Brandon Delk
grew up at Gospel Baptist Church. God called him to preach, he graduated from
Liberty University and has been serving in local churches in the Greensboro
area ever since.
In 2018 Brandon preached one night of our Bible conference. He spoke on the subject of suffering and it was obvious he knew the subject from personal experience.
As many of you know Brandon has been back in the hospital at UNC for two weeks now. Brandon‘s wife, Bethany wrote something really beautiful on her blog on day seven of this particular hospital stay. It was such a blessing to me that I wanted to share it with you. Bethany wrote: “A week ago we had just gotten home from church, enjoyed lunch together, and spent the afternoon resting and doing some decluttering. If you had asked us then what we thought the week ahead would look like, we surely wouldn’t have said we’d be spending the week at the hospital! Monday – ER visit to local hospital in the wee hours of the morning, CT scan shows intestinal blockage, transferred to UNC Hospitals Monday afternoon. Today is the 7th day Brandon has been at UNC Hospitals.
In 2018 Brandon preached one night of our Bible conference. He spoke on the subject of suffering and it was obvious he knew the subject from personal experience.
As many of you know Brandon has been back in the hospital at UNC for two weeks now. Brandon‘s wife, Bethany wrote something really beautiful on her blog on day seven of this particular hospital stay. It was such a blessing to me that I wanted to share it with you. Bethany wrote: “A week ago we had just gotten home from church, enjoyed lunch together, and spent the afternoon resting and doing some decluttering. If you had asked us then what we thought the week ahead would look like, we surely wouldn’t have said we’d be spending the week at the hospital! Monday – ER visit to local hospital in the wee hours of the morning, CT scan shows intestinal blockage, transferred to UNC Hospitals Monday afternoon. Today is the 7th day Brandon has been at UNC Hospitals.
For those of you fairly new
to our story, Brandon was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease 5
years ago. Those first 3 years were fraught with hospital stays, 4 surgeries,
lots of scans, and trial and error with his medications. Since his diagnosis
we’ve had 2 babies, both of us have changed jobs, and we’ve moved and had a
multitude of other changes. To say the years have been busy would be an
understatement. Last year was relatively a good year for Brandon’s health. We
settled into a nice rhythm with his infusions, and only had a handful of
hospital stays. We were getting the hang of this parenting 3 kids deal – not
that we’re any good at it, or that we don’t lose our minds most days – and were
enjoying a bit of a calmer year.
But see, what most of you
don’t know is that even when we don’t have lots of hospital stays, Brandon
still battles Crohn’s Disease every single day. The way I put it to a doctor
earlier this week is that you and I, see, we eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner,
and don’t think a second thought about it. Well, maybe we do, if we ate that
greasy pizza too late, or regretted those spicy tacos, but for the most part we
eat, and then we go on about our day, day in and day out. Brandon, however, has
a very different relationship with food. Every decision he ever makes before
eating is a calculated decision, taking into account what the food is, how much
of it he can eat, where he is when he eats and where he’ll be afterward, and the
timing of it all… are we going to be going out of town? Will he be in the car
for a long period of time? Will there be places to stop along the way? Will he
be sitting in a crowd of people? Can he find an end seat near the back? Do
his kids have any special events coming up that he doesn’t want to miss, such
as a soccer or basketball game? Have we arranged a babysitter for the elusive
date night?
A lot of you are reading this
and thinking wow, that’s sad, but honestly, that’s our normal. It’s our baseline
and we’ve become accustomed to it. We’ve figured out how to make it all work,
and how to wrangle this beast of a chronic illness. Our kids know the meaning
of words like “semi-private room” and “CT scan” and “infusion” and that’s OK.
They know to expect the unexpected, and are used to FaceTiming Daddy when he
“goes to the hospital because his tummy hurts.”
You know why we’re been able
to “get used” to all this? Because of Daniel 3. Do you know the story of Daniel
3? Of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? Their story is one of faith. They
were followers of Christ who refused to worship false gods and an idol of gold
even though the King at the time demanded it. As punishment for not worshiping
the gold statue of the king, they were tied up and thrown into a fiery furnace
that had been heated up to 7 times hotter than usual. It was so hot that the
guards used to throw them in burned up in an instant. When the King looked in
the furnace, he noticed that there were 4 men walking around, unbound and not
burned, and asked them to come of out the furnace. Not a hair on their heads
was singed, nor did they so much as even smell like smoke. Because of their
faith, and their unwillingness to serve anyone but God Himself, the King was
transformed and declared worship only to the one true God.
That story has always been
one of my favorites, but now verses 17-18 have special meaning to me:
17 If we are thrown into the
blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he
will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we
want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the
image of gold you have set up.” Did you catch that? The God we
serve is able to deliver us. He can do all things.
He is the Ultimate Healer, The Great Physician, The Mighty Warrior, The King of
Kings, The Great I Am, Abba Father, The God Who Sees, and Yahweh Yireh or the
Lord Will Provide. He can do anything. Because He
is ABLE. He can heal Brandon. He can take away the pain, the nausea, the
discomfort, the uncertainty, the hospital stays, the tears, the anguish, the
misery. But, if not… *Swallows hard* But, if not… *We can’t do this… can we?* We
know You are able, God, but IF NOT, we will still serve you.
I feel that one deep in my
chest. That one is a little harder to get out, to muster up. That one is
difficult when the hospital days are long and the questions multiply. But, God,
in His infinite wisdom, knows what we’re enduring, and cares for us so much.
But if not,
God, use this week to change our lives. Use this week to tell others about You.
Use this terrible disease to shine hope in the lives of the hopeless, peace in
the midst of unrest, and joy in the deep dark edges of sorrows.
I know this…
that God was not surprised by this week and is not overwhelmed by our
circumstances. He is not shocked by test results or worried about what to do
next. He has carefully ordered our steps and numbered the hairs on our heads.
We are asking Him to heal Brandon… BUT IF NOT, we will still serve Him… for He
is good.”
Brandon is still in
the hospital, still in pain and still not knowing when this episode of
suffering will calm down. Please remember Brandon, Bethany and their beautiful
children in your prayers.
- Pastor Paul // Senior Pastor
