Soul Scientist

Job 19:26

KJ21 Yet in my flesh shall I see God.

CEV My flesh may be destroyed, yet from this body I shall see God.

We might’ve all heard about Job’s suffering and how God restored even more to Job at the end than what he had in the beginning. We might have also identified with Job’s suffering and how God does meet every need. We might have even breathed a sigh of relief that Job’s suffering and God’s provision hasn’t been needed to that extent in our lives.

But I’m learning that Job’s declaration of the truth of yet in my flesh shall I see God brings solid hope to the soil of my soul. A hope that steadies, stays, and strengthens against the daily demands of cancer treatment. And this hope opens my heart to receiving more truth…

Truths from Scripture help me to trust God today and to watch for a triumph from God tomorrow. For truths like these realign me to see Him at work and know Him in character. And when I trust Him to be at work in my world and me, I can better see Him as He truly is – the I AM Who was with Moses, Mary, and Martha many years ago and the I AM Who is with me (and you) today.

He is the One Who is unchanging and unstoppable in all His ways for all His days for all of us (see Hebrews 13:8).

He is the One Who is stronger than all situations, scenarios, or suffering (see Jeremiah 32:17).

God wasn’t defined by Peter’s despair at the rooster’s cry at dawn (see Matthew chapter 26). God wasn’t daunted by Daniel’s night in the lion’s den (see Daniel chapter 6). God wasn’t separated at any time from any of the lives set forth in Scripture (see Hebrews chapter 11). And God isn’t limited by my lacking in health, or by anything else in all creation. Nor is He limited by anything in your life either…

Rather, that same God Who used a bush with Moses, a donkey with Balaam, a fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, a flood with Noah, and a tomb with Lazarus, is using cancer and chronic illnesses to teach me more of His truth, love, and hope. I do see God at work daily as my weaknesses display my fading flesh and the firmly fixed and fierce power of the great I AM (see 2 Corinthians 12:10). And I just bet Job might’ve thought the same in his days as he resided in truths like these…

God is the One who leads, loves, and lifts my head (see Psalm 3:3).

He is the One Who heartens, helps, and gives hope (see 1 Corinthians 1:27).

He is the One Who was, is, and is to come (see Revelation 1:8).

He is the God of Romans 8:28 GNT We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.

He is the God of Psalm 23:1 CEB The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing.

He is the God of Psalm 34:10b ESV but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

He was the God in Whom Job put his trust for all things years ago.

He is the God in Whom we can trust with all things today.

We can trust Him to provide all things needed for us as we seek Him with whole hearts, minds, and strengths (see Matthew 6:33). We can trust Him to make all things new in us as we worship Him with empty hands, desires, and futures (see Revelation 21:5).

Job believed he’d see his God at work in his own flesh and the flesh and blood of his children. And Job did. Job praised his God as his Rock and Redeemer by holding fast to the truth that his God was there with him, no matter the depth of his pain (see Job 19:25). And God was.

Job believed. God provided.

Job praised God from the ash heap in an overwhelming grief. And in his example, I intend to proclaim God from the hospital or my home in a mustard-seed faith. Job prayed to God in his pain. I set out to pronounce God as good in this day.

And to do the same again tomorrow…

God is good.

He is good, all the time.

And all the time, He is good.

This was an excerpt from a 5-week series I’ll be teaching at my church on Wednesday nights starting May 28th at 6pm in the Generations Hall. (West Jackson Baptist Church, 580 Oil Well Rd, Jackson, TN 38305) We’d LOVE for you to come and bring a friend (or 3)! And if you can’t make it in-person, all 5 sessions will be recorded and available for free – please contact me here if you’re interested in accessing these recordings.

Thank you, each of you, for walking alongside me (and others in your lives) in these wildernesses of cancer, chronic illness, and many other experiences in suffering. I am so very grateful for you and your prayers and encouragement. Thanks be to our Good God for you!

And if you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any more excerpts from this series, please sign up to follow the blog with your email. You can see a link for signing up in the upper right corner of this post.

Written by and copyrighted to Beth Madison, Ph.D., 2025.