Decisions, decisions, decisions...

That's a tough question. I did read a little about this young boy and his mother refusing conventional medical treatment for his cancer. At first, I thought, wow---is this kid for real? I later learned that part of their reason for declining the suggested treatment--chemotherapy--is so that they can apply a particular Native American form of treatment.

After a few moments of pondering about this news report, I could not help but be curious for their reasons to decline the proposed cancer treatment. I found it interesting that they were seeking to use a Native American form of treating the cancer, which does not involve the traditional route to aggressively treat cancer.

It gets very tricky when we start exploring outside of God's will and sovereignty for our life decisions. Here's an example. A few years back, my husband was very ill from a disease in which it really did take over our lives. We tried every medicine out there for this illness and sought alternative medicine as well (acupuncture, biofeedback, minerals, vitamins and the sort). Without relief, I became even more desperate for treatment for my husband's declining health. When we weren't seeing positive results from holistic/tradition approaches, I recalled having a college professor who was a shaman. A shaman is a sort of doctor that tries to heal physical and emotion ailments through performing certain rituals. This shaman in particular used trance to "heal" her clients. I remembered her sharing with me how she had healed a boy with epilepsy and a HIV-positive man. With this in mind, I suggested to my husband that we see her. (I was already a Christian at this point. Actually, I prayed daily, in tears mostly, for God to restore his health and for medical wisdom. ) I was desperate! I remember making that phone call to the shaman and she said she was willing to see my husband and try to help him. For a few seconds after hanging up the phone, I felt some relief that we were going to have another method to explore for "healing"; BUT, the Holy Spirit tugged at my heart saying otherwise. What was I doing? Was my faith so weak that I was willing to sell God short for my impatience and pain? The Holy Spirit revealed that going to the shaman was exploring (on my part) a power that was not of and from God, but quite the opposite. So now my heart was convicted, yet I still needed to make a decision. Was I going to simply diss God because I was not getting the results I wanted when I wanted them or was I going to rely on someone other than God to "fix" the situation?

Needless to say, my husband and I didn't meet with the shaman. We were going to trust God with our situation. Oh, I am so grateful for God's grace that He spared us the heartbreak that we would have felt for turning away from Him for such an important decision! I cannot pretend to know what it is like to have a disease like cancer, but I know what it is like to be medically desperate and to want to have a physically, functional lifestyle. In an instant, I could have easily turned my back on God because I didn't feel He wasn't acting quick enough or His plans didn't fit ours, but I am so glad for not going there! I just love it when He creates moments for us to turn back to Him because He knows what's best for us ---yes, even when we are in pain.