Anne Graham Lotz’s journey has been a tough one lately: A year ago, three years after the death of her husband and six months after the funeral of her famous evangelist father, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
But the 71-year-old Bible teacher and daughter of Billy Graham says she has refused to give up hope and her faith remains a constant.
“The Christian life is so much more than just being saved from hell and is so much more than just going to heaven—praise God for both of those things,” she said. “It’s more than just a checklist of do’s and don’ts. It’s a relationship that’s vibrant and alive and it’s sufficient to carry you through the hardest things.”
Four years ago my husband went to heaven. I met him at 17. I married him at 18. He’d been the center of my life for 49 years. And then he’s gone. My family rallied around me. They were so precious. But still, there are times during the day when nobody’s around. When he was gone, I realized I’m the one then who will give counsel and wisdom and be the one that the family comes to. It’s not a burden, but it’s a very serious responsibility and so I felt alone in that sense.
When Daddy left, of course, and then I (was) faced with cancer, with this huge decision: Where do I go? But I had nobody, I didn’t have a husband to turn to, to talk to about it. I didn’t have a daddy to run to.
There’s a loneliness to being a widow and an orphan. Although the testimony in this book is that I’m not lonely, I feel like people like me could be lonely and I have a heart for them. But the Holy Spirit is God’s antidote to loneliness. Because I have not been alone, and I’ve experienced His constant companionship. But I’m not sure I would be as acutely aware of it if I’d had my husband and my father.
But if you go into it focused on God—I know it didn’t catch Him by surprise. I know this wasn’t an accident. I know this is part of His purpose for my life. But now, Lord, how do you want to use it?
Every time I have gone over, there have been what I call those divine appointments, where you feel God has you there at just such a time to encourage somebody, to lift up somebody, to be a blessing to somebody. And I’ve been blessed. So they’re almost like little mission trips, like little ministry trips. You look at it, knowing that God is with you, that He has a purpose in this and looking for ways that I can reach out and can be a blessing and encouragement to somebody else.
The above is an excerpt from the ChristianityToday website, read the full article from the link below.