Tonight I was listening to a CD I haven't heard in a long time. It is by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Singers. "Only To Him." Very beautiful praise songs.
When track #8 started to play, I was suddenly transported back to last summer when I was "going through" some things and God used that song to minister to me. Here are the words:
- Hold me, hold me
I'm in the midst of the storm
Jesus, hold me, hold me
I'll be safe in my Father's armsIn March of 1996, I went for a routine mammogram and discovered that I had breast cancer. Not only that, but the surgeon didn't get "clear margins" when he did the biopsy; there were cancer cells right to the edge of the tissue he removed. I needed to have a second biopsy.
I had never before had a life-threatening illness, and my whole world seemed to spin out of control. I remember how God strengthened me as I listened to this beautiful praise song and the one which formed a medley with it:
- You are my Hiding Place
You are my Hiding Place
In the shelter of your Presence
I find I'm safe
For You are my Hiding PlaceThe next track on the CD, track #9, is based on Philippians 1:6
- God is going to finish just what He started
Even though the water's got to be parted
Lift up your head, don't be brokenhearted
God is going to finish what He started in you- He who began a good work in you
Is able to complete itI believe that God strengthens us so that we can strengthen each other.
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. (2 Cor 1:3-4)
I just want to give glory to God and to encourage anyone who is "going through" right now. God is faithful. He hears and answers prayer. When we are in the midst of the storm, sometimes all we can see is the storm. But God is there with us in the midst. He has promised never to leave us or forsake us.
If you are going through a storm right now, know that God is going to bring you through and that one day you will look back, as I am doing now, and praise Him for His faithfulness.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Pslms 46:1)
I give God glory that He is a God that answers prayer. I thank Him that when my pastor anointed me with oil and prayed for me that he asked God to prevent any unnecessary procedures. I thank Him that the surgeon to whom I went for a second opinion said the cancer was clearly "in situ" and therefore a sampling of the lymph nodes was not indicated (as the first surgeon was recommending). I thank God for friends who knew about nutritional supplements to help counteract the ravaging effects of radiation therapy. And I thank God for the doctor who sent me for the routine mammogram and the technicians who discovered the problem so early that I did not need to have chemotherapy.
Most of all, I thank God that He held me safe in His Arms and carried me right through that storm.
And He will do the same for you.
