Turning to Faith When Times Are Tough

I debated for a while whether I should write an article about religion. Faith is essential in my metastatic breast cancer journey, so I wanted to share this aspect of my life with you all.

Having faith with metastatic breast cancer

In this article, I will share how I trust God, even when it feels like he has abandoned me. I will also share my favorite verses and sayings that have gotten me through the worst times.

First, we have to talk about having metastatic breast cancer and the difficulties it can cause in our everyday lives.

Advanced breast cancer is a beast and an evil one at that. You might even say it can test your faith. What does a day living with breast cancer look like to you? It could be depression, pain, sadness, isolation; the list goes on and on.

You might spend more time getting scans and seeing doctor after doctor than with family and friends. It sounds like a pretty crappy existence. But it doesn't have to feel like that.

Who do you lean on?

When all those feelings take over your mind and body, who do you lean on? Is it a spouse? A parent? Maybe a best friend? For me, I turn to God and his word.

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God makes a lot of promises in the bible, and sometimes it can feel like those promises are broken. Those days that you can not get out of bed because of pain and exhaustion or when you have to miss important events are examples. The days when you find out your cancer has progressed.

How can we trust a God that would allow this bad stuff to happen to us and others? What about the days you have to hear about another person dying from cancer? You may ask, "God, where are you?"

My favorite verses to bolster my faith

It is hard to answer this question, but the answer is to have faith. We are not meant to understand the reasons God does what he does. I believe God has put me on this path to help others. I want to provide hope and share my faith in God with others.

When I experience a new cancer progression, I thank God that the doctors found it. I am grateful for doctors, medicines, machines that can see inside our bodies, and new treatments being researched. Trust me, it is not always easy, and I will not lie and say I haven't had questions, but I turn to the bible and get my answers. Here are a few of my favorite verses:

• Lamentations 3:25: "The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him."
• Hebrews 13:5: "I will never fail you. I will never abandon you."
• Psalms 61:1: "O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! From the end of the Earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies can not reach me. Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings!"

It's hard to have faith

Trust me, I know it is not easy to put all your trust in the Lord and his word, but it makes me feel so much better and at ease knowing that God is by my side. You have to ask him and believe in him.

I will leave you with my favorite verse, Matthew 7:7-8, which I read every day to strengthen my faith.

"Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened."