I was thinking about a friend who is having medical tests run. Many times when we have tests run there is a level of uncertainty.  We tend to get nervous that they may find something wrong, or we worry that they won't find anything wrong.  There are times when we don't want them to find anything, like when I had my original mammogram.  At that point, I wasn't worried that there was something wrong, I just didn't want to find out there was. 

Sometimes however, we have been having some issue and the doctor just cannot seem to find the problem.  We see doctor after doctor, specialist after specialist; and yet nothing seems to come up abnormal.  At those times we start hoping the next test will reveal something.  I remember when I had a gallstone stuck inside of me.  They had taken my gallbladder out.  They had even gone back to find out if a stone was stuck somewhere.  Everything came back fine.  For six years I dealt with what I considered excruciating pain.  The doctor kept trying different medicine and nothing was helping.  Finally, after six years, a new doctor went back in and found a pea sized gallstone that had been hiding out inside of me all that time.  I can't tell you how glad I was to have that stone out, and I have had no problems since. 

If you think about it, though, the tests aren't really something to be concerned about.  Yes, they might find cancer.  Yes, they might find that gallstone that has been stuck for six years.  But the tests are only really there to reveal the problem.  We can't have the problem fixed if we don't know what it is. 

The same is true about the tests God sends our way.  The test is not the problem.  The test is only there to reveal the problem.  God may give me cancer, but the cancer is not the real problem.  The cancer is there to reveal another deeper issue.  That is why I wasn't as concerned with whether I did conventional or natural treatment; and why just getting the cancer out of me, which is a natural response, wasn't the answer. I was accutely aware that the cancer could take my life, but I was also aware that if I just got rid of the cancer then I might very well have to relive this test again.  God might choose to bring the cancer back or He might have another test in my life that was placed there to show me the root of my problem.  Trust me, this is not a test I want to experience again, either through cancer or whatever other means God may choose to use.  I just pray I passed this one!