GOD IS GOOD!

My story starts in March 2005. I was feeling unwell. We had just moved house and I was finishing a very big job for my company. I started to get a strange feeling in my stomach just below my ribs. I started feeling more and more tired and I began to lose weight. My GP eventually referred me to the hospital, and after a few rather intrusive tests, nothing was found. The doctor’s conclusion was there can’t be anything sinister going on so they tried to discharge me!

Nearly three months passed and still no diagnosis was given. I had lost 3.5 stone and literally couldn’t eat. All we could do was pray. We had an extraordinary week when God started to speak very clearly to us. On the Monday a friend phoned to say God had put on her heart Psalm 41. I have to confess at the time I didn’t have a clue what the scripture was so Sue quickly grabbed her bible to see what was what. Wednesday came with a call from a different friend saying God had laid on their hearts Psalm 41. Friday we received yet another call from someone saying that the Lord had laid on their heart: Psalm 41…Talk about getting the message loud and clear! “The LORD will protect him and preserve his life …..The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness.” Psalm 41 v2..3

The following week a group of local church leaders came round and prayed for me. One of them declared over me “This sickness will not end in death.” At the time we didn’t know what was wrong with me so it took my wife’s breath away a bit!! A lady from our church had exactly the same phrase a few weeks later. My wife Sue wasn’t even sure if it was scripture. It is and it comes from John 11:4. Jesus says the same about Lazarus – well, I wasn’t raised from the dead but I certainly came close.
Eventually on the 27 May 2005 I was diagnosed with “Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma High Grade B”, a form of blood cancer similar to Leukaemia. Within days of this I was started on chemo. The hospital insisted I had my first dose as an inpatient as the Lymphoma was so huge (15cm by 11cm – the size of a small loaf) they were concerned that the chemo would cause my vital organs to fail. Fortunately they didn’t, and after 5 months of chemo I was looking and feeling a lot better. However, following a PET scan in November 2005 it still wasn’t clear whether the cancer had completely gone, so I was referred to a teaching hospital in London (UCLH) and recommended for a stem cell transplant.
While waiting for the transplant in January a viral outbreak hit the ward and my transplant was put on hold. A friend rang and said “Don’t be frustrated with the delay (we were very frustrated) God is in it.” And he was! The delay saved my life. While we had been waiting, a strange red boil appeared on my belly button. My local hospital thought it was nothing, but when I went back to UCLH they looked at it with some concern. “It may be nothing but it could be a very rare form of Lymphoma so we had better do a test.”

The night before the test results our friend Jenny came to see us. This was a miracle in itself as she travels extensively. She prayed for us and told us that God had clearly said this sickness will be over in 21 months (that would be November 2006 and this word was confirmed by a dream another friend had). Well, we were gutted! We had had enough and what should have been good news felt like a slap in the face. However, the consultation the following day would change that. The following day Sue and I turned up to the hospital and the doctor came in waving her arms around, saying: “It‟s bad news – it‟s very bad news!”

The cancer was back and I was given 5 weeks to live. Suddenly 21 months sounded good. After taking stock I knew I had to refute the doctor’s confession. “With respect, it’s not my time to die, so you do what you can do and we will trust God for the rest.”
Let God be true and every man a Liar It was time to “up the ante”. The doctors said Death but God said Life, so I went home and sent an email entitled “Let God be true and every man a Liar”. Anyone who prayed got sent it, but it didn’t end there. The people I sent it to not only prayed but sent the email onto others who prayed. So suddenly I had a huge bunch of people, from all around the world, praying for me!

Within a month I had started responding to treatment so they then offered me a donor stem cell transplant. Originally they were going to use my own stem cells, if I had had my own stem cells as was the plan, they would have re infected me with the cancer, it was only due to the delay re the viral outbreak that revealed that the lymphoma was still active. We needed to find a donor and my little sister turned out to be a perfect match and she kindly gave me some of her stem cells. The Transplant was a success and God literally sustained me through the whole process as He promised He would. I had a scan in September of that year and the results were unclear so a scan was booked for November the exact month God had promised it would be over, and thank God the scan was all clear.

Well, God did a miracle for me. I am still here and on the 1st November 2020 I will have been in the clear for 14 years.

Some friends of ours had told us that during a scan of their unborn child the doctors had discovered fluid on the brain of the child, 11mm in length. They were told that their child would have severe disabilities and they were considering terminating the baby. I told them that they should come to church and we would pray for their child. That Sunday they came and received prayer for healing. That week they went into hospital and 8 doctors later they got the news. The fluid was not there. They had no explanation. God is good! That couple have now been to church, acknowledge that Jesus healed their baby and that they would keep the child. Praise God!