You have not been feeling quite yourself so you go into the doctor and, after your first appointment, you are told that they need to run some tests but, according to the medical professionals attending to you, it is all precautionary. Those initial tests lead to more tests and then you have an appointment with the doctor which you will never forget. It is an appointment which will shock your world with a trial unlike any you have ever faced in your life. In fact, your life will never be the same again after you walk into this next doctor’s appointment. You walk into that appointment and the doctor tells you that you have lung cancer. Huh? Since you NEVER smoked, you are in complete shock as you cannot believe this is true nor can you believe that it is happening to you as you don’t feel that bad. You are a nurse and you are going to a doctor at the hospital where you work so you definitely know the seriousness of this cancer diagnosis. Your mom died of lung cancer so you start to wonder if you are going to die from the same disease which took her life – these thoughts make you feel very nervous and helpless. Finally, the doctor hits you with some additional news which will shake your world more than the initial cancer diagnosis news did. The doctor tells you that you only have 3 to 6 months to live and that you better get your affairs in order. Your start to feel like your heart is going to fall out of your body when you hear the news from the medical professionals that your life is going to end soon. “This cannot be happening to me” you think to yourself and “what am I going to do”? Your life is literally spinning out of control, and you start feeling depressed.
You schedule an appointment with an oncologist at one of the premiere cancer facilities in the area and, just when it feels like you have hit the all-time low point of your life, the news gets worse after you meet with the oncologist at University Hospital’s Ireland Cancer Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The oncologist walks in and tells you that you don’t have 3 to 6 months to live but you only have 3 to 6 weeks to live. Gulp – your whole body goes numb! “I am not that sick” you think to yourself “so how can this be”? To back up this new projection, the oncologist starts telling you all the places the cancer is in your body. You find out that your lung cancer (3 tumors in one lung and 7 tumors in the other lung) has also traveled to your liver, lungs, pancreas, abdomen and 6 of your ribs. Yes, the cancer had metastasized and it now seems like your metastasized cancer is literally everywhere in your body. As a nurse, you also know that once cancer gets attached to the bone (ribs), it NEVER leaves. Just when it seems like the news could not get any worse, it does. The doctor goes on to tell you that there is nothing that they can do for you and you need to seek hospice care immediately to make your remaining days more comfortable. You cry to the doctor, “Isn’t there anything at all you can recommend other than hospice care”? The oncologist says “Why don’t you try the Macrobiotic diet”, a diet which essentially starves the body of sugar. He walks out and you are now overcome with a feeling of complete hopelessness. You cry uncontrollably as you don’t know what to do.
Before I continue on with this remarkable story, let me pause to say I wish I was a better writer and could more adequately convey with my words the helplessness and complete despair that someone feels when they receive terminal cancer news like this. This is “almost unbearable to hear” news because you are being told you are not only terminally ill but there is nothing the medical professionals can do for you and you need to hire the “help me die” service ASAP. News like this will completely rock your world unlike any other trial you have ever encountered in your life – some patients who receive this news literally almost pass out or collapse as they are so OVERWHELMED. Although I was not there when this happened, I can only imagine how difficult it was to receive this news given how little time there was to prepare for this terminal diagnosis. Many cancer patients face long cancer trials with complicated treatment protocols before they receive news like this, meaning they have more time to prepare and ponder such a terminal diagnosis. I have been helping with a Cancer Support Group (CSG) for over 11 years and I have seen a number of my CSG friends receive a diagnosis which said they were terminal and need to seek hospice care immediately. They all responded differently, but I have seen the strongest of men and women cry uncontrollably and/or be left in a state of complete and total shock. Many state that they cannot think clearly and many need to go on anxiety medication because their heart is racing constantly. The cancer starts to consume and control their thinking and every other concern, passion and desire seems to slowly fade away as they start to think only of their terminal diagnosis. Many have stated that they feel helpless and without any hope. Many have never really considered or put much thought into their own mortality until they received their terminal cancer news.
