involved my health. I had always been a very healthy person, exercising and eating right practically my whole life. Going through a struggle with my health was nowhere on my radar.

While I was going through cancer and did not know what the outcome would be, I wanted everyone to know that God was good whether He healed me or not, and I wasn’t shy about saying so! People say this phrase that really bothers me. They say, “God is so good!” It might seem strange to you that it bothers me for people to say, “God is good!” But usually they say, “God is good!” and then tell about a prayer they prayed and immediately God answered just the way they wanted. They act like God is a genie in a bottle. They rub the bottle, and He answers! But God doesn’t always answer our prayers just the way we want and when we want. And He is good even then.

The point is do I trust Him no matter what? Do I trust Him even when He doesn’t answer the way I want Him to? Do I trust Him even when I have cancer or lose my job or my child walks away from God?

We must come to the place where we trust the Lord NO MATTER WHAT. We must glorify Him NO MATTER WHAT. We must love and worship Him NO MATTER WHAT. The point of this life and every trial we face is to learn who God is and to understand that He is worthy of our worship NO MATTER WHAT.

I am still learning and growing. Trials sort of put us on the fast track to spiritual growth, but usually it takes more than one to teach us. Even though it seems that I do not have any cancer in my body right now, that could change at any moment. Cancer is never really over. I have had a few reoccurrence scares, and I have multiple health issues that I deal with as a result of treatment. I am being closely monitored. The poking and prodding never seem to end.

God brought me through that year of drought just like He promised. But there is always another drought right around the corner. Sometimes we are going through multiple droughts at one time! I am reminded of a beautiful song by Babbie Mason called Trust His Heart. It says, “God is too wise to be mistaken. God is too good to be unkind. So when you don’t understand, when you don’t see His plan, when you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart.”

I guess that’s what I really want you to know – that you can trust Him. He is just as faithful in the valley as He is on the mountain peak. He is just as faithful during the drought as He is during the drenching rain. The woman who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord is truly blessed and has no reason to fear the heat or be anxious in the drought. He will bring you through. The journey may not look like you expected, but He will be faithful every single step of the way.

Blessings,

Kari