The Paradigm of David and Goliath

Do not be afraid or discouraged…

For the battle is not yours, but God’s.

2 Chronicles 20:15

There’s a surgical scar across my neck, as thin as the scalpel’s end they’ve used to cut me open. By all accounts, looking at that scar would’ve brought up unpleasant feelings – after all, no one would wish to have one. But as I look at it, I’m filled with gratefulness, for this scar is a symbol of God’s grace. This scar is a symbol of His love.

The story of God’s greatness in my life doesn’t end post-op. In fact, it’s only the beginning.

A day after I was discharged from the hospital, I came back to my surgeon for a follow-up. He checked my incision site and was pleased with how quickly it was healing. He asked, “By the way, have you gotten your biopsy result?”

He read my papers over. When I asked what it meant, he said: “You’re positive! You need to see your endocrinologist. He will explain it to you.”

When I heard the word, “positive,” I already knew what he meant. Strangely enough, I didn’t feel scared, or upset. We went to my endocrinologist’s office the next day, but it was a different doctor, since mine was on leave. He broke the news by saying, “Congratulations! You have Thyroid Cancer.”

Some members of Thyroid-Cancer groups have been told the same thing upon being diagnosed, but in all honesty? I didn’t think it would happen to me. I followed up again with my actual endocrinologist and and received the same news – and yet, I wasn’t upset. 

He told me I needed to undergo Radioactive Iodine Therapy. I would be isolated for a couple of days in the hospital, since I would basically be swallowing a Radioactive Iodine pill.  There was no other alternate form of treatment. Thankfully, my doctor agreed to push up the treatment’s date a little further.

“Don’t worry too much. It’s alright!” I told my family as sadness and worry lined their faces. Even as I write this, I still echo the aforementioned sentiment. The truth is, we will all face death if it’s our time to go home to our Creator – be it we are healthy or terminally ill, if it’s our time, then we will die. It’s a simple fact of life. Nobody knows the exact date, and even the healthiest person who has access to the best healthcare in the world can die in an instant. We don’t control that aspect of our lives – it’s something that is not up to us.

But what is in our control is what we do with the time that we’ve been given. Now is all that there is, and all that there will be. A perspective of gratefulness is precious – as we go through the motions of life, may we not forget that the job that strangles us and our kids that seem to drive us crazy isn’t what defines our lives. The main essence of all these is to love and to be loved. Life is a gift, so why should we treat it as anything less than? 

“ I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.”
Philippians 4:13

This mountain of a problem and that Goliath of a mistake that we’re facing doesn’t define our lives. Let’s live each moment and share love, forgiveness and compassion. Let’s act and be brave and continue to reach for our dreams. We’re here to live, and to love, and to be loved. 

My friend, life isn’t easy. Nobody said it was. But life is also a gift, and I hope we see it as such. This side of heaven was never meant to be fair, because it is only through Jesus and with Jesus that everything will become perfect. Maybe right now, things are bleak and hopeless. Maybe right now, you’re at the bottom.

Maybe, you’ve been told by your doctor that you only have a few months to live. Maybe you’re buried in debt right now, maybe you just got fired in your job, maybe you’re struggling in your relationships…our problems are as big as Goliath, that much is true. 

But you know what else is true? God is bigger than any of that. God made the universe, God created EVERYTHING. He created everything that there is to see! What can make us think that He doesn’t have the power to bring down every measly Goliath in our lives? 

God is here and He is fighting for you. 

He has your back. Maybe nobody has told you that before. Maybe you needed to hear it again. Whatever the case, God is in your highs as He is in your lows. From your greatest triumph, to your toughest defeat, God is still here. God is still holding on and He isn’t going to let go. He has made a promise to never forsake us, and out of everything that we believe in, it’s Him that we should trust the most.

Breathe, friend. Breathe and leave behind all your worries and fears. Leave behind everything that holds you down – because He is here. You’ve got all that you need.

He will fight the battle for you.

I pray that today, we look for the beauty in our lives. I pray that we see compassion in a stranger’s smile, find hope in a child’s laughter, be strengthened by the stories of a friend, and to fall in love with life.

There is more, my friend. There is hope.

Praying for you,

Alpha

July 18, 2019