If there’s anyone who knows what it’s like to face an onslaught of rejection and heartache while maintaining trust in a good, faithful God, it’s Lysa TerKeurst.
After announcing the demise of her 25-year marriage due to her husband’s infidelity earlier this year, she has come forth with more gut-wrenching news—and once again, the Christian women’s leader is handling it in a way that rings true to her title as the president of Proverbs 31 Ministries.
“I have breast cancer,” revealed TerKeurst in a Facebook video posted yesterday.
While going in for a routine mammogram and a follow-up biopsy, doctors discovered a cancerous tumor that was thankfully caught in its earlier stages; however, that didn’t make breaking the news any easier for the Proverbs 31 president.
“I’ve sort of dreaded this moment of telling you guys,” she admitted. “I really am fine, but I think because I’ve been through so much in the past couple of years with my other surgery and with different dynamics going on with my family…I’ve just kind of dreaded telling you because I think people will think, ‘What in the world? Like how in the world could this be added on to everything else you’ve already faced?'”
But TerKeurst followed her grim announcement with “some sweet perspective” that is an empowering charge for every Christ follower to remain grateful amidst hardship. She calls the timing of her marital distress and divorce a “gift from God,” as taking recovery time off this summer is what gave her the chance to make the additional doctor appointments necessary to catch the cancer.
Having no lumps or any outside indication that anything was wrong, TerKeurst says her mammogram was the saving grace that allowed radiologists to detect the tumor early.