Ringing the Bell
Josh Knipple shares this personal and provocative devotion with us. This will definitely speak to you.
When I first heard about someone ringing the bell or saw it on a tv show or a social media feed, I honestly never gave it much thought. It was just a bell, no big deal right. Then you start to see patients crying, doctors smiling, nurses hugging, and you begin to realize, there is more. There is way more to the story than just the bell. It is the mark of the end of a journey. It is emotion. It signifies victory. It represents healing. A simple bell for those who ring it, represents a whole story.
This month is personal to me. You see a little over a year ago my mother in law Kathy got the diagnosis that no one ever wants to hear. BREAST CANCER. In our family these two words have become some of the most despised words in our vocabulary. Especially when it comes to trying to explain to our four kids under ten that their Bubby is sick. Our son Eli, broke down in tears. Silas just ran out of the room upset and asking why over and over. The twins just ran to her and hugged her not truly understanding what was taking place. It was a moment of the unknown. A moment of fear, and worry. What would it mean for our family? Would she get sick? How serious is it? Let’s be honest, trying to keep your mind from racing to worst case scenarios, is challenging. Here I am trying to keep strong for my wife while at the same time seeing the hurt she is going through, all I knew to do was cry out, “Lord, I need you.”
A couple surgeries later, the doctors now had a plan. You want to hold out hope that they know what they are talking about, but one of the things they tell you is that every person responds differently. “OK, Doc we are trusting you.” Then the treatments started, which were appropriately named the “Red Devil.” You see her treatments were every three weeks, and each time Week 1 was sickness, nausea and pain. Week 2, exhaustion and muscle ache, and finally by week 3 almost back to normal only to start again. After months of treatment, nausea, exhaustion, hair loss, pain, and who knows what else her body went through, the doctors ran more scans to see if the treatments were having any affect.
I will never forget, our family was sitting at Luray Park when we got the phone call. Lindsey picked up and automatically started crying. Sitting there, I thought something was wrong, fighting my own mind again of worst case scenarios. Then she got off the phone telling me they were tears of joy. Hey mom had rung the bell. Her scans now were clean, the doctors no longer saw the cancer. She was declared victorious- cancer free. What a moment of celebration!!!
Being on this journey watching her go through this battle with cancer has really challenged my faith. What if she hadn’t gotten to ring the bell? What if the treatments quit working? What if, what if, what if? Anyone else’s mind run that way? Then God really stated to impress on my heart that when someone puts their faith in Christ, it is like ringing the bell. Our lives, including my own, prior to Christ were filled with sin. They were marked with pain, worry, struggle, and hurt. In it’s own way sin is like cancer, taking over affecting every area of our lives. Unchecked sin spreads, destroying who we are from within. The moment we put our faith in Christ, the sin that once ran rampant in our soul is now wiped clean. The heart that was hardened like stone, has now been made flesh. Now when God looks at the scan of your life, He no longer sees us for our sin, but He sees us wiped clean through the righteousness of Christ.
Another piece that I have to hit on real quick is that when we “ring the bell,” it is not only our lives that our changed but those around us. For cancer patients; the doctors, the nurses, the family, even other patients, who witnessed the healing, their lives were affected. For those in Christ, it may bring about healing within a family, forgiveness over a longstanding bitterness, hope over depression, joy over sorrow. Ultimately faith in Christ not only affect you, but also those around you.
So my question for you today is this, “Have you rung the bell?” Have you allowed Jesus to wash you clean?
Make it a Freeing Friday! God is good…