When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you, for I am the LORD your God.
— Isaiah 23:3-4
This week is an emotional week for me. It is, as a German phrase says, a week when I “live close to the water” (am on the verge of tears).
It began with Rein in Sarcoma, an evening of celebration of survivorship and remembering those who did not survive, and wraps up with Sail Leukemia, our annual tradition of sharing in the victory over blood cancer with our friends Phil and Rollie, while donating to a very worthy cause.
As happens every year, when the long summer days start waning into autumn and the anniversary of my husband Bruce’s leukemia diagnosis (August 29) begins to loom on the horizon, this week begins a month of reflection.
I vividly remember the day we discovered a powerful enemy walks among (within) us. The day the world as we had known it caved in. The day the sky fell. The day God seemed so far away. (“My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?”)
The day of dark fear as God called us to wade through the water.
Over time, the flood waters have receded, our fear has turned to trust, and our joy has grown as we have been (sometimes reluctant) recipients of God’s incredible Grace in our lives.
We have learned to live well in the dying. We have been blessed to be served and to serve others with cancer. We have been gifted with five grandchildren in quick succession, with a sixth to come in 10 weeks. We have discovered life is still full of so much that is rich and good.
Today, I feel as if I am walking through a flood of memories of the days of great sorrow. Except now I know with certainty that God has walked through all of this with me. He did not part the waters, nor did He allow us to step around them, or over them.
Grace, you see, leads us not around the flood, but through the flood.
Grace that has come in the hands of the doctors and nurses who did God’s work to restore our health. Grace that was delivered through the love of friends and family. Grace in Jesus’ redemption that filled the gaping hole left by cancer’s attack through the healing of our hearts. Grace in God’s presence, in the acceptance of pain and loss, and in the promise of so much more than we have left behind.
It is the abundance of Grace that gives birth not to happiness, but to that which is much greater — unending Joy in our triumphant journey through water and fire and other perils.
Be blessed by Grace today, friends, and keep looking up!
“The will of God will never take you where the grace of God cannot keep you.” — Rebekah Nolt