Never give up!

    Jason was looking forward to the new season that was opening up for him. He had just begun his new job when one day, he realised that something was on his tongue and that his tongue was swelling and it was affecting his speech. A biopsy revealed that he had stage three cancer in his tongue and it was releasing a chemical that was poisoning him from the inside out. Doctors removed half of his lymph nodes and  twenty percent of his tongue in an effort to remove all of the cancer. He was now looking forward to moving on with his life and being the pastor God had called him to be.
    However, sometime later, the same thing returned on his tongue. Doctors discovered that the cancer, now borderline stage four, had returned and was even more aggressive than the last time. They opted to remove most of his tongue. To reconstruct his tongue, they planned to remove flesh from his arm and to cover his arm they would remove skin from his leg. As a result, he would not be able to use his arm for a while and as a musician that would pose a problem. He would also not be able to talk the same and as a singer and speaker, that too would be a problem. At this point, Jason broke down.
    The pain he experienced in this season became so unbearable that he searched Google for easy ways to die, easy ways, because he was already experiencing excruciating pain. His wife began to sing over him and he felt peace, like a person, enter the room. This gave him the strength to decide not to give up. 
    Today, Jason has defied the doctors’ expectations. He is speaking and singing again. When he looks back at what he has been through, he concludes that it is about Jesus taking the things in your life that are not okay - those things that represent death, despair, darkness and hopelessness - and redeeming them, taking what was dead and bringing it back to life. As he looks back over his experience, he sees it as a comeback. He acknowledges that Jesus did it, that He gets all the glory and the only thing that he can do is never give up.
    I am truly inspired by this testimony. It’s the story of persistent battles that seem designed to completely overwhelm and destroy you. It’s a story about trusting God and choosing not to give up against all odds. Jason found it difficult to see the future he believed would be his. The cancer was threatening to wipe it out. Yet, God always has the final say (Proverbs 16:33). God knows the plans He has for us. It’s a plan to prosper us not to harm us, a plan to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11) and there are times when challenges and battles will come designed to prevent us from seeing the good plan and future God has for us. I don’t believe they can wipe out God’s plan because God’s purpose will prevail no matter what comes our way. We just have to believe. 
    Jason had to believe that he would speak and sing again and do what God had called him to do in spite of the battle he was facing. That was difficult and he almost gave up… but God! Maybe you are at the point where you are about to give up or maybe you have already given up because that giant seems too big for you and feels so overwhelming. That may be so, but it’s not bigger or more powerful than your God! God will always be bigger and more powerful than anything that can come your way. You just have to believe …and trust… God can give you the comeback you need even though it seems like it’s over. Against all odds, God can redeem you and is able to bring dead things back to life. 
      It’s God’s job to do the work. It’s your job to trust Him.
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. Life can be tough. We never know what we will meet around the corner but God knows. He is already there with the hope and strength we need to face and to conquer what life sends our way.​

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