When Your Diagnosis is Scary

You’ve seen and heard about them. Who knows, maybe they have been talking about someone you know! They document houses that are not ordered. Cluttered. Filled with things that should not be there. Hoarded junk. Stinking rot. Death. Homes that have not been cared for properly and are slowly returning to the condition that the environment introduces. Paint faded. Rotten. Wet. Mossed out. Slowly being consumed by the elements.

Somewhere along the way, the occupants have lost their ability or interest in caring for their property. The value is fading. The viability is disappearing.

This speaks to me on so many levels. Health. Finances. Weight. Teeth. Relationships. Business. Car. Home. Property. Church. Spiritual. We often create the results of our lack of attention to the necessary actions to keep our world controlled and in order.

We struggle with the evidence of failure, fearful of the diagnosis, and the prognosis that leaves us gasping and waiting for the other shoe to drop. It’s inevitable, we will all face the scary time when we have no clue what to do next.

But what if… What if you were given the opportunity of time and ability to repair everything back to a semblance of normality? Repair your health by taking control of your choices. Assure your finances by knowing what to do and getting in control. Trim that weight by not letting your habits destroy you. Reconnect with that proper relationship, especially when it is someone who has done you wrong or vice versa. Update that car. Fix the home, and schedule a good payoff. Return to God and your church. Build up that spiritual person that you are supposed to be.

So… What if…

The Bible tells us a story of a king that was diagnosed with a sickness. Hezekiah, circa 713 BC… The prognosis from the prophet was a death sentence.

“Thus says the LORD:
‘Set your house in order,
for you shall die,
and not live.’ ”  
(2 Kings 20:1 NKJV)

What would you do? Ask for a second opinion? Look for a wacky cure? Wring your hands? Fret about what’s left undone and who will be hurt by your passing? Hasten the event with your worry?

I wonder what Hezekiah did?

Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying, “Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

2 Kings 20:2-3 NKJV

He prayed! He reminded the Lord of his life – Truth, Loyalty, Follower. And then he wept bitterly. In this case, Bitterly means a “great overflowing of tears“. Probably hot with regret. Bitter Tears. So much left to do. And I’ve done all the good I know to do.

A friend of mine passed to cancer. Daniel Calk. Son-in-Law to Bishop James Kilgore, husband to Jan, father to Chris and Danielle, and my pastor for a little while. He passed back in April. 1991. He had a great future. Great family. I remember how he used to take his daughter on a date Saturday mornings. His dad was my pastor when I was in kindergarten in Seabrook, Texas. I remember Daniel coming to our house and with his long reach of legs and arms he would shinny up a tree – probably to escape the 3 younger Gurley Boys that wanted to hang out with him!

Life has a way of circling our walk from one generation to the next. With Daniel’s passing I had this thought running through my heart – no longer would he get to experience his family. Prayers were poured out for his healing, but as with many before and since, not every prayer gets answered the way we want.

(Another friend of mine, Philip Harrelson, was at the church when Daniel returned to preaching after his diagnosis and some treatment. Read his posting about that day, and the sermon here.)

Let’s look back at what happened to Hezekiah and his prayers….

And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David.” ‘ ” (2 Kings 20:4-6 NKJV)

Think with me for a moment. God told him to get his house in order. Hezekiah prayed. God told him he was going to die. Hezekiah prayed. And wept bitter tears. It was not lengthy, but it was very heartfelt! Before the prophet could get out of the King’s House, God had adjusted the Prognosis but repairing the Diagnosis.

This time God answered the tears and prayers! It seems this is the angle that keeps us focused on the Good Graces of God.

My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, “Where is your God?”

Psalms 42:3 NKJV

How do you get your house in order? Pray. Weep bitter tears over the loss. Determine what needs to be, and then work on getting your house in order. Depend upon God. Your ordered life will come, but only what God allows in your life.

Our reality is, we are scared of the diagnosis, and the prognosis may not be to our liking, but how we deal with the results will show the core of who we are, and how we will face life.

A friend posted this thought…just this morning (February 4, 2019) and it is so appropriate to any situation.