| I'm scared, Lord. I need Your peace. You've promised Your peace to those who trust in You. — Laura Geist, Praying Through Cancer  Fixing My Thoughts on God by Susan Sorensen | Laura Geist, from Praying Through Cancer  You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You! Trust in the LORD always, for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock. — Isaiah 26:3-4 NLT
After my second dose of chemotherapy, I noticed my brain getting fuzzy. I'd always been able to think through things logically, but now I couldn't focus on anything for long. Simple arithmetic befuddled me; the numbers just wouldn't line up. My brain cleared after a few days, but it didn't return to its former sharpness until well after my treatments were over.
I felt betrayed by my brain. I'd already lost my health. Was even my ability to think clearly being taken away from me? That's when something Elisabeth Elliot wrote in A Path Through Suffering leapt off the page at me:
"Open hands should characterize the soul's attitude toward God — open to receive what He wants to give, open to give back what He wants to take."1
Are my hands open? I thought. Or are they holding on to the way I want my life to be going? So I lifted my clenched fists to God and one by one peeled back the fingers until my palms lay open before Him.
Father God, this cancer path has resulted in so many losses. Now I even seem to be losing my ability to think. I'm scared, Lord. I need Your peace. You've promised Your peace to those who trust in You. I want your way, Lord, for I know that You love me and have a plan for my life that is far better than anything I could think up for myself. I choose to trust You, for You, Lord God, are the eternal Rock.
Thank You for loving me enough to die for me. Now I want to die to my preconceived notions of what my life should be like. I choose to follow You wherever You lead me, even if it means the loss of things and abilities I hold dear. I don't want to trust in those abilities, Lord; I want to trust in You. Help me to see those abilities as gifts from You in the first place.
I lift my hands up to You with open palms — they are empty of my plans and are ready to receive Yours. Transform me into the person You want me to be.
~Amy Givler, MD Author, Hope in the Face of Cancer: A Survival Guide for the Journey You Did Not Choose
Today's Tip: Lift your clenched fists to God. Then slowly open your hands and tell Him you're ready to let go and ready for Him to fill them.
Prayer reference: Isaiah 26:3-4
1. Elisabeth Elliot, A Path Through Suffering: Discovering the Relationship Between God's Mercy and Our Pain (Ann Arbor, Mich.: Servant, 1990), 69.
Excerpted with permission from Praying Through Cancer by Susan Sorensen and Laura Geist, copyright Susan Sorensen and Laura Geist.
Your Turn
Peace through our struggles, especially trials as big as cancer, is a supernatural gift from Jesus. Fear, loss, trauma, pain, anxiety about what the future holds... only God's peace is big enough to cover that... and it does when we rest in Him. Ask Him today to help you unclench your fists in your fear. Let go and give Him what you're holding onto. He's with you. Come share your thoughts with us. We'd love to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily Share this devotion with someone who needs it today.  OCTOBER IS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
Those of us battling cancer and their caretakers need biblical insights and encouragement
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"We know the journey you are on, and we want to encourage you. When you hear the doctor say the word cancer, the fears can be overwhelming. Thankfully, there is a place of peace we found that we want you to experience. Through these pages, we desire to join you in this challenging time... to pray through cancer with you and to walk with you through it. Our greatest desire is that the testimonies and prayers in this book will strengthen and bless you in the months ahead." ~ Susan Lorensen and Laura Geist  Paperback, Regular: $16.99 eBook price: $9.99 + free U.S. shipping* on orders $35 or more Traumatized and terrified of cancer? Whether you or a family member is battling the disease, this beautiful, updated edition of the trusted, encouraging 90-day devotional will comfort and strengthen you. Written by women who have faced cancer themselves, this book reminds you that you are not alone and will help set your heart free from fear.
When you hear the doctor say the word cancer, your fears can be overwhelming. Thankfully, there is a place of peace you can experience. Through these pages, women who have walked this difficult journey themselves will pray through cancer with you and walk alongside you through your own journey.
This encouraging daily devotional is written specifically for women battling cancer, and it is written by women who have faced cancer themselves, containing insight, wisdom, and clarity found only through personal trial. Whether you are facing breast cancer, thyroid cancer, or any form of the disease, the testimonies and prayers in this book will strengthen and bless you in the months ahead.
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You don't have to face cancer alone. As you read, you'll feel as though you are meeting kindred spirits—old friends who will come alongside you in your journey, encouraging you and understanding what no one else can.
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"Journeying through breast cancer, the most authentic voices that encouraged me were women who have pilgrimmed ahead of me. . . . This book nourished my spirit and renewed my hope—may it do the same for you."—Karen Hill, Author of Owen's Walk and assistant to Max Lucado
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