Strength for the Day
This past week, there were a couple of noteworthy developments in my cancer journey. On Friday, a “port” was placed in my upper right chest. This port will allow for easier and more direct access for medication and blood draws.
We also met with our oncologist’s nurse practitioner, who went over the details of the treatment I will be receiving beginning next week. It was good to get some of our questions answered.
However, notwithstanding this, one of the greatest challenges to this pilgrimage I’m on is all the uncertainty. What will the first chemo infusion be like? How will I tolerate the side effects? Will it, in fact, be effective?
Then there are the more long-term questions. How weak will I become? How will I handle the mundane yet necessary tasks of life?
And then, of course, there’s the ultimate issue. What will it be like to go through my last days and walk through the valley of the shadow of death?
Just in Time
As I pondered the uncertainty in all of this, I recalled a poignant illustration I had read in the classic book, The Hiding Place. This autobiography of Corrie ten Boom has been reprinted numerous times and was recently adapted for stage and screen.
If you’re unfamiliar with the story, during World War 2, Corrie and her family, living in occupied Holland, hid the persecuted Jews from the Nazis. Their home literally became a hiding place.
Eventually, they were found out, and the entire family was sent to the concentration camps. However, for years prior, they lived in constant fear of discovery.
Corrie, especially, was quite worried about their uncertain future and whether she would be able to face the challenges ahead.
Then one day, her father asked her to remember their train rides together when she was a little girl. He asked her when it was that she would be given a ticket to get on the train.
I sniffed a few times, considering this.
”Why, just before we get on the train.”
”Exactly. And our wise Father in heaven knows when we’re going to need things, too. Don’t run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need – just in time.“
Day by Day
There’s a great promise from God’s Word that speaks to this: “As thy days, so shall thy strength be” (Deuteronomy 33:25 KJV).
When we worry about an uncertain future, we can only imagine going through something based on the limited strength we have in that current moment. But God hasn’t given us the strength for that future moment yet. It will come when and only when the future is the present.
Elisabeth Elliot offers a great quote along these lines: “There is no grace for the imagination.” No. The grace comes in the reality.
When I shared this with Gwen, she told me that, remarkably, an old hymn had been running through her mind that speaks to this very thing. It’s titled, “Day by Day.” It was written in 1865 by a woman named Lina Sandell after she had experienced the tragic drowning death of her father.
Here are the first two verses:
Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
Gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.
Every day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.
I’ve listened to this hymn multiple times over the past days, and it has been so encouraging. You can listen to it in the video below.
“As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” Strength for the day. Not strength for tomorrow—I’m not there yet. But strength for the day…today.
This is what I’m leaning into. I hope that you will do so as well as you face your own uncertain future.
PRAYER REQUESTS
Here’s how you can pray for us in the coming days:
Dave will be getting his first chemo & immunotherapy infusions on Tuesday morning. PRAY that he has no serious reactions to the medicines and that the side effects will be mild.
PRAY for the interactions we will have with the nursing staff and other patients on their own chemo journeys. Pray that we will reflect Christ to them and bring a little joy amid their suffering.
They will be sending Dave home with a “pump” that will gradually infuse one of the chemo drugs into his system for the next 48 hours. PRAY that he has no complications with this device and is able to sleep on his back while wearing the device.
Dave is scheduled to preach on July 27. PRAY that he will have the physical strength and capacity to fulfill this assignment and will be a blessing to the Life Community family.
PRAY for total healing.