If you were given a similar terminal diagnosis, how would YOU respond? Can you imagine having to make the initial call to hospice to ask for them to set-up an appointment to help you die peacefully? Furthermore, how would you spend the last days you have here on earth? What activities or interests would you focus on in the time you had left? What, if anything, would become your post terminal cancer diagnosis passion(s)? Would you feel any sense of urgency to address any relationships in your life which feel like to you there is some unfinished business yet to address before you die? Finally, have you considered your own mortality and do you have a plan for the destiny of your soul if you die according the life expectancy timeline which the medical professionals are predicting for you?
The story I am telling you is true and it is about a CSG friend of mine named Janet (Note: I have her permission to use her name in this blog post). Janet received the “terminal cancer/seek hospice care/get your affairs in order” news I described above and we will find out, in the balance of this blog post, how she responded to her terminal hospice diagnosis and how she chose to spend her last days. Finally, I will talk about how God’s plan for Janet impacted her longevity here on this earth and what I have learned from analyzing her story. Hang on, grab some tissues – it is a truly amazing story so be ready to be surprised and encouraged.
After receiving the 3 to 6 weeks to live and you need to seek hospice care news, Janet decided she wanted to die at home. What a humbling decision that must have been for her. Can you imagine having to choose the place where you are going to die at? Can you also imagine what it was like for Janet to have to call Hospice to come over to her house to help her die? She wasn’t married at the time and her girlfriends decided they were going to help her out with the hospice care at her home. Janet was divorced and had two teenage boys – Janet was obviously not ready to leave them yet. She wanted to continue to be a mom so the thoughts of having her boys grow up without a mom weighed heavily on her. According to Janet, she still could not believe she needed hospice care as she was in denial about the seriousness of her cancer prognosis. A couple of weeks later, she was receiving hospice care at her home and then one of her lungs collapsed as it was filing up with fluid. She started to realize that she was already headed downhill quickly just as the doctors had predicted she would. “How could this be” she thought and “this is all happening way too fast” she added. Even though she was in denial about the seriousness of her diagnosis, Janet was starting to come to grips with the fact that she was very sick and she started to wonder if this was how she was going to die. As I mentioned, she not only felt helpless and hopeless but she also wondered if this was all there was to life as she was also feeling empty, stifled, incomplete.
After sharing her fears and concerns with her friends, there was one friend of Janet’s who told her to listen to Charles Stanley, a well-respected bible preacher who has a television program. Janet yearned for some good news in her life and she knew she didn’t have much time left to find something or someone who could encourage her so she listened to her friend and immediately started researching how to listen to Dr. Stanley. After she tuned into to his television program, her friend asked if she was taking notes as she listened to pastor Stanley – “this would help you better comprehend what is being taught” her friend told her. Janet responded, “No, I did not know I was supposed to take notes”. At the time, Janet was also propped up in her bed on five pillows because if she laid in her bed like a normal person reclines to watch TV, she would have drowned from all the fluid in her lungs. As a result, taking notes wasn’t exactly at the top of Janet’s priority list. But, what Pastor Stanley had to say when she listened to him intrigued her so, even though it was difficult for her to do given her physical limitations, Janet started taking notes as she listened to Pastor Stanley teach from the bible. Janet yearned for an ounce of hope in this world because everyone, including the medical professionals who were supposed to save her from her disease, offered her no hope at all.
One day, Pastor Stanley said “we are all sinners saved by grace” and this biblical statement (“Ephesians 1:7) got Janet’s attention. Janet said she looked at others as sinners but she always viewed herself, not as a sinner, but as a good person. Pastor Stanley’s teaching from the bible that day not only convicted her (“we are all sinners”) but it also encouraged her (“saved by grace”) so Janet put her faith and hope in Christ that very day. She immediately called her friend and told her of this monumentally important decision. Ephesians 2: 8-9 tells us:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
After 3 to 4 weeks of almost unbearable news, Janet finally had some hope in her life. 1 Peter 1:3-6 tells us about how those who are in Christ are given a new birth into a living hope:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”
After asking Him to be Lord and Savior of her life, Janet was incredibly thankful for the hope which Jesus provides to everyone, including someone like her with terminal cancer. Referring to Jesus, Acts 4:12 tells us:
"And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
As a terminal cancer patient, Janet was beyond thankful for the salvation which only Jesus could provide her. Immediately after calling her friend to inform her of this important decision, Janet asked her friend to take her to a church later that Sunday so she could learn more about Jesus and be with people who knew Him. Her friend came over and picked her up from her house because Janet was too weak to dress herself. The two of them then headed out to a non-denominational church, which is the same church which I attend. Janet came into the church in her wheelchair and sat in the back of the church. The pastor was teaching on Genesis 39:2 that day which tells us:
“The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master”
When the Pastor said “the Lord is with Joseph”, Janet took it as he said “The Lord is with Janet” and she cried. After hearing the preaching on this old testament scripture, Janet knew she made the right decision to put her faith in Jesus, no matter the outcome of her cancer/hospice trial.
