Is it really alright?

Several weeks ago, Guyla and I were self - quarantined because of a possible Covid exposure. During that time we had the opportunity to catch up on a lot of projects, talk to one another for hours on end, solve the world’s problems, and finally to get bored. Not with one another, but just bored of sitting in the same house and same office and… you know what I mean.

We don’t have a TV, so I started scanning the “NET”. In the process, I happened to click on America’s Got Talent. There are a multitude of seasons on the web, and I just clicked on a couple and watched them. America does have talent, and most of the performers were really good. Some were “OK”, but I found myself awestruck by one young woman who sang a song, “It’s alright”. She use to sing using the stage name of “Nightbird”.

In 2017 this young woman was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. She was told she had 6 months to live, and her husband of five years divorced her. She faced her challenge alone.

In 2018, with treatment and a “miracle”, she found she was “cancer-free”. However that was short lived as she found the cancer was back.

In 2020, she auditioned for and was accepted as a performer on America’s Got Talent. That evening when she appeared on the program she shared that the cancer had returned, and in her back, and liver, then said she had a 2% chance of any possible cure or remission.

What caused me to be awestruck with this young woman was her “SPIRIT”. She made this comment, “2% isn’t 0%.”

She went on to perform the song she had written about what had happened to her over the past 2 years and it was amazing to hear her and watch her. She was bright, cheerful and full of life.

She won that night, and it was awesome to see the response both from the judges and the audience. I would like to share some comments from her from an interview that I followed up on.

“I believe that God can heal in one instant. I also believe that “no good thing does he withhold,” so there was something God was growing in the field that is me, and if God had pulled up all of this “hardship” too soon, it would have also pulled up all these miracles he did in my spirit.”

In another post: “When it comes to pain, God isn’t often in the business of taking it away. Instead, he adds to it. He is more of a giver than a taker. He doesn’t take away my darkness, he adds light. He doesn’t spare me of thirst, he brings water. He doesn’t cure my loneliness, he comes near. So why do we believe that when we are in pain, it must mean that God is far?”

Can you have this attitude with what you are going through? Yes, I am awestruck by this young woman. She is an inspiration to all of us by her faith and her relationship to her heavenly Father. I PRAY that I too can have that kind of faith.

Ed Johanson