Maybe you’ve just heard the words no one wants to hear. Terminal. Inoperable. Months, not years. The diagnosis sits heavy in your chest, and the future you’d imagined has crumbled into uncertainty.
You’re not afraid of death – you know where you’re going. But between here and there stretches a season you never wanted to walk through. A season that feels too short for all the living you still want to do, yet too long to face with this weight on your shoulders.
So let me ask you something that might seem strange: What if this season – this precious, painful, impossible season – could become the richest chapter of your relationship with God?
I’m not minimizing your struggle. I’m not suggesting you should feel grateful for your diagnosis or pretend it doesn’t hurt. But I am suggesting that you have an opportunity many people never recognize: the gift of knowing your time is limited, which means the gift of using it intentionally.
The Distraction of “Someday”
Most of us live as though we have forever. We say we’ll get serious about prayer someday. We’ll spend real time in God’s Word when life slows down. We’ll work on that character flaw next year. We’ll forgive that person eventually.
You no longer have the luxury of “someday,” and that’s actually a gift.
Because here’s what happens when “someday” disappears: What truly matters rises to the surface. The trivial falls away. You stop wasting energy on things that don’t deserve it. And suddenly, unexpectedly, you find yourself with a kind of clarity most people never experience.
What Does It Mean to Walk With God Now?
In my last blog, I wrote about how prayer deepens our relationship with God – how prayer is not just about getting answers, but about growing closer to Him through the conversation itself. Now I want to talk about what that looks like when time is short and every moment counts.
First, it means showing up honest.
God already knows you’re scared. He knows you’re angry or sad or confused. He knows you’re grieving the future you won’t have. You don’t need to put on a brave face for Him or pretend you’re more at peace than you really are.
The Psalms are full of people who came to God with their whole hearts, including the broken parts. David cried out, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” Job demanded answers. Jeremiah accused God of deceiving him. And God didn’t strike them down for their honesty. He met them right there in their pain.
So come to Him as you are. Tell Him you’re terrified. Tell Him you don’t understand why this is happening. Tell Him you wish things were different. That’s not a lack of faith; that’s the kind of authentic relationship He has always wanted with you.
Second, it means listening differently.
When you have limited time, you become a better listener. You pay attention to what people really mean, not just what they say. You notice things you used to rush past.
Do the same with God. Sit with a single verse and let it sink deep instead of reading whole chapters quickly. When you pray, leave space for silence—not awkward silence, but expectant silence, the kind where you’re actually listening for His still, small voice.
Ask Him, “What do You want me to know today?” Then wait. The answer might come through a verse, a memory, a sudden sense of peace, or an impression in your spirit. He’s been speaking to you all along. Now you have the motivation to really hear.
Third, it means accepting His presence as enough.
You might be praying for healing, and you should. God can do anything. But as you pray for a miracle, also practice resting in this truth: God Himself is with you. Not watching from a distance. Not waiting for you in Heaven. With you. Right now. In this room. In this moment.
Moses once told God, “If Your presence doesn’t go with us, don’t send us up from here.” He understood that God’s presence mattered more than the Promised Land itself. And here’s the beautiful mystery: God promised Moses, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
That rest isn’t the absence of struggle. It’s peace in the middle of a struggle because you know you’re not alone. It’s the rest of a child who falls asleep in a parent’s arms during a storm, not because the storm has stopped, but because those arms are strong and safe.
Fourth, it means letting go of what you can’t control.
Here’s what you can’t control: your diagnosis, your prognosis, or your timeline.
Here’s what you can control: how you spend your remaining days. What you focus on. Who you forgive. What you say to the people you love. How deeply you let God into your pain.
Paul wrote about his “thorn in the flesh,” something painful that God refused to remove. Paul begged God three times to take it away. But God said no, and eventually Paul understood: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
What does that mean practically? It means that when you’re too weak to pray eloquent prayers, God hears the groan of your heart. When you can’t serve Him with your strength, He works through your weakness in ways that astound you. When you have nothing left to offer but your simple presence and your willingness to trust Him, that’s enough.
Your weakness doesn’t disqualify you from intimacy with God. Sometimes it’s the very thing that finally makes you desperate enough to truly lean on Him.
Practical Ways to Deepen Your Walk
Let me get specific. Here are some things that might help you make the most of this season:
Keep a listening journal. Not a diary of symptoms or fears (though you might need that too), but a record of what God is teaching you. When you read Scripture, write down what stands out. When you pray, record what you sense He’s saying. This isn’t about being spiritual—it’s about paying attention to how He’s meeting you.
Memorize verses that steady you. When you can’t sleep or when fear rises up, having God’s Word hidden in your heart gives you something solid to hold onto. Start with whatever speaks to you: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” “I am convinced that neither death nor life… will be able to separate us from the love of God.”
Practice gratitude for small things. Every morning, thank God for three specific things. They don’t have to be big. Sunshine on your face. A friend’s phone call. The taste of coffee. These tiny acts of gratitude train your heart to see His goodness even in hard circumstances.
Forgive whoever you need to forgive. Nothing clutters up a relationship with God like unresolved bitterness. You don’t have time for that burden anymore. Forgiveness doesn’t mean what they did was okay. It means you’re releasing them to God’s justice so you can be free.
Tell the people you love what they mean to you. This might not seem like spiritual advice, but loving others well is loving God well. Don’t leave things unsaid. Your honest, heartfelt words could be the gift that keeps ministering to someone long after you’re gone.
Ask God to use you right where you are. You’re not done yet. You still have a purpose. Maybe it’s praying for your family. Maybe it’s encouraging someone else who’s struggling. Maybe it’s simply showing people what it looks like to trust God when everything is falling apart. Your life still matters. Ask Him to show you how He wants to use it.
The Paradox of This Season
Here’s the paradox: This might be the hardest season of your life, but it could also be the holiest. The most honest. The most real.
Because when everything else is stripped away – when your health fails and your plans crumble and your future shortens – what remains is the essential thing: you and God, together, walking through this valley.
And that relationship, that closeness, that deep knowing of being loved and held and never abandoned – that’s what lasts. That’s what you’re taking with you. Not your achievements or your possessions or even your body, but the intimacy you’ve cultivated with the God who made you and who’s waiting to welcome you home.
So don’t waste this season wishing it wasn’t happening. Live it. Squeeze every drop of meaning from it. Let it drive you into God’s arms in a way prosperity and health never could.
And when you finally see Him face to face, you’ll realize that this hard, precious season was the one that prepared you most fully for the joy waiting on the other side.
He’s with you now. He’ll be with you then. And He’ll be with you every single moment in between.
That’s the hope that holds when everything else lets go.
***
Here are links to my blog indexes, so please click one and keep reading!
My Books, Workbooks, and Fun Books
Knowing the Unknowable One
Opening the Treasure Chest
Walking Heart-to-Heart with God
Walking Heart-to-Heart with Each Other
Fighting the Good Fight of Faith
Christian Mysteries: Why I Love Them!
List of Some Nonfiction Books You Don’t Want to Miss
Index of Assorted Topics