Farewell Aunty Florence

Farewell Aunty Florence. We will miss her very much.

I just saw her 2 weeks ago and then she had not known it was 4th stage cancer. She thought it was an early detection when the cancer in the appendix had been removed about 2 weeks ago. Still the doctor advised that there was a bit remaining in the colon and operation would need to be done. So aunty was with great hope that it was just at the initial stage.

She shared with me then that she sensed that God will give her a second chance. But by yesterday after a sudden return of abdominal pain, she said she is dying and that her time is up. I told Sharon if God gave her the assurance, He would be faithful and not change His mind. It is the devil that deceives and I taught Sharon and my mum how to bind the devil using their own spiritual authority.

This morning I received a sms from my uncle Allen stuck in Genting. He told me he received a word from God. It is now or never. To ask her “Will you commit yourself to serve Jesus and to go share the gospel and share your testimony of God’s mercy upon your life if He heals you?”. If she says “Yes” wholeheartedly, she will start receiving her healing. I guess it is the same as my journey as well and it all happened to me the first night at the hospital when I repented from my fears and said “Yes” to go tell it to everyone. But it is faith either way, faith that God will take her home and faith that God will heal her. When I heard the words from aunty that “My time is up”, I thought “Oh no! Please don’t have such words in your mind if you want healing.” Because God loves us very much, He knows the desires of our heart and He has our best interest in mind. We do not know why some don’t get healed but God’s Word and Him are one. We trust that Jesus has already borne our disease on the cross 2000 years ago and by His stripes, we are healed. Ultimately, God’s will prevails but we are to pray to the very end that it is God’s will to heal.

The very end was the same for Aunty Beverly and Aunty Florence, both knew their time is up and will return to the Lord. That is faith too. To return to God knowing God is with them.
And God has been revealing himself so much to her. My testimony was that a few nights ago, I could not sleep and I asked God, “What is it, Lord? Who do you want me to pray for?” Aunty Florence was the impression I received. So, I started praying and found some bible verses to encourage her and actually smsed her at 4am! I did not expect any reply but suddenly she replied to say she could not sleep to and she guessed she was the one that prompted me to pray! There are no coincidences with God and the angels were very active that night watching over her. Later, I found out that even my mum got up at 5 am to pray for her too! I guess that was probably one of the many experiences that assured her that God is with her that gave her the peace she needed.

Yesterday, when I heard the news of the emergency operation, I didn’t have a good feel. When I started talking aloud to God, I started crying, my heart was beating fast and then I decided to ask for your prayers. And as the messages started pouring in I felt God’s peace over me and I started thanking God. God is with her in the operation room. I asked for a vision to encourage her. I had an impression of big angels wings and God holding her right hand.

Speaking to cousin Tammy this morning I asked her “Why does God make us pray only to take Aunty Florence away? She said that as a result of prayer, we also learn to grow in the Lord. We learn how to pray. We learn how to encourage others. We learn to become more and more like Christ. We become His voice for the family during difficult times. It is true because I started forwarding her all your smses to Sharon to encourage her and it must have encouraged her as much as it encouraged me.

I just wanted to share with those suffering from cancer that if your faith is in God’s healing then trust God, not the pain, the negative report or the circumstance. Because we walk by faith and not by sight. Whatever we see – the symptoms, the negative report is only temporary but God who is in us is greater than he in the world. Don’t give in to the Spirit of death, the spirit of pain and fear that is disturbing you. Rebuke them in the name of Jesus and cast them out! Everyday! Grip something even in pain and cast it out in Jesus name believing that you are God’s child and that it is His will to heal you. Because as soon as we are shaken God can read the desires of our hearts and He will know where your faith lies but ultimately both ways are faith.

So, we rejoice that Aunty Florence has returned to our Lord where there is no pain anymore. Praise the Lord! Our condolences to Sharon and Tat King and family and to Jason and Cheryl. May the Holy Spirit be your comforter during this period. We will really miss Aunty Florence. (Aunty Florence passed away 8am this morning after two and a half months of suffering. She didn’t know before then she had cancer. It was 4th stage colon cancer.)