During my recent journey with cancer, I was gifted a pair of boxing gloves signed by lots of friends, symbolizing the fight I had ahead and to serve as a reminder of those who love and support me.
The day my friends dropped them by my house was one of the few days that I had not showered so I had “bed head.” My sweet friend, Anessa, gave me a buzz on her way to let me know she was coming with company, our sweet friend Courtney. There was little I could do, lol. Still sporting my pj’s and without the proper undergarments, I decided to just let it go! With no makeup, no bra and no shower, I greeted my sweet friends (sorry sistas)!
They arrived with the sweet gift and, of course, they wanted to take a picture. Great! Me, at my most undesirable moment, being photographed. I made them promise not to share it with ANYONE. It was humbling, for sure. We visited for a few minutes and then they airdropped me the pic and went on their way to lunch with friends. After they left I began to think about “the fight” I was in the middle of. The physical fight to rid my body of cancer, the mental and emotional battle that set in about 13 days post surgery and the “WHY ME?” battle that began the day I was diagnosed.
Typically, I am a pretty strong person in the midst of crisis. I can only remember crying twice before my surgery, feeling I had to be strong for my husband and kids. But oh, I made up for it on day 14 post surgery. I. Cried. ALL. Night. Satan taunted me ALL night with the things I wasn’t gonna see or experience. Graduations, weddings, grandkids and old age. He was in full attack mode! You see, that’s how he works! He waits until we are at our weakest point and then he begins to tell us believable lies.
Lies that instill fear and confusion.
Lies that bring isolation and a faint heart.
TRANSPARENCY
It wasn’t until that glove delivery day, 8 1/2 weeks post surgery that I decided to be transparent. I decided, to their surprise, to post the picture!
What a blessing that decision has been! Transparency exposes the devil. By definition, transparency involves light. Interestingly enough, transparency is defined as “free from pretense or deceit.” The devil is the author of deceit and he can’t live in the light. The Bible says that Jesus is the light. John 8:12 says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” It also says in James 4:7 to “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
Are you thinking “How do you do that?” Call on Jesus! Satan has to flee at the sound of His name.
Flashback to day 14 post-op. I found myself, in the middle of the night, sitting in the dark, saying Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! Crying out to the light of the world, asking him to heal me, comfort me and give me peace. I was in the fight of my life with satan. (Yes, I know it is supposed to be capitalized, but he doesn’t deserve a capital letter because I serve a BIG G GOD!)
It was in that moment that I became totally transparent with God. We had a looooonnngg chat for about 6 hours. I told him my fears. I told him about my pain (as if He didn’t know) and I told Him about my weaknesses, both physical and mental. And He spoke to me. He said, “Leslee, I AM ENOUGH!” Enough to dry your tears, ease your pain, heal your body and give you strength!” Then, a peace came over me, as if God had physically touched me.
After my crying spell and chat with God, I turned on the television. At that very moment God has orchestrated a replay of Pastor Andy Wommack’s sermon on… guess what topic? HEALING! It was a little God wink. I love how God can make those things happen. A dear freind of mine always says, with his Indian accent, “God is an on time God!”, and boy was His timing ever perfect! The Word and scripture he shared went right to my heart, uplifted me and gave me a sense of gratitude for the cancer journey I was on. Sounds crazy right? It wasn’t the cancer I was grateful for, but the closer faith walk with my loving God I was experiencing. It was the testimony that He was and is writing this journey. It was the words of encouragement on those gloves, that became a constant reminder to “fight the good fight of faith!” I Timothy 6:12
HOW DO YOU FIGHT IT?
Get you a tool box with the right tools!
Dig in THE WORD.
God’s word! Find scriptures that speak to your heart. Write them down, bible journal them (if you don’t know what this is, go to the tab in the homepage), and memorize them. When you do this, God will bring them to your remembrance at your weakest moments!
Get a visual.
Grab you some “Knock Out” gloves HERE and ask your friends to sign them. Words of encouragement are a crucial tool to fight this fight! Don’t do it alone. Have a visual, like the gloves, to remind you that you WILL win! We have that assurance in Jesus! In the end, HE WINS! Read the story. Lol
Be transparent.
The only way to win is transparency, get you some light, aka JESUS! He is the ONLY way. He says in John 14:16, “I am the way, the truth, the life.” (If you want to know more about this, email me at hisblessedgirl@gmail.com. It’s life changing.)
Be a difference maker!
Tell your story, invest in others, walk alongside someone and encourage them in their fight! Ask and allow God to use your pain for HIS purpose!
What battle are you fighting? Cancer, drug addiction, depression, something else? Fight it! Jesus feels your pain! Though He was sinless, He was beaten and bruised and suffered death on a cross as payment for our sin. I tell myself all the time, if He could hang on a cross without complaining for me, I can do cancer for Him. My prayer is that He will be glorified through my journey with cancer. My prayer is that people will question my joy through the journey, so that I may share the source of my joy. JESUS! Fight it for Him and with Him! Money back guarantee- He wins!
Take that knockout satan,
His Blessed Girl
For more His Blessed Girl, go to the next post.