When Bad Is Good

By Wayne Harmon

“It’s cancer.”

Those words still ring in my mind as I relive the kick in the stomach I felt the first time the doctor said them.

My wife went into surgery to have her gallbladder removed.

The surgeon found cancer.

Stage IV.

(Stage V is dead).

Numb.

Cancer is something that happens to other people.

I guess it was our turn to be other people.

The doctor came into the recovery room and said, “You still have your gallbladder. When I got in I found cancer.”

She said, “Well, if you live long enough you’re going to die from something.”

She went through a series of tests and scans. We met with the several doctors, and a treatment plan was initiated.

In all of it, and some of it was very difficult, we only heard one thing in our hearts:

“It’s okay.”

We didn’t hear that it was going to be okay, but that it IS okay.

After chemo and surgery she is now all clear.

Will it come back? The doctors think it probably will.

We don’t agree, but even if it were to return, we know that it is okay.

Now, here is where I’m going with this.

When Christians face bad news they often run to Romans 8:28:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

We didn’t quote that verse. Not one time. Why? Because we didn’t need it. We had already heard, “It’s okay.”

You see, the Apostle Paul wasn’t writing a mantra to be used for self-hypnosis. He was stating a fact born out by his experiences. He had endured hardships the likes of which few, if any, of us have had to face.

Out of those hardships came a confidence, a certainty, a faith, if you will, that could make a statement of fact:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Copyright 2016: Wayne Harmon