Written in the Book

One of the first gifts my mother gave me after I became a Christian was a journal. Inside the cover she wrote: “May you record your journey and the many ways God reveals Himself to you so that you never forget His leading.”

I was a brand-new Christian, yet I didn’t know where to begin in my journey of faith. It was in this first of many journals that I chronicled just how He led in my life. Every day as I read my Bible, I underlined or highlighted verses that resonated with me, filled a need I had or spoke to my heart in a way that assured me that I was a much-loved and precious child of God. I reflected on the goodness of God and how He carried me through challenges.

I not only expressed gratitude in my journal for all that God had done in my life, but also wrote down requests and how those requests were answered. Writing them down allowed me to track my own growth in faith. Over time God taught me that it is through His written Word and answered prayer that I could trust Him.

Many entries over the years reminded me of God’s faithfulness as He answered a myriad of prayers, ranging from providing food and gas money, to a new car, work, and opportunities to share the gospel in several countries. My husband and I had a great life of ministry.

Our faith was strong, but it was tested along the way through many trials. We faced the loss of two babies, parents, siblings, and other loved ones, and coped with my husband’s multiple ischemic strokes, which altered our future significantly. Though difficult, we made it through.

Jeremiah wrote: “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses?” (Jer. 12:5). We didn’t know it, but we were about to contend with horses.

Contending With Horses

It was the fall of 2024 when I got the news: “You have cancer.” My world seemed to stop. I couldn’t breathe. How could this happen? I was feeling fine, just a little tired. I tried to hold back the tears and keep everything in check as in a fog I heard my doctor tell me what the next steps would be: biopsy; positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); excision of my lymph node; labs; and arranging an appointment with a hematologist at the cancer center to discuss treatment options.

I finally came to the realization that I needed to trust God and not myself.

As I drove home, I thought of my husband and father, for whom I was the primary caregiver. How was I going to continue taking care of them and myself? Who would take care of me? Then the tears began to flow. I couldn’t stop them. I was devastated. Would I live long? My diagnosis came at such an inconvenient time.

I reached out to a friend of mine who also had cancer. I asked her how she coped with it, and she told me, “God’s Word is alive, sister! That’s how I cope.” Then she sent me several of her favorite promises, and I wrote them down in a book so I could reread them over and over. One of those promises was especially comforting to me:

“Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:16, 17).

Some days were hard. I had a cloud covering me that I couldn’t shake. I finally came to the realization that I needed to trust God and not myself, and I began to depend upon the written Word to get me through each day.

Illness is a temporary inconvenience, and I know God will give me strength to endure it. How I react is my choice: I can be bitter and continue to panic, worrying about my future, or I can rest in His hands and accept His peace in the midst of my storm.

God didn’t promise a life without pain or hardship. But He has promised to be with me in my journey. Through the prayers of hundreds of friends and people I have never met, God has revealed His grace and strength.

And as God told Moses in Exodus 17:14, I’ve been writing this experience as “a memorial” in a book.

Written in Ink and With Breath

Why were the prophets instructed to write down the Word of God? I am at the age where I am forgetful, and if I don’t write down appointments or my grocery list and keep a list of what I have to do, I am at a loss. Writing helps me to remember and stay organized. By documenting the Word of God, prophets ensured that God’s messages would be remembered and passed down from generation to generation.

Not all Bible writers were prophets in the sense that they focused on foretelling the future and rebuking sin. They were teachers, physicians, priests, kings, and common people. They were sinners, yet God used them to communicate His will that was not only for that particular time period but until the end of time. And because they were obedient to their charge, you and I have the Word to instruct us.

Many modern writers are not prophets, but their words still point people to the transformative power of Jesus.

The Scriptures are a God-inspired book, breathed out from God Himself. This makes me think of when God breathed into Adam the breath of life, and he became a living soul. The written Word of God is alive with sanctifying truth that sets us free. The same Scripture is full of promises that offer hope, and also in love reproves, corrects, and instructs us in righteousness, without which we would not be complete and equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16, 17).

Many modern writers are not prophets, but their words still point people to the transformative power of Jesus. Preacher Charles Spurgeon made an impact on my devotional life, as well as Dwight Moody, who is credited as stating, “The Bible was not given for our information, but for our transformation.”

Other famous people were not known for their writing, but their lives were a living epistle. Mother Teresa, for example, is one of those people. She devoted her life to serving poor and destitute individuals particularly in Calcutta, India. She was the founder of the Missionaries of Charity, an organization that was devoted to helping those in need. In 1979 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her selfless work. In her book No Greater Love she is quoted as saying, “It is not how much we do, but how much love we put into the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love is put in the giving.”[*]

The apostle Paul wrote, “You are an epistle in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (2 Cor. 3:2, 3).

Whether written a book or lived out in the life, God’s messages of hope are still being spread to the world. Where would we be if it weren’t for the prophets writing God’s messages in a book?

My story is not over. I have not been cured of my cancer, because there is no cure. But my prayer is Lord, help me trust You even through the unexpected twists and turns of life. And I claim the promise “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you” (2 Kings 20:5). I have been in treatment and can see God’s hand in my sustained health.

I am thankful for the awesome privilege of sharing what God has done for me, and every time I read my journals I am reminded: “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses” (1 Kings 8:56).

[*] Mother Teresa, No Greater Love (New World Library, 2002).