After going to that non-denominational church that day and given the impact the teaching had on her that day, Janet decided she needed to get to know this God who she now considered Savior and Lord. She said if she was going to spend eternity with God, she needed to get to know Him better, as she did not know Him very well at that point in her life. She also became addicted to studying the scriptures and, with the help of her friends, she joined two bible studies and started attending every church service she could attend. Before she knew Jesus and before she was diagnosed with cancer, Janet enjoyed going out with her friends and being a single person in Cleveland. She said it was a lifestyle (dating, going out a lot) which is appalling to her now. But after she was diagnosed and after she had a life changing encounter with Jesus, all of her priorities changed and she started attending bible studies instead of going out with friends, dating etc. Instead of spending her remaining days angry about her diagnosis and seeking every alternative cancer cure known to man, Janet was spending her time reading the scriptures preparing to know the God she was going to spend eternity with. She now valued her relationship with Jesus over the normal, instinctual desires to save ourselves from anything including cancer. When you have a life changing encounter with Jesus, he causes all of your priorities to change as you start following Him. Since He changed not only her heart but He also caused her to change where she invested her time, talents and treasure, Janet was a living example of what is referenced in 2 Corinthians 5:17 where it states that anyone who is “in Christ” become a new creation. Instead of crossing tasks off her bucket list like so many choose to do when they are given terminal news, Janet chose to spend her last days getting to know God better by studying His word, the bible. Is that how you would spend your last days if you were in a similar situation? Psalm 138:2 tells us:
“For you have exalted above all things your name and your word”
Looking back, Janet can now see how God was trying to call her before the cancer trial but she told me she was so arrogant that she ignored His calls over and over. Janet told me God knew that, in order to get her attention, Janet would need to be completely helpless and she would have to rely on others for everything (including her bathroom needs) for her to realize that she needed someone other than herself. Janet also told me she can now see that God knew that a terminal hospice diagnosis was THE TRIAL which God would use to get her to realize that she needed God and a relationship with Jesus Christ. As Janet said, “God knows what we need, even if it takes something like a terminal cancer/hospice diagnosis to get our attention”. You see, that is what happens when you have a life changing encounter with Jesus – He turns your heart upside down and inside out. Once you were headed one way and now you are following Jesus you start heading another way. John 10:28 tells us:
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
While she was in Hospice, Janet did listen to her oncologist (remember – he was the one who was not able to help her with a more traditional cancer treatment plan) and she started to eat the Macrobiotic way as he suggested. Wikipedia.com describes the Macrobiotic diet as follows: Macrobiotics emphasizes locally grown whole grain cereals, pulses (legumes), vegetables, seaweed, fermented soy products and fruit, combined into meals. Although the American Cancer Society does not endorse the diet, Macrobiotic diets essentially eliminate sugar from your diet as Macrobiotic proponents believe sugar is what causes Cancer to grow. Janet claims she was always in fairly good shape and sugar was not her addiction but salt was. Unfortunately, after five months on the Macrobiotic diet, all of Janet’s tumors kept growing. Fortunately, after 10 months on the Macrobiotic diet, ALL OF HER TUMORS WERE GONE!!! Janet feels that God used the Macrobiotic diet as another way to humble her as it totally changed her lifestyle and her approach to overall nutrition. Philippians 2:8 tells us how Jesus humbled Himself for our benefit:
“And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
In coming to faith in Jesus, believers are required to humble themselves before Christ just like He did for us on the cross. We are all born with a desire to put ourselves first over everything else and it is these vain, self-focused desires which often override our eagerness to follow biblical instructions which encourage us to be humble. One of the blessings of a cancer trial is it humbles the cancer patient in so many ways that it can actually teach the patient to be humble. This is what Janet was referring to when she said the cancer and the corresponding Macrobiotic diet which followed taught her so much about being humble. Colossians 3:12 tells us believers need to put on a heart humility:
“So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience”
It is somewhat ironic that God used this Macrobiotic diet, which is often associated with Zen Buddhism, as a way to impact Janet, a new Christian. Psalm 135:6 tells us:
“The LORD does whatever pleases him throughout all heaven and earth, and on the seas and in their depths.”
