All because of Him!

    At the age of thirteen, Jaedon was diagnosed with leukaemia. His parents were in shock and denial that this could be happening to their son. Treatment began immediately while his parents wrestled with doubt and disappointment. After all, Jaedon’s name means “gift of God.” He was his mother’s child of promise. 
    Chemotherapy treatments were severe. His skin peeled, his stomach lining shed, his organs began to fail. He became so weak, he was unable to stand and had to re-learn how to walk. He did begin to improve but unfortunately the cancer returned, stronger and more resistant. At this point, he faced various life-threatening issues such as sepsis, and his body being challenged to handle the treatments. What made it worse was that the cancer now spread to his brain. With this news, his mother lost hope and did not feel God so close anymore. They felt as if they had gotten as close to hell as you could get. 
    Jaedon endured further relapses, transplants and near-death experiences yet, in spite of it all, the family prayed and thanked God daily. God told Jaedon’s father not to inform himself about the symptoms but to inform the symptoms about who God is. Jaedon’s mother, in turn, felt God tell her that she would have a story to tell and she held on to that promise.         
​    Over time, however, they realised that Jaedon was getting stronger and improving and that his healing journey had begun. Jaedon admits that he always had the sense that God was there and felt reassured that He would get him through his ordeal. After two years in the hospital, Jaedon finally returned home cancer free. 
    He and his parents are thankful to God for all that He has done. Jaedon continues to thank God for His blessings for all He has done in his life. He is thankful for what He did for him while he was in the hospital and even during his recovery afterwards He is also thankful for the fact that he is now playing club volleyball. As far as Jaedon is concerned, it’s all because of Him.
    This testimony truly touched me because it’s a candid account of the brutal challenges that Jaedon went through, his parents’ doubts and fears and learning to trust God even when things were not always going the way they would have liked. Yet, God came through for them and turned this situation around. 
    I love what God told Jaedon’s father. He told him not to inform himself about the symptoms but rather to tell the symptoms who God is. I love this because it can be so easy to focus on what you’re going through. After all, what you’re going through may feel even more real than God Himself, yet, we need to shift our perspective. We need to speak to that negative situation and remind it of who our God is. He is not dead, He is alive. He is not powerless in the face of the challenge, rather He is all-powerful and able to handle whatever comes our way. God is not subject to our problem, in fact, our problem is subject to Him. We tend to forget this reality in the face of what our natural eyes can see or our body may be experiencing. But, the reality is that nothing that we go through will ever be bigger or more powerful than our God. God is still quite able to do the impossible!
    I also love how this testimony ends. Jaedon is thankful to God for His infinite blessings and for how God has brought him through. As far as he is concerned, everything he has been through and all that he is able to do now is because of God. He could not get through this ordeal without Him and he cannot accomplish the things he is accomplishing now without Him. It’s truly all because of Him and we need to acknowledge this even in our own situations. The fact that God gives us life to see another day everyday, the fact that He gives us the grace and strength we need to go through trials and challenges, the fact that we are able to accomplish things that we would have never thought possible, is truly all because of Him. So, let’s be thankful because it’s all because of His goodness, His grace, His mercy, His love for us. It’s all because of Him!
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. No matter what we go through in life, God is always there. He gives us the grace we need to endure challenges, and He brings us through, sometimes when we least expect it. God is good and faithful and we should be thankful because it’s truly all because of Him!

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