NO ONE FIGHTS ALONE. That's what the bracelet says that so many of our friends and I wear every day. A bracelet that reminds us to pray for Jeff, for a cure, for his healing. However, I couldn't help but think that sometimes people DO fight alone. I don't know how...and I've tried to imagine how you could go through something like this alone, but truth is...some people choose to fight alone. They choose to fight a battle without letting others around them help...I think their own pride is the culprit here. They choose to fight a battle without the help of God...this one I have a hard time understanding. From the first second we heard Jeff's diagnosis, God has been helping us through this...actually He was helping us even before the diagnosis, but we just didn't know it. So I've wondered, and I am completely miffed as to why anyone decides that they'd rather fight alone.
Many of you know that I have struggled with asthma for 10 yrs now. What you may not have known is that the initial onset of asthma left us with a $85,000.00 hospital bill and an insurance company that deemed my condition to be a "pre-existing" conditiion and refused to pay. In order to keep me healthy, I take a regimen of drugs to reduce inflamation in my lungs and keep my airways open...to the tune of several hundred dollars each month. The harder we fought our insurance company, the sicker I would get, until one day I was ranting to God (well that's the best way to describe it!) I felt Him say to me in my spirit, "Libby, who is your provider?" See, I had put my faith in an insurance company to be my provider...but they let me down. From that moment on, I made up my mind that I would trust God to be my provider...He would either provide by making the insurance company pay, or He would provide another way...BUT HE WOULD PROVIDE. Long story short, about a year ago I went to the mailbox one day and in the box was an envelope from TMH. No big deal, we had been getting the same bill every month for the last 10 years...and every month we made a payment. We still owed thousands of dollars but God had been faithful and provided a payment plan and the money needed to make each payment. Normally, I would not open the bills (Jeff pays all our bills and so I just put them in the bill box for him). This time though I absent mindedly opened the envelope and when I did I saw red writing on the page. I thought to myself, "Did he miss a payment? What in the world?" Suddenly, the words written in red came into focus, "With deep appreciation, your bill has been paid in FULL"... ZERO BALANCE!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe my eyes...we had not requested assistance or anything...just paid what we owed each month, thanking God for providing the means by which to do it!
So, as the bills have started to roll in for cancer treatment and our insurance turns out to be just so-so...not at all as great as we thought is was...I find myself remembering that God knew what was on our horizon when He provided for that bill to be paid off. He is already in our tomorrow...fighting on our behalf! We don't fight alone...He was fighting for us before we even knew that we needed Him. If I stop and think about how much this battle could cost it would indeed overwhelm me...however when I remember who my provider is, I understand that there is nothing for me to fear. It was while I was thinking about this very thing today that God brought a very important truth to my heart. NO ONE FIGHTS ALONE. See, He is fighting for us before we even know we need help...and I believe He fights for us even when we are too proud to accept his help. He fought for us even when we were in our sin. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
It's easier when we accept Him and learn to trust Him...but make no mistake...He fights for you...whatever your struggle is. NO ONE FIGHTS ALONE!
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