My Journey With Cancer, Part 12 By David Maddox
I began writing this in my Cancer doctor’s office where I am receiving Chemo number 6 (Praise God). We are very happy to be back in the fight against the intruder within – but very aware of the larger battle going on both in the invisible over what God is seeking to do – and in the visible over my physical body and life. After what we learned today of the battle within – independent of the cancer fight – I was reminded of the great battle at Gettysburg that determined the outcome of the civil war. It was fought July 1-3, 1863 and when it ended and both sides had thrown everything they had into the battle there were between 46,000 and 51,000 casualties depending on whose estimates you believe. The Southern army had been bled such that it never again was able to raise an offensive threat against the Union. It was finished – only defensive actions were now possible and those were ineffective leading to the South’s surrender June 2, 1865. I sense the current fight is important like Gettysburg for Satan wants to end it all here and now to stop the obvious and powerful move of God in us and through which we see (all God’s activity none ours) – the call He has confirmed – the completion of decades of work on discipleship materials He wants completed – and then there is “the book” He wants finished – started in 2007 and near completion of author’s final draft (7th rewrite). The book is a novel, but it is a novel based on scripture (over 375 footnotes with cites to verses in the Bible) which is intended to open people’s eyes to the battle going on around us in the invisible. It is titled tentatively “The Curtain” because its purpose is to open the way to see the battle the forces of light and the darkness are fighting constantly for every soul in all of creation. That battle answers all the “why” questions and explains what we see going on around us in the physical from culture’s changes to the terrorist’s agenda. Satan who Jesus says “comes only to steal and kill and destroy” has come at us with that goal. Jesus who carries us comes with His agenda of “life . . . abundantly” (John 10:10). Not trying to be overly dramatic or to attach any unreal value to myself – that is just what I sense – and if that is the fight I welcome it for we know who called us and it is He that holds the keys to “Death” (Revelation 1:18).
So what is going on that has precipitated this battle. Let me begin in the simple with the physical – what is going on in my body. You will remember that I got a serious infection two months ago which landed me in the hospital and has had me mostly flat since then until now unable to continue the chemo treatments. As they looked at blood readings it became obvious that the battle had shifted to my blood “chemistry”. First they found my red blood cell count was dangerously low and came with a plan for a series of shots that would address red blood cell production. For the short run they prescribed a blood transfusion which I received ten days ago. Unfortunately before they could begin the shots they discovered my iron was dangerously low which disqualified me temporarily for the shots. They infused me with iron and we decided to try and move forward with chemo today if I felt I could take the side effects. The past three day I have felt really good (compared to the past few weeks) so we came this morning ready to receive dose 6. Before they will give you chemo they always check your blood and once again a surprise. The red cell count fell again so decisions had to be made on whether I could withstand the chemo and how to address the red cell issue. The concern is that I may be bleeding internally but there is no obvious sign of that – doing some tests to see if that is the issue. Meanwhile we are receiving chemo and will have additional blood transfusions this week and next week. The shots to restore red cell production are still not yet scheduled. Miraculously even in the midst of all of that going on the chemo markers went down (Praise the Lord). The obvious prayer requests regarding the physical is for the blood issue to be resolved quickly, that the Lord again miraculously cause the side effects from the chemo to be minimal, and that my strength be adequate to meet the need.
On the more important side – what is happening Spiritually – there it is hallelujah time. God is moving powerfully. I have an invitation to preach in Mesa on the 26th on my favorite subject – revival. I am really excited for as you know that is what I believe to be the single most import issue facing Believers today – it will be revival or judgment – and God’s heart is clearly for revival. God has already given me my sermon outline. He woke me up last week with a clear message. So excited about what God must have planned.
God also opened discipleship opportunities and is acting powerfully to show Himself strong. I asked Him to reaffirm and clarify our call and He answered clearly. The call to lead discipleship for Time to Revive was laid out again with additional detail about what in on His agenda – also the call to Phoenix and to the writings He has had me working on for decades. He affirmed that He was in the writings by allowing me to witness His answer to a prayer prayed by one who took last week’s dare. You remember the dare was for you to pray asking for the gift of tears that you might truly share God’s heart and see circumstances as He sees them. Saturday night we were in an intense prayer time with a couple that share our heart and who have been involved in a Spiritual battle for their life and death akin to that in which we are involved. Satan has them in circumstance which are literally a prison and in which he is seeking to drain their Spiritual and physical life out of them. He will fail because they will choose to be faithful and obey what God shows them. During a time an intense and holy silence between prayers the wife suddenly began to cry as she started to pray God’s heart over their circumstances. When the prayer time ended she shared what had happened. She told us she had not been able to cry over their terrible circumstances until she suddenly was shown them from God’s perspective during the prayer time and the tears began to flow. She shared what God had shown her and that she had taken the dare and asked God for the gift of tears. There was joy through her sadness as seeing how God viewed their circumstances through tears enabled her to ignore her emotions which had been controlling her actions making her part of the problem God was seeking to resolve. Knowing that there is God’s power in what you write affirms that God (not you) is the author and that therefore they will be used. What joy!
I rejoice at what God has revealed this week – at the passion He has again raised – the affirmation and clarification of His call – at the encouragement He has given us for the battle in which we are now involved. We are not like the Union or the Southern army in the Gett. We are like the battlefield itself for we are what is being fought over, but we are merely witnesses to the battle being fought. The reason we do not fear this battle although it may be bad at points is that God has also affirmed who is in control of who will win. During a sermon Seth and Meredith shared with us the pastor quoted John Wesley whose statement affirmed what God has already shown us. Wesley said, “Until my work on this earth is done I am immortal. But when my work for Christ is done I go to be with Jesus.” We continue to be shown that our work for Christ is not yet done and so we enter this battle excited to see how God is going to bring about a victory. Your prayers for deliverance from the evil one in this battle would be appreciated. Thanks for your continued faithfulness.
About David Maddox – After a legal career in both Texas and Arizona that spanned over 40 years as a civil litigator, God called David to leave his law practice and work full time as Discipleship Director for Time to Revive. That call is really the fruit of decades of prayer for revival and teaching God’s Word, writing discipleship materials and seeking to make disciples. David married Janet Whitehead in 1976 and they minister together from their Phoenix home. God has blessed them with four children and thus far seven grandchildren.
