His name was Dan. He was in stage-four terminal lung cancer. Four weeks after his anointing the doctors were scratching their heads because there was no trace of cancer in his body. He kept a journal entitled “Observations On My Miracle by God.” In one entry he said: “Quirk? Coincidence? Luck? Those words don’t make cancer go away. There by the grace of God go I. There is a God in heaven and I am living proof.” He kept that faith always, even until the next year when his cancer returned. This faithful man was my dad, and he died from lung cancer when I was only 11.

“Count it all joy when you fall into various trials…” (James 1:2) echoes through my head from time to time. Have you ever endured a trial that you thought was too tough to bear? Too heavy to carry? When God felt so far away? My life after my dad died gradually fell to shambles. Through my depression, sins and loss of faith I didn’t heal for a very long time, but when I was 15 I remembered God. I remembered how my dad loved God’s way and his unshakable faith. I wondered why he loved it, and I had to find out for myself if God’s way was something I could love, too.

1. You are a child of the living God—“And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God” (Romans 9:26).

He is your Father, and you are His child. Our Father loves us more than anything. He will never leave you or forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:8). His arms are open for you to run into, and He knows what we need before we even ask for it (Matthew 6:7-8) and can’t find the words to describe our pain.

2. You are given God’s living Word—“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12, emphasis added throughout).

Use His living and powerful Word to defend against Satan, who thrives on our sin! Satan loves our sadness, our doubt, our anger towards God. But when you trust in God and believe in His Word than you can fight any battle that comes your way.

3. God has given you living hope—“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).

Don’t give up. Our Father has mercifully given us living hope. He gave His one and only Son as a living sacrifice so that all men shall live! (John 3:16). God believes in you. You can get through any trial if you keep God close to your heart just as Jesus did when He endured the cross.

4. You are a precious, living building block of the Body—“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4).

God has intricately placed you with care to help build up His spiritual House, because you are precious to Him and He wants you to be a part of His family. Continue building your spiritual house on God’s mighty foundation of rock (Matthew 7:24-27), and remember to allow God’s guiding hands to take you down the righteous path—even through the trials.

For me, I want to be living proof; for my Father to say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21, 23). But I also want to be a part of God’s Kingdom so I can see my dad again. If it weren’t for this huge trial in my life, I’m not sure I would even be here trusting in God; that I can move mountains with Him on my side. God healed me and changed my life. Quirk? Coincidence? Luck? Those words don’t make pain, suffering, depression and sadness go away. There by the grace of God go I. There is a God in heaven and I am living proof.