The Name

December 10, 2017

“It must have been the Lord; I hadn’t planned on saying that.” I had just commented on how much his words that morning had spoken to me. In his prayer in worship this morning, son Nate said, “The Name of Jesus is higher than any other. Every other name must bow before his authority.” He didn’t know.

For the past week, I’ve been wrestling with my thoughts. Tuesday, I go in for prostate biopsies; the third time I’ve done this. I’m considered high risk because my grandfather died from prostate cancer that spread to his pelvis, my dad had prostate cancer, as did my brother. They’ve been monitoring me for the past ten or so years; my PSA has wiggled up and down, but this last time, although the numbers weren’t that high, the change was more than the dr wanted to see, so it’s biopsy time again. Every other time I’ve gone in for blood work and even for biopsies, I’ve done so with an inner assurance that everything would be fine, but this time, I haven’t felt that confidence. 

I know I’m suppose to have faith; I know the theology that says God wants everyone healed...I know the way this works, but this time, something has felt different. So when I heard those words this morning, I knew God was speaking directly to me. The Name of Jesus is higher than any other. Prostate cancer is a name we give to a particular group of cells that grow abnormally. As Nate prayed, I realized that the Name of Jesus is greater than the name cancer. I haven’t yet had the biopsies; I have no idea what the results will be, but I know that at the Name of Jesus, every other name must bow to his authority, and for that, I am thankful tonight. And if next week the results are less than we had hoped, I will give thanks for the difficult grace God gives, as I give thanks tonight for the word of encouragement from the prayers of my son.