He tells me just as I crawl into bed and try to warm up in the flannel sheets.
Talked to Bruce tonight. It’s in the blood—in the marrow.
He has been training our lab puppy for the past year and watching him with her in the field hunting pheasants is nothing short of amazing. Probably my age, he’s a dog lover at heart and a sweet soul under a barking ex-military voice at times. Physically fit and rugged, he was in a rather serious car accident a few weeks ago where blood work revealed invisible concerns more serious than external injuries. And he had no symptoms.
Leukemia.
The insides of his bones—the marrow of life—is malfunctioning, distorting white blood cells and sending them running all through his body.
And I lay there tense. I pray hard for him right there in the flannel, but I can sense my clenched jaw, my tight shoulders and my head starts to ache.
He has a daughter the age of our youngest. And a wife he loves. And other family. And friends. And dogs who know him and love him so much they start dancing in the back seat when we pull up on the hunting grounds to meet him.
Why am I tensing so tight? I believe. I believe God can heal. I’ve witnessed pronounced dead returning to life with visions of Christ saying, “Not yet.” But I know He doesn’t always heal in the here and now—on this side of heaven. I’m praying anyway for God to take this cup away, to heal his blood—by His blood.
So I spent a restless night not in worry but in prayer. Holding on to God tight and pleading for healed blood. Because God is even in the marrow of our being. He who has numbered our days, who knows the number of hairs on our heads—He knows each cell and can heal it straight through.
And so I pray again right now:
Jehovah-Jireh God, our God who provides—heal Bruce completely. Heal him from the inside out. Restore his life-sustaining blood to proper functioning—the way you intend it to be. And I pray this not just for Bruce’s sake and all those who love him, but for Your sake. Show your glory, God! Show how you can take broken and heal like no man, like no false god. Shine your glory into the marrow of this man and raise him up to declare your mighty saving power and love! I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ—because there is power in Your name, Jesus—there’s resurrection power in your poured out blood on our behalf. Praise you and thank you forever—for there is none like you in the heavens or on the earth or below the earth. Amen.
Will you take a moment, bow your head, and pray a prayer for Bruce?
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2
The sun always rises, even when we can’t see.
The Son always raises.
Always.