In other words, God, if it pleases Him to do so, can even use a Zen Buddhism diet to bring Glory to His name. Obviously, Zen Buddhism and Christianity are diametrically opposed to each other but that is a topic for Christian apologetics which is beyond the scope of this blog post.
In my recent interview with her, Janet said to me over and over again how amazing her Hospice nurse was and what incredible services hospice provide her. Janet came to love this person who cared for her for 18 months in her home. After 18 months, and, as her condition slowly started to improve, it was time for Janice to say goodbye to her hospice nurse as her insurance was no longer going to pay for her hospice care. You see, Janet had no more tumors in her body nor was there any evidence of cancer anywhere. Are you serious? She never had any chemotherapy or radiation or any type of traditional cancer treatments (hormones etc.) and there was now no evidence of cancer. It is an almost unbelievable story as Janet went from having 10 tumors in her lungs and also having metastasized cancer in 3 other organs, her abdomen and 6 of her ribs to now having no evidence of cancer anywhere in her body. As a nurse, Janet knew that once cancer gets attached to the bone it almost never leaves and now even the cancer on her ribs was totally gone. The medical professionals who attended to her could not explain what happened to her as it just did not make sense to them. Given her medical background, Janet knows that what happened to her cannot be explained in any way other than her remission from cancer being a gracious healing from God. Yes, God can do whatever He pleases as He has a plan, not only for Janet’s life, but for all of our lives. Psalm 135:6 tells us:
“Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.”
The hospice nurse told Janet that she always gets to say goodbye to her patients but this was the FIRST TIME the nurse said goodbye to a patient because he/she did not need her anymore. Doesn’t that statement just bring chills to your body and tears to your eyes? Janet cried with her hospice nurse as it was an emotional departure but she was beyond thankful to be out of the care of hospice. After she “graduated” from hospice, she missed her nurse who loved and cared for her and was so flexible but Janet was also coming to grips with the fact she was being graciously blessed by God with an outcome which is just not normal nor could it be explained from a traditional worldly or modern medical perspective. If you were to call 10 hospice facilities and ask how many cancer patients walked away in the last 5 years because they no longer needed care, please do not be surprised if you don’t find any more such stories when you make such calls.
Yes, Janet was healed from her extensively metastasized cancer, which she was first diagnosed with in April of 1995. I spoke with retired (42 Years of service) Cleveland Clinic Pathologist Dr. Gerry Hoeltge, who knows Janet well and also knows a little of her medical history, about her remarkable recovery from terminal hospice care. Dr. Hoeltge called her recovery “UNIMAGINABLE” and said there is no way to explain her recovery as it defies what has been proven in modern clinical medical research. Based on the extent of her metastasized cancer, Dr. Hoeltge, who was careful with his words, indicated to me “in so many words” that he has never seen anything like what happened to Janet before. In 42 years of service as a Doctor of Pathology, he personally witnessed or heard of unexplainable recoveries from advanced metastasized cancer less than 5 times. It has been over 23 YEARS SINCE JANET’S ORIGINAL TERMINAL DIAGNOSIS and her cancer story is one of the most remarkable ones I have ever encountered in 11 years of ministering to people with cancer at CSG. Yes, she is no longer under the care of an oncologist and she no longer goes in for any cancer checkups. Janet believes that God used the Macrobiotic diet to heal her of her metastasized cancer.
Only God knows why He healed Janet when so many other cancer patients in a similar hospice situation remain unhealed. Obviously, God had a plan for her life which included a gracious healing. Job 42:2 tells us:
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours (God) can be thwarted”
Janet never expected to be healed and, after coming to faith in Christ, she never prayed to be healed. When Jesus becomes savior and Lord, many cancer patients like Janet don’t pray for healing as they have the hope of spending eternity with Jesus. Many cancer patients who are not in Christ are always asking for prayers to be healed because they have no plans for the eternal destiny of their souls. After she came to faith in Jesus and had a better understanding of Him, Janet prayed for her cancer not to spread or grow anymore – she asked if she could just stay the same. She was no longer worried about the eternal destiny of her soul so that is why she did not ask for a miraculous healing. Her boys were teenagers at the time and she did not want to leave them yet so that is why she just prayed for her cancer not to spread. She asked that if God would grant her this prayer request, Janet would be grateful every day. That is why Janet does not get up in the morning or let her feet touch the floor until she thanks God for blessing her with another day. Janet joked that sometimes she gets up and needs to go to the bathroom badly but, after she starts heading to the bathroom and realizes she has not given thanks yet, she runs back to her bed and lifts her feet back up off the floor to give thanks to the Lord before she returns to doing her business in the bathroom. Psalm 107:1 tells us:
“Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”
Before you get out of bed in the morning, do you wake up every day and thank God for blessing you with another day? If you were given weeks to live and were still living years later, do you think you would have a different perspective on giving thanks to the Lord for each day? Giving daily thanks to the Lord is convicting for me, a two-time cancer survivor, to hear as I am not as diligent in this area of my life as I should be. In my 11 years of helping minister to people with Cancer, Janet’s story is the most amazing physical healing story I have ever come across. Janet certainly beat the odds with an outcome which is just not normal nor should it be expected. I hesitate to use the term “miracle”, which is often associated with biblical times, but she was graciously healed by God for sure. While her story of physical healing is certainly inspiring, the most amazing story about Janet is how God used the circumstances of a terminal cancer trial to get her to bow her knee in repentance and faith to the Lord Jesus Christ and how her faith lives on all these years later. Many people, when faced with similar Hospice circumstances, become extremely angry or fearful or spend their remaining days on earth trying to find every last possible cure available. Many die angry or depressed without any hope. John 20:29 (Jesus is speaking to doubting Thomas) tells us:
“Then Jesus told him, because you (Thomas) have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
One of the other blessings of Janet’s situation was the tight deadline: She was only given 3 to 6 weeks to live. With her lung collapsing so soon after her initial diagnosis, Janet knew she had limited time left to make decisions about her eternal destiny. Strictly speaking, she knew she did not have much time to consider the claims of Jesus. She was also desperately looking for something or someone to provide her hope and, after considering the claims of Jesus as taught from the bible by Dr. Stanley, she ultimately found that hope in Jesus. In other words, the clarity of a deadline from the medical professionals, the way God’s word both convicts and encourages the reader (Hebrews 4:12), the articulateness of Dr. Stanley in teaching the bible, the velocity with which her health declined, the unimaginable ways which her cancer humbled her and her desires to find hope for her hopeless situation all lined up in Janet’s mind to convince her to make the biggest and best decision of her life, putting her eternal hope and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4:12 tells us:
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
In 11 years of serving cancer patients through the CSG ministry, it is amazing to me how God uses trials to call people into a relationship with Him. When Life is going well, most of us do not feel we need God but it is in the trials of life that He gets our attention and convinces people like Janet of their need for Him. Not only is a terminal cancer diagnosis a tremendous trial, but it also comes with the added blessing of a deadline (note: most medical professionals will give expected life expectancy to those who are terminal) and the corresponding need to make decisions about Jesus and the eternal destiny of your soul before your time on this earth expires. We all know we have a finite time to live on this earth but a terminal cancer diagnosis shouts at the patient to come to grips with their own mortality.
