What have you done?

None can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?"

34At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever,

for his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
35all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and he does according to his will among the host of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay his hand
or say to him, "What have you done?"
Daniel 4:34-35

Nebuchadnezzar had it all. God gave him wealth, power, influence, he was a king with everything at his fingertips. The prophet Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar “You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth”. But Neb was warned that if he failed to acknowledge the Lord’s blessing and heaven’s rule in his life all would be taken from him.
And all was taken from him, Neb proclaimed his own greatness, his own splendor and his own hand in the majesty of his kingdom. Before the words left his lips Nebuchadnezzar fell into insanity, he crawled on the ground, ate grass like cattle, and was driven away from his people for many years. The passage above from Daniel quotes Nebuchadnezzar as he is lifted from his insanity. He acknowledges the Lord’s hand in all things. Nebuchadnezzar, who had it all and then had nothing, declared that no one can ask the Lord, “What have you done?”
Job was another man who had everything and then had nothing. He too stated, “Behold, he (the Lord) snatches away; who can turn him back? Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’” Job 9:12.

In some ways at this time I feel like Nebuchadnezzar or Job. God has blessed me with all I could ever have asked for: a great family, an education, a wonderful husband, a beautiful home and a sweet child. I cannot fathom a more contented life. As Nebuchadnezzar stated, I too state, I am contented and prosperous. But now I am struck with this illness, this…cancer. When this passage was brought to my attention I embraced it because we cannot ask the Lord, I AM, “what have you done?” Or “what are you doing?” His control knows no limits, there is no boundary for his step, so how can we sit back and ask him to justify? I don’t mean to say that I haven’t asked “Why?” a thousand times already; or been uncertain as to His plan for this season of my life, of our lives. I have and I do. But in acknowledging that He is I AM, I feel comfort and security. God as I AM holds no restraint. It means He fulfills every thing. I AM fills me with great hope, joy, thankfulness. I AM means I am in control, I am every present, I am constant and unchanging, I am fulfillment, I am love. God being all things and everything takes the burden out of cancer, out of the fight. For if God is with me, if the great I AM is on my side, than I am already victorious and I have strength that knows no measure. To be honest, this concept is a daily challenge to embrace because it is hard to be human and suffering. But moment by moment, minute by minute I try to remember that the great I AM is with me and I stay my voice from asking, what have you done?


The brain tumor group at the University of Minnesota spent last Monday discussing the biopsy results and what therapy they would suggest. As you have already seen the pathologist determined that my initially diagnosed benign Grade 2 glioma is now a Grade 3, meaning malignancy…meaning cancer. The dreaded word passed my lips on Monday when the neuro-oncologist met with Jonathan and I to suggest treatment options. Right now we await a second opinion from a second pathologist – to see if two really smart people reach the same conclusion about what the cells look like and what that means for me. The treatment suggested includes radiation and chemotherapy. Both would last six weeks, with me taking a chemo pill once a day for 42 days, and receiving radiation therapy 5 days a week. Mostly the doctors expect me to be very tired by the end of it all, but with a little help (or a lot!) from friends and family I should emerge in a better position. It may be a long road ahead of us, and right now we just feel really weird about the whole situation. But God is good and I remain filled with His peace which surpasses all understanding. More to come…With Love, Elizabeth