I flew over the ocean expecting to change the world. Sunday school flannelgraph memories combined with Bible school and world-class preparation in cross-cultural studies and language learning techniques meant I was ready. Ready to spread the gospel of Christ far and wide.

What I didn’t expect was how much I would learn. Oh, how much I had to learn! From God. From the amazing people He’d brought me to live among on the other side of the globe. From my new neighbors and friends. From my coworkers who had come from other countries to work together with me here. From this strange and beautiful new culture that somehow helped me understand the undertones of my own culture better. 

These cultures and factors collided one day when our pastor broke the news that made us cringe: our dear friend, his wife, had discovered a large growth on her thyroid. In typical American fashion, we rushed to quick answers.

We’re taking you to the hospital. Now.

You’re having surgery, then radiation. Or chemo. 

We’re fixing this. You will get better.

Our pastor and his wife had different ideas.

God is not surprised by this development.

He will help us know what to do. 

Whatever His will is, we will be satisfied.

In the end, our pastor’s wife was able to have her thyroid removed, and God provided the finances necessary to cover the fees. They opted out of further treatment, believing that God would care for her and if the cancer spread, that God could stop it if He so desired. 

Through their faith, our friends taught us a valuable lesson about healing in God’s economy. They helped me to see that too often, WAY too often, my eyes are focused on the healing of right now, the physical healing that would give me another year or ten or twenty in this world. Our friends found their satisfaction in the healing that has already been won through Christ’s triumphant death. Their lives beautifully reflect a trust in the One who controls all that touches their world—and ours.