"His peace changes everything."

Minnie Burnside's talk on “Jehovah Shalom” February 14, 2008 at "Heart and Hand" women's group at Sequim Bible Church, Sequim, Washington.

[This was only 7 months since Whipple surgery, July 13, 2007. She had just completed her six months of chemo in January.]

[The first half of her talk was on the use and meaning of “Jehovah Shalom” in the Bible, beginning with its first use at the time of Gideon. She pointed out that Jehovah Shalom means that God gives peace and that He is our peace. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and then the peace of God in our hearts through the legacy of peace that Jesus left us. And she said, “And His peace changes everything.”]

She read many scriptures on peace including the three “let’s”: John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” with “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” Col. 3:15]

She then told in detail the medical events leading up to the Whipple [It took me 5 handwritten pages of notes to record her words.]

Minnie told of two prayers she prayed to the Lord:
1. “Lord, give me your peace. And I said, ‘Lord, whatever happens, it’s OK. And I talked to my grandchildren on the phone and I said, ‘You know if I don’t come through this surgery or if I come through it and then the results are what happens with pancreatic cancer and I go home to be with the Lord, it’s OK.’ If they call you and tell you I’m dead, don’t believe it because I’ll be more alive then than I have ever been. I will be with the Lord.’”
“And I told the Lord the day I went into surgery, I said, ‘Lord, if you want to take me home, that’s OK. If you want to leave me here, that’s OK. I’m OK with that.”

God drove me to the scriptures over and over and over again. And everytime peace was mentioned, I also noticed that the way to have this peace, was through His Word, through His Word, through His promises!”

“So He drove me to His Word and I asked the Lord, I said, “Lord, I’ve prayed to you through these times. I have been thankful. Teach me now to be thankful through the hard times.” [And we all remember the thankful spirit she had during the entire three years, setting us a very strong example to follow.]

2. Minnie continued, “And I don’t like to be taken care of. I don’t want to be waited on. I like to take care of other people. So I knew I was going to have things to learn. And I asked the Lord, ‘Make me easy to be taken care of.’ And from the very time I got sick, never have I felt so much care and so much prayer from my brothers and sisters literally from all over the world. We got letters from Africa, from Belgium, from China, from Korea. People all over the world were saying, ‘I’m praying for you and I’m praying that God will be glorified. . . .’”

[God certainly answered that prayer, too, as I can testify since I was her primary care giver. She was a very easy, appreciative, cooperative patient and so very often thanked me or someone else even for the simple things, like getting her a glass of water or helping her to the bathroom. How difficult it was for her to watch her strength just ebb away. For awhile she was able to be a bit stronger in the mornings and then got so tired in the afternoon and evenings. But she did not complain. Through it all she was thankful to the Lord and we always found something every day to be thankful for. She told me so many times how God had given her His peace and that ruled in her heart.]
--Minnie Burnside (ed. Pastor Burnside)