Waiting Until The Fog Clears

Waiting Until The Fog Clears

How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:14-15

“The test results are back. It’s colon cancer.”

Jeremiah took a deep breath and slumped in his chair. I quietly watched him as he processed the news. After a short pause, he broke the silence with a flood of questions.

“What exactly does this mean? I mean, what do I do tomorrow? Do I just get up and go to work? And more important, what are my chances for a cure?”

“There are a lot of factors that go into answering your questions, and over the next few days and weeks, we’ll do our best to sort through them. The first thing we need, though, is to learn what stage the cancer is in.”

“What does that mean?”

“That means we will grade it from one to four, with stage four being metastatic—which means it has spread from where it started to another place in your body. That’s the worst kind. But let’s not worry about that yet. Right now, everything is still unclear. It’s like an early morning fog that keeps us from seeing what’s on the road ahead. But if you drive the same road at noon, the fog will have dissipated, and we will see clearly. We’ll get a better picture in a few days when all of your test results are back. Until then, we’ll pray and trust God that the results will show stage one.”

“You’re right, Dr. Anderson. Worrying won’t change the diagnosis. God is in charge of it all, and there’s no point in worrying until we know more.”

The following week, after all of Jeremiah’s test results were in, I called him with the good news. “It is stage one colon cancer, and with surgery, you’ll have a good chance of a total cure. So you don’t have to worry; you’ll have plenty of tomorrows.”

“That’s great news. After our conversation the other day, I felt peace. I no longer was worried.”

TODAY’S RX

We can’t worry about tomorrow, but regular checkups and testing can give us information to help clear the fog and provide clarity when something goes wrong.

Pursue me, Lord, as I make my way through the fog of what lies ahead. Be a guiding light so that I may not be consumed by worry, but trust that my future is in your hands. Thank you for your reassuring presence.