Guest blogger: Lynne Pleau

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

We all face defining moments, some with impact so powerful they come up again and again, creating a pattern across our lives. A sermon during college on Romans 8:28 by Pastor John MacArthur has been the most defining for me. I learned from it, and took to heart, that it is possible to praise God for everything. Everything. Because, we can trust Him not to allow more into our lives than we can handle and to work out everything for our best, whether here on earth or in Heaven.

I was still in college when I found this concept tested in what seemed then a major fire: a break-up with my Christian boyfriend. I remember how broken-hearted I was, sobbing in the car on the way to church where I was likely to see him, filled with confusion, pining for the boy, but at the same time obediently praising God through my tears.

I can laugh about it now. But it was during this time that a new kind of faith took root, and over the years it grew, gently tested and tried by the little winters of my life, until it became something of a habit, eventually flowering when I needed it most: in response to the diagnosis of Breast Cancer.

After leaving the doctor’s office, I told my husband, “The first thing we need to do is praise God.” We bowed our heads and I gave God the best offering I had: I praised Him for the cancer. I told Him I knew He had His reasons for it, even though I didn’t understand them. I put my life in His hands, because I could never make it through without Him. I asked Him to take over my care, to lead me to the right doctors, to give me the strength I needed to get through it. I asked Him to bless us as a couple.

God was faithful. He carried me through. He moved me from an appointment with one doctor, whom I later discovered was less compassionate, into the care of an extraordinary Christian oncologist. I was never sick through the highest course of chemotherapy, was enriched by random conversations with strangers about life, death and faith in God, and enjoyed the slap-happy sense of humor most of us developed. And to top it all off, my husband and I grew closer. In fact, most of my cancer journey brings back fond memories or makes me outright laugh. And that, too, is a reason to praise God. I believe that, because I gave it all over to Him, the negative and difficult faded in the light of my faith, until now I look back with joy and see God’s hand in all of it.

Like every well-plotted story, there was a personal moment of crisis as I neared the last part of my journey. My faith stumbled. What if I didn’t make it? What if I died? How could I be sure God would continue to be with me? But again, God stepped in, in the form of an astute 77-year-old Christian woman going through her third cancer. She came alongside me one day during radiation and put into my hands a precious gift, a reminder that faith in God isn’t just about struggling to believe He will bring us through the fire alive, but that he can bring us through if He wants to, and that whatever He chooses to do will be the right thing for us. I left my doubts behind that day and went on through the journey with a lightened load and renewed heart.

I wish I could say I have approached everything in my life with praising faith. Oh how I wish it! There are things others find easy that completely undo me. But even as my ends are unraveling and becoming more frayed, even as I suffer and complain, I still whisper in the dark: Forgive me, Jesus; I trust You. I praise You for what You are doing in my life. You are the great Creator of all we know and the only One worthy of Praise.