It has been nearly two weeks since I have written a blog post, as I have been overwhelmed with work and chemo. But this morning I was asking God if He wanted me to write today, and if so, what??? Then this song, "Honey in the Rock", came to mind, by Brandon Lake, Brook Fraser, and the worship band Passion:
There's honey in the rock,
Water in the stone,
Manna on the ground,
No matter where I go
I don't need to worry
now that I know
everything I need You've got
There's honey in the Rock...
This beautiful song touches on several scripture passages. Psalm 81: 13 and 16 tell us:
"If my people would but listen to me,
If Israel would follow my ways...
"... you would be fed with the finest of wheat,
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."
I am thinking right now of all the Honey from the rock in my life this morning. God's little Sweet Surprises. I slept 7 hours last night next to a warm woman who loves me, and nearly 9 the night before. This is huge- because my normal for the first four rounds of chemotherapy was to sleep only 4 hours a night for the first four or five nights. And... I am rapidly losing water weight- 11 lbs since yesterday. Every time I do Chemotherapy, they give me IV fluids for 72 hours straight, sometimes as many as four bags at a time. I gain 12-14 lbs of fluids. It makes me feel bloated and uncomfortable for most of the first week after chemo, and the pressure of all this fluid pushes out against my abdominal hernia like a fist in my stomach, making it uncomfortable to work or to lie on my back. (Also, my work clothes don't fit.) But now most of it is gone, and I no longer look three months pregnant! So thank you God...
More Honey- friends from church surprised us with an amazing meal last night, and I was able to successfully replace my car radiator yesterday, saving us $500. (You gear-heads out there know what a chore this can be, moving the trim, intercooler, fans (and everything else!) out of the way. It's like a 3D puzzle with hidden fasteners, except the part of it is in the dark and not in your line of sight. So you have to figure it out. It was aggravating, but I got it. Personal satisfaction and money we didn't have to spend. Honey in the Rock.
Next, the song talks about Water in the Stone. There are two key passages on God providing Water from a rock when the Hebrews were wondering in the desert, out of water and desperate. In the first, Exodus 17: 1-7, God tells Moses to strike the rock with his staff. He does so, and water comes out of the rock for the people and their animals to drink. In the second passage, Numbers 20:7-13, God tells Moses to SPEAK to the rock, and water will come forth. But Moses strikes it instead. God STILL provided for his people, but Moses' disobedience-- a petty disobedience in our own eyes-- cost him:
But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them."
Wow! How many times have I ignored the voice of God to do something, (or more likely, to NOT do a thing?) Has that cost me a future blessing, through my petty, often toddler-like disobedience?
Then there is the Manna on the ground. In Exodus 16:4, God tells the Hebrews in the desert that He is about to provide food for them, but that it will be a DAILY provision- which requires them to TRUST Him. Just like with the water. Daily provision, right when they needed it.
They would wake up in the morning and this Manna, this bread from heaven, would be all over the ground. Verse 31 tells us:
The people of Israel called the bread manna. ["What IS it???"] It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.
Oh my goodness! It tasted like HONEY! (Isn't God good?)
Daily provision. Sometimes God works that way, to teach us to Trust him. At other times, God gives us provision and bounty in advance. Both are signs of His goodness to us.
Right now, I am asking God for answers on my medical treatment. I just finished my 5th round of chemotherapy and have been expecting to start a stem cell transplant in 5-6 weeks, but am hearing about horrible side effects, such as susceptibility to other diseases, especially other cancers, while my immune system is compromised for the next 6 months. I am also hearing about alternative treatments, such as CAR-T therapy. Which reportedly has better results, but seems to be done AFTER the cancer returns, not at the stage I am in-- immediately post-chemo. We have also been looking at a clinical trial. Group A gets the Stem Cell Transplant, followed by maintenance immunotherapy every eight weeks for the next three years. Group B DOESN'T get the Transplant, but still gets the same maintenance chemo. So what to do?
I am thinking that often, God's ANSWERS come right on time, rather than when we want them to come. I want to plan the next six months of my life (at least!) right this very moment! (What's the plan, God? What are we doing about this?) But I have a hunch that God is going to wait to tell me until the last minute, just as He sometimes waits until the critical hour to provide. To build my faith and trust in Him.
Lately, Isaiah 30:20-21 has been coming to mind when I am asking God for answers on my medical issues:
Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, "This is the way, walk in it."
So pray for me friends, as God builds my trust. That I WILL be trusting, and will hear Him clearly on his answers. And that I will recognize all his many blessings. Especially the daily ones, that come Just-In-Time.
Honey in the rock.
Honey in the Rock: loved Pete. Thank you for sharing it. What a great reading to begin a day. Blessings brother.