Who Wishes She Could See To The Other Side

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

“ARE YOU READY?” I called out to my husband.

“Yep,” he said. “Let’s go, Susan.”

A few days earlier, Mark had gone to see a dermatologist who’d performed a skin biopsy. For weeks prior to that appointment, I had been asking him to see a doctor about the large growth on his face. When we left the house that morning to hear the results of the biopsy, I was just ready to have this in the past and move on. We thought at worst the growth might be a basal cell carcinoma, which is often easily treatable.

The doctor’s office was gray. That’s what I remember most thirty years later. We walked into the exam room, and I sat in the extra chair—you know, the one for family members who are just there for support. The doctor came into the room, greeted us, and then took a marker and drew a line from my husband’s ear to his jaw and then up the other side.

The doctor explained that what we’d thought might be a basal cell carcinoma was actually eccrine (sweat gland) carcinoma. It was a much larger and more concerning diagnosis that would require an intensive treatment.

In that moment, the room got really dark, and the world just sort of stopped. I had a thousand questions, but my first task was to breathe. That day, we began a journey that I had not prepared myself to take. All I wanted to do was see the other side of this challenge and know what the outcome would be.

Maybe you know what that feels like. My friend, I wish I could tell you that my faith rose up like a lion and I declared healing and wholeness, praying powerfully for my husband. But honestly, we had two little girls and I was scared.

During that time, a friend reminded me that someday I would look back on this and see the Lord’s hand on the situation. She was right. My husband successfully completed treatment and has had no recurrence of the disease. Over the years, I have held on to my friend’s words, thinking about them countless times. That’s especially true when I look at my husband and ask him, “Are you ready?” as we head out the door.

Friend, whatever you are going through, whatever stands square in front of you that seems to block your view, let me be the one to say that God knows all your days, and He sees when this trial will end. It may feel as if it will never resolve, but there will be a time when it is over. As the psalmist says, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” We can trust Him with each one. Even when we can’t see to the other side, we can keep our eyes locked on Him. Let’s lean into that truth tonight as we pray together.

Tonight we pray for the momma who wishes she could see to the other side. Lord, she wants so badly to know what’s up ahead. She wants to know how it works out, how You come through, and how Your promises will be fulfilled in her life. Lord, she keeps peering into the future, but it all seems fuzzy. Tonight we ask that You help her find the strength to let go of what might be. Help her find peace with You in this moment, even if she can’t see what’s next. You know what’s coming, and in that she can rest.

In Jesus’s name we pray, amen.

Father, help me to trust that You are working in and through this struggle in my life: