Cancer: Encouragement for HealingSample

Day 3—Surrender Says it All

With a cancer diagnosis, we will be making decisions regarding our treatment options. Do we lean into medicine and what our oncologist thinks is best? Or do we take a naturopathic route, maybe a hybrid of practices, or do we forgo any outside treatments and take a completely trust-the-Lord route?

The bottom line is that we must completely trust the Lord no matter what direction for healing we take. Remember, Jesus healed through a variety of methods, and nothing is outside of His touch. Yet discerning His healing path for us involves our complete surrender to His will.

Surrender in Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary means to yield to the power, control, or possession of another, either by compulsion or involuntarily. It means to give up completely in favor of another—to give oneself over to something.

Honestly, we will be hard-pressed to experience God’s peace, joy, or touch without first surrendering everything about our lives to His control. Ouch. This is not easy for us who want to rule every detail, get our own way, or think we must know the end of a situation beforehand.

But He who holds our breath in His hands and owns all our ways (Dan. 5:23) understands our weaknesses about surrendering to Him (Ps. 103:13-14). The relinquishment of our lives is not a one-and-done happening. It may be a moment-by-moment act of our will. If we have trepidation and unbelief, the Holy Spirit will help us if we simply ask (Rom. 8:26). Still, we must take the first tentative steps toward laying everything at His throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16).

Surrender is an act of faith in God’s love, and His Word about Who He is and what He has given you. He loves you beyond reason, and surrender is your agreement with that truth. If that is a very real struggle for you, ask Him why that is the case. Seek pastoral help if needed.

Now, or at your first opportunity, re-surrender your entire life to the One Who created, loved, and saved you. Give Him as much as you can. Let go the weight of your illness into His care. Let Him love you and fill you afresh with Himself and His Word. He will not fail to carry you.