Sometimes God whispers. Other times, He shouts. Either way, He is still in the business of Miracles.
My precious mother is battling Multiple Myeloma–cancer in her blood and bones. In the past 4 days I’ve watched mother’s lab results go from one extreme to another, especially her white blood count/WBC.
Since the WBC measures white cells that fight infection in a body, a number lower than normal–4.0 to 10.0 in a healthy person–indicates compromised immunity. A typical cancer patient who undergoes the high dose chemo my mother received for 2 days prior to her stem cell transplant last Friday would be much lower. Her count had been dropping all week and was 2.2 the day of her transplant. The transplant team told my family it would continue downward, hit bottom after 2-3 days and she would be “stuck there” for at least 10-14 days before she would begin to recover. Thoroughly briefed on the horrible side effects that would plague mom during that time, we braced ourselves for the worst.
God had other plans. The day after mom’s transplant we expected to see her white blood count around 1.0. Instead it soared to 20.5! Our oncology nurses said they had never seen anything like it. They even called the lab to double-check and confirm the results. One oncologist called it, “very bizarre”. Another simply said, “Weird.” My family marveled as we prayed for mom’s WBC to remain high, hoping it would indicate God had chosen to heal mother in some miraculous way. The transplant team & doctor on call discouraged us from getting too excited, speculating that this was “a strange fluke” and the count would surely drop the next day.
Since then mom’s WBC has dropped everyday…from 20.5 to 7.7, 3.2, all the way to 0 today. She has, indeed “hit bottom”. What a difference a few days has made…watching her now in the thick of side-effects and pain, helpless to offer her any relief is the most agonizing thing I’ve ever experienced. With every tear she cries, I feel my heart being ripped out. Yet, I believe when mom’s WBC mysteriously spiked to more than twice that of a normal healthy person, God was shouting, “I AM ABLE”.
“Able to do immeasurably more that all we could ask or imagine according to His Power at work in us.” {Ephesians 3:20 NIV}
He did. And we almost missed it. We wanted Saturday’s high number to mean mom was healed. What we almost missed is God showed up in a mighty, yes miraculous way. It wasn’t the miracle we hoped for, the miracle of complete healing. But it was definitely a miracle. The Living God graced us with a personal manifestation of His presence, giving us a glimpse of His Power, encouraging our hearts in preparation for upcoming devastation and suffering. For one solitary day God did something extraordinary and exceptional in the Body of His precious saints.
In this journey of cancer we have continually prayed we would not miss God. Healing would be wonderful though we have yet to see if that is God’s plan for mother in the flesh. What we DO see is that He is here…“The LORD our God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” {Zephaniah 3:17}
He cares that my sweet mother is suffering. He is holding her when she cries in pain. Too, He is holding my fragmented heart. As I consider the events of the past 4 days, I’m coming to realize anew that whether we are in the highs of a mountaintop experience, unexplainable in human terms or at the lowest valley of human suffering and despair, GOD is still God. He is in complete control. And His Grace is sufficient…
“He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” {II Corinthians 12:9 NIV}
God’s compassion cannot fail and His mercies are new every morning.
“Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness {Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV}
On the ride from the Cancer Clinic to our little apartment this morning, my mother began singing, “Great is thy faithfulness, Oh God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. ALL I have needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me…”
Livin4Jesus 