When I was in college, I always told myself that I would investigate God more when I was 30. When 30 came, I told myself I would investigate God when I was 31. And so, on it went…. I rationalized it to myself that my decision about God was always going to be “tomorrow” as I did not want to change anything in my life at the time. I wanted to come to God on my terms and not His and so I always “punted the ball down the field” so I could hopefully worry about that “whole God relationship issue” later. “Tomorrow” was my answer to avoid the whole personal relationship with Jesus discussion. When I was 33, I endured a significant trial in my life, and, the feelings of emptiness and loneliness I felt as result of the trial caused me to start seeking God instead of running from Him. Eventually, after I started attending church and after I starting reading the bible, I prayed to Jesus to forgive me of my sins and to come into my life as savior and Lord. Yes, a significant trial (note: this significant trial was not cancer as I was first diagnosed with cancer 7 years later) in my life at the age of 33 convinced me of my need for Him and made me receptive to the Gospel message.
I have observed that a lot of cancer patients, who do not have a relationship with Jesus before their diagnosis, are like I was in my early thirties. Before their diagnosis, they avoid pursuing Jesus and seeking a relationship with Him by concluding they will investigate God “tomorrow”. When their lives are turned upside down and inside out with a terminal cancer diagnosis, this unexpected major trial comes with the added blessing of a deadline (terminal diagnosis). These terminal cancer patients start to realize that tomorrow may not be an option as tomorrow might not come for them. They realize procrastination is no longer an option and they must decide if they are going to answer Jesus’ call or not. God uses terminal cancer, a major trial with a deadline, to force a decision which many have been avoiding or running from their whole lives. All cancer patients will eventually need to decide if they are going to put their faith in Jesus or not. Unfortunately, some terminal cancer patients will turn their backs on Jesus by remaining undecided, uninformed or stating they do not believe yet some cancer patients, like Janet, will graciously decide to follow Jesus by putting their faith in Him. The undecided ones are the ones that may not realize that remaining undecided about a relationship with Jesus has the same eternal consequences as turning your back on Jesus by rejecting Him and His Gospel message. For example, Matthew 8:42 describes how there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” for those who are not “in Christ”.
It is truly amazing when anyone comes to faith in Jesus and the fact that Janet came to faith in Christ while in the care of hospice is equally if not more amazing. I have a tear streaming down my face as I type this – Janet has told me many times that her Cancer trial is THE REASON she came to saving faith in Jesus. As a result, Janet considers her cancer diagnosis and associated trial to be the GREATEST BLESSING EVER IN HER LIFE! Are you kidding me? How about that turnaround – she went from having no hope because of her initial cancer diagnosis to where she now considers her cancer trial to be her single biggest blessing. Yes, this life changing terminal cancer trial has been a greater blessing to Janet than her kids, family, or greatest worldly accomplishment. Please think about that statement for a minute. Like I said earlier, Jesus has a way of turning our lives upside down and inside out and those who put their faith in Him become new creations. Janet is living proof of this type of radical change.
So, how about you? Have you considered the claims of the Gospel? If not, will God need to hit you with a trial as serious as the one which Janet endured to get your attention and for you to develop saving faith in Jesus? Or, perhaps you will die in an accident or you will lose your mind (Dementia, Alzheimer’s, etc.) and you will not even have a chance to consider the claims of Jesus? Proverbs 27:1 tells us:
“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”
Today, Janet has remarried and is no longer working at a hospital but is serving people with cancer by helping them learn about the Macrobiotic diet. She earns a living by teaching cancer patients how to cook the Macrobiotic way and she even delivers Macrobiotic meals to cancer patients each week. She is also on our leadership team at CSG and she encourages everyone who attends with her amazing story of recovery and redemption through the Lord Jesus Christ. As you might expect, Church and improving her relationship with the Lord is what Janet focuses on each and every day. It has been 23 years since her initial diagnosis and Janet loves Jesus more today than she did when she first gave her life to Him back in 1995.
