On Friday afternoon, 8 December 1995, my Wife and I departed from Pretoria, Gauteng, to Nelspruit in Mpumalangha to visit her parents for the weekend. It was a wonderful sunny afternoon, about 28 degrees Celsius.
On Friday afternoon, 8 December 1995, my Wife and I departed from Pretoria,
Gauteng, to Nelspruit in Mpumalangha to visit her parents for the weekend. It
was a wonderful sunny afternoon, about 28 degrees Celsius.
When we reached Witbank, about halfway to Nelspruit, we travelled into wonderful rain and the temperature fell to between 9 and 11 degrees Celsius. I filled the petrol tank at the Ultra Service Station and about 8km on our way, close to Middelburg, I saw that there was something wrong with the petrol meter. We stopped and I turned off the engine to look at the petrol tank. I found nothing wrong, but when I tried to get the engine going again, there was no power at all.
With my restricted knowledge of motorcar engines, I tried to find the problem. In the process of getting the motor going again, I got soaking wet in the rain. While pushing the car I was praying urgently for an outcome. The SAPS District Commander of the Security branch, of The Mpumalanga Province, came to my rescue. With a rope cut off from bomb disposal-equipment, he towed me to Middelburg.
He towed me at a speed of 90km/h, because we had only 15 – 20 minutes before the closing time of the VW agents in Middelburg. There was no power on my car's engine. Needless to say, no wipers, no air-conditioner and the rain was pouring. The inside of the car fogged up very quickly and no attempt to clean the windows so that we could try to see where we were going, was successful. I could barely see the breaklights of the Colonel’s car. When I tried to put my head out of the window to see the road, the rain got in my eyes. I had no idea where we were going !! I had never been so afraid in my whole life. The more I tried to see where we were going, the more I panicked, and the more my wife panicked. I was waiting for the accident to happen !!
By the grace of God we arrived safely in Middelburg.
That Sunday evening the Holy Spirit reminded me of the above experience and told me: “The moment when you were not in control of the vehicle and could not see the road ahead of you, you panicked and tried all possible means to get in control again. The more you tried, the worse the situation got. The Colonel knew what he was doing and where he was going. All you had to do was to sit back and follow him.”
“Most of My children give their lives over to Me like this. The moment that they feel they are no longer in control and the future looks dark, they panic and try all sorts of tricks to get in control of their own lives again. When you give your life over to God, He not only knows the future, He plans your future.”
We sing too easily, “I surrender all”, but the moment the fire comes we want to be in control.
The next Wednesday morning, 13 December, I went to see a urologist. When he examined me, his reaction was: “You should have been operated on yesterday !” I was admitted to hospital within an hour.
When I walked to HF Verwoerd Hospital, Pretoria, that afternoon, I experienced the same “panic” that I felt in the motorcar to Nelspruit. The Holy Spirit was speaking to me saying: “You haven’t given over yet.” Sometime that evening I gave the situation and my whole future over to God and experienced what the Word promises us, peace that surpasses all understanding.
I was operated the next morning and the results were positive – I had cancer !!
On the 19th of December they took a scan and found that it had spread to my stomach.
That evening I surrendered everything to God, I had the assurance in my heart that this sickness was not going to kill me.
On the 8th of January 1996 I began chemotherapy. It was very intense. On the 22nd January I became completely bald. Only a few hairs were left on my head.
After the third series of chemo therapy they took a scan and found that I was clear. Praise God - no more cancer !! I still had to go through a last series of chemo. This was the worst one, but praise God I was healed.
The time of chemo therapy was very bad. There were times that I could only say: “Lord You are my hope !!” I thank God for the people who fasted and prayed for me.
Isaiah 53:4-5 NIV
"Yet it was our grief he bore, our sorrows that weighed him down. And
we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, for his own sins ! But he
was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace; he
was lashed - and we were healed !"
Although I had to go through
chemotherapy I know and firmly believe that the source of my healing is what
Jesus did for us on the cross. God only used the doctors and medicine as
instruments in His hands.