He knew it was coming

How can I tell you that God knew that I was going to have cancer?  I must assume that you are a Christian in order to understand what I am about to say.  If you are not a Christian or you are a skeptic, then you will not believe me nor will you understand.

The question most naturally asked is, “Why would a good, all-powerful, all-mighty God allow bad things to happen to good people?”  The truth of the matter is that neither God nor the bible ever guarantees that we will have a good life.  Life happens.  We get sick.  We get discouraged.  We fail time and time again.  Yet that good, all-powerful, all-mighty God, who loves us, knows these things will happen and provides a way for us to bear up under the burden.  Sometimes He takes it away immediately.  Sometimes it lingers around before it is taken care of.  And sometimes He lets it run its course in our lives.  Why does He do this?  So that we might recognize our dependence upon Him and give Him praise for what He does.  This increases our faith and trust in Him and allows others to see Him through us in the way we handle life’s adversities.

The natural progression is, "If God knew it was going to happen, why didn’t He stop it?"  Consider the life of Job.  God allowed Satan to test Job.  He was told that he could do anything that he wanted to except take his life (Job 1:12).  God allowed testing to come in Job’s life in order to prove his faith and to bring glory and honor to the name of God.  Did God know it was going to happen?  Yes.  Did God allow it to happen?  Yes.  Did God take care of Job?  Yes.  Will he take care of us too if we have the faith of Job?  Yes.  Is that Fair?  Not from our perspective but it is from God's perspective.  Romans 9:15, 18 says, "For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth."

When I say that God knew it was coming, I mean that God is omniscient.  That means that He knows everything before it even happens.  Why do I believe that?  Because I believe in Him.  The bible teaches that He knows us before we were even born.  In Jeremiah 1:5 KJV) it says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”  And in Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NRSV), “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.  Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.  When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart.”  You might say that that was spoken to the prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testament and while that is true, it is also true that every word of the bible is spoken to us also.

The idea is that we are on a journey.  And on every journey there are certain things that need to be done in order to make that journey successful.  The outcome of our journey is to come into the presence of God.  The things that happen to us here on earth are used by God for the purpose of preparing us for that event.

You Have Cancer

I sat in the doctor's office that first week of November in 2008.  The doctor solemnly looked at me and said, "Mr. Bowien, you have cancer."

Wow!  It hit me like a ton of bricks.  Well, not really so hard.  I kind of suspected it all along.  I had been having some health issues that my primary care doctor was treating me for.  You know the kind ... the ones dealing with normal body functions caused by eating food and it going through the normal channels on its way out.  It was a numbing effect hearing those words ... "you have cancer."  I wanted to cry.  I think my wife was already crying.  The doctor told me that the only option that I had was surgery and then chemotherapy.  There ... its laid right in my lap.  Cancer!  People die from cancer.  I thought, "am I going to die?".  People suffer with cancer.  I thought, "am I going to suffer?".  I thought, "O, Lord, what am I going to do now?"

I began to ask all the same questions that I had heard from those that I had ministered to with cancer.  "Why me?"  "Why at this point in my life?"  "What will happen to my wife and family when I die?" (not if I die - I had cancer - when I die).  And then it came over me all of a sudden.  I had peace with it.  God began to speak to my heart and He told me three things that I want to share with you.

God said ... "I knew it was coming."

God said ... "I know how to take care of it."

God said ... "I want you to figure out its purpose and use it to help people going through the same thing."

With those thoughts going through my mind, I put complete trust in what God was going to do.  I said to the doctor, "Let's get this done.  Schedule the surgery and let's get started."  As I trusted God; complete peace about what was going to happen came to me.  My attitude changed to a positive outlook toward the future.  My perspective changed about the way people deal with cancer in their life.  I was actually excited about what God was going to do.  Now, perhaps, writing about it will be a blessing to others.  I hope to give you some real insight about faith, hope and trust.  Be looking for my next issue dealing with, "I knew it was coming."  I hope and pray that as you read about my experience, that you will be encouraged to find hope and peace in your experience.