Obviously, it has not been a passing fad for Janet nor was it a poor, quick decision made by her in a moment when she was extremely scared and was not thinking clearly. Given her 3 to 6 weeks life expectancy prognosis by her doctors, pessimists might say she likely had few other options to consider at the time so of course she made an uninformed, emotional and insecure commitment to Christ. People who make an uninformed, non-sensical commitment to something in this world will eventually show their true colors as they progress with following through on their half-hearted pledge. For example, I REALLY like to golf but not everyone is as crazy about the sport as I am. Some golfers, who make a half-hearted commitment to the learning the sport because they want to use golf in their business endeavors or because they want learn to golf because it is important to someone they love, will often come up with all sorts of reasons not to play – these half-hearted golfers will often not want to play if it is too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, greens too slow, too busy, or it is too “something”. While “golf” is a silly analogy when discussing topics like death and cancer, the point here is we all make time for those relationships, interests and activities in our lives which we value and which we are committed to. If someone makes a half-hearted commitment to Jesus, they will also come up with reasons not to go to Church to worship Him, to read His word, to pray to Him etc. Janet, on the other hand, was dragging herself to church to worship Jesus WHILE SHE WAS IN HOSPICE. Let’s be honest, Janet really had no business being there at church that day, which I described earlier in this blog post, where her friends dressed her and took her to church. But, because she now placed her relationship with Jesus over everything else in this world, she FORCED herself to go to church because she was now committed to HIM, the King of Kings. While going or not going to church that day had nothing to do with her ultimate salvation, Janet backed up her commitment with action so she could grow in her relationship with Christ. I can only remember two cancer hospice patients who were so committed to their relationship with Jesus that they literally dragged themselves to church to worship Jesus in His house. Immediately after she gave her life to Christ, Janet never showed any signs of a half-hearted commitment to Jesus and her passion for Christ has only intensified over the years. Yes, Janet has had plenty of chances to turn her back on Jesus since she left hospice and her love for Him only continues to grow as she grows in her relationship with Him. Giving her life to Christ was a life changing decision for Janet which she is thankful for each and every day. Janet says she still reads that Genesis 39 passage about Joseph over and over again as it is one of her favorites. If you ever have a chance to meet Janet, she will teach you to give thanks for each and every day as each day is a gracious blessing from God.
When I think of Janet sharing her story with CSG in August of 2018, the lyrics from the song “All I Have is Christ” seem to summarize her testimony well (Songwriter: Joran Kauflin; CCLI: 5174122):
I once was lost in darkest night Yet thought I knew the way The sin that promised joy and life Had led me to the grave I had no hope that You would own A rebel to Your will And if You had not loved me first I would refuse You still
But as I ran my hell-bound race Indifferent to the cost You looked upon my helpless state And led me to the cross And I beheld God’s love displayed You suffered in my place You bore the wrath reserved for me Now all I know is grace
Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone And live so all might see The strength to follow Your commands Could never come from me O Father, use my ransomed life In any way You choose And let my song forever be My only boast is You
As great as Janet's story is, the grim reality is that we are all eventually going to die. Yes, even Janet, after an amazing physical healing story from 23 years ago – yes, she is going to die at some point in her life and I am going to die at some point in my life; yes, we are all going to die at some point in our lives (Job 14:5). Many of us will die from terminal cancer or die while in the care of hospice. Although a few like Janet will escape terminal cancer or hospice care with an amazing physical healing story, most will not escape in this way. However, no matter the outcome of your physical healing (or lack thereof) process, we can all escape hospice care or terminal cancer by putting our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who allows us to escape death and spend eternity with Him. Are you prepared for life after death?
Janet, thank you for showing us all how God can call you to saving faith in Jesus in the grimmest of circumstances, a terminal cancer hospice trial. While your story of physical healing is both incredible and unimaginable, your story of coming to faith in Jesus Christ while in the care of hospice is truly a miracle which I hope encourages many who read this blog post. Praise be to Christ the King for His immeasurable grace and for the salvation He provides to all who believe in Him.
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)”
Jim Risk, a two-time cancer survivor, is the volunteer Ministry Coordinator for the Cancer Support Group (CSG) at a non-denominational church in NE Ohio. Jim and his wife, Kristina, have participated and served in CSG, a Christian ministry, since 2007.