Copyright © 2014 by Beray Thigpen
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FIRST EDITION
ISBN: 978-1-939748-93-5
Published by
P.O. Box 2839, Apopka, FL 32704
Converted by http://www.eBookIt.com
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this book are solely those of the authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Certa Publishing.
Foreword
The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD.
(Psalm 37:23)
We were concerned to say the least, when Mr. Thigpen shared with us privately and, eventually with the church, his cancer diagnosis. Like most congregations, we rallied around him and his family with prayers, blessings and well-wishes as the journey of treatment began. He and his wife left Jackson, Mississippi with their faith affirmed and their hopes declared, headed to one of the top hospitals in the nation for cancer treatment. We knew that God would be with him and would keep watch over his treatment, but still we watched and waited; and admittedly, after seeing Mr. Thigpen become weaker instead of stronger, sometimes we wondered about the steps.
The Long Road Back is a captivating account of walking by faith through the unknown, the uncertain and the unexpected with the assurance that each step was ordered by God. Each step was an ordained part of God’s will. Each step was found to have meaning and purpose. Walk with Beray and be inspired for your own journey as he recounts his steps, The Long Road Back.
Reginald M. Buckley
Executive Pastor, Cade Chapel M. B. Church
Introduction
This experience was probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. I say that because there is a reason for everything God allows you to go through in your life. The saying, “You have to go through something to get something” is true. Before gold can become gold, it has to go through fire. Readers that take this experience seriously and apply its meaning will find healing for themselves and will also be able to help family members, friends, co-workers and other people in general. What a blessing. Let me just tell you, I have had many experiences in life, have had many successes, but I am a better person now than I have ever been in my seventy-two years of life. I am not perfect, but much more conscious of what God expects of us. It’s either right or wrong, there is no in-between.
What a different world this would be if all people, or even if just the majority of people, would let God permeate their lives. I can live the rest of my life knowing more of what God expects me to be rather than thinking and acting selfishly. Let God permeate your being. I can tell you for sure that His presence watches over me and has helped me to become more of the person He wants all of us to be.
The big surprise to me was that I thought I was doing pretty well. I served as a deacon at the church; as the minister of music, having directed thirty-three consecutive Christmas Cantatas; taught Sunday school teachers; served on the church program committee and more. What we must understand is that God wants us to save souls.
Do You Have the Courage to Really Know God and What He Expects of You?
My favorite definition of courage is this: Courage applies to moral strength that makes a person face danger, trouble or pain steadily and without showing fear.
Have you thought of life this way? As humans and as Christians, we have, on average, about seventy to eighty years to prepare for an eternity. Our lives down here are just a dressing room for what is yet to come. What would you like to hear the Master say when you meet Him face to face at the pearly gates? Just imagine the questions that you will be asked and reflect on the answers you will give. Are these the kind of answers that will get you through the pearly gates?
You can’t say, “Well I was sick and couldn’t get around, couldn’t go to church or couldn’t do this or that.”
All of those things running through your mind right now are just excuses.
Let me make two points right now:
1.People, for the most part, find a way to do exactly what they want to do.
2.There is a reason for whatever you go through in life.
You might say that you went to church every Sunday or least most Sundays. Well, let me ask you a question. What did you do with the knowledge and the charges you received from church? Faith, without works, is dead. You, as a born-again, must rescue others. You are charged with the responsibility of acting like a “first responder,” a first responder being one who is trained. You said you went to church most Sundays, what did you do with what you learned? You, as a Christian, must be an ambassador, a representative with a special assignment. Maybe, you would rather receive the title of the “first ambassador?” Both titles imply that, without being told, you will help a person in need and it must be done with no expectations other than that you are doing what you were put on this earth to do.
Let me ask you a serious question. What have you done with all the knowledge, religion and spiritual growth that you have received in your lifetime?
You might say, “Well, I’m saved and I know I’m saved.”
That is not enough. The reason you are blessed is so you can reach out to someone else and make them a better person and to make this world a better world. Just think for a moment. What would this world be like if every Christian would help one lost soul find Jesus Christ?
Initial Reaction to the News
My wife and I took our first real vacation and traveled to Hawaii, along with some friends. The trip lasted seven days. About two days before we were scheduled to return home, I began to feel a little sick and just could not figure out what was causing me to feel that way. I didn’t want to complain, or ruin the remainder of the trip for those traveling with us. I thought about going to the infirmary to get checked out, but something told me they probably could not help me. The one thing that concerned me about the whole episode was that a large knot had appeared on my neck.
My wife, of course, recognized the unfamiliar lump and questioned me about it. I had no answer for her. I had seen my doctor previously and was reassured that these were just enlarged lymph nodes likely from a viral infection. I did not want to do anything to upset the wonderful experience we had been living for the past five days. I thought about going to the infirmary on the cruise vessel, but decided against that and decided to wait it out and check on things when we got back home.
We finally arrived back home on a Saturday and there weren’t any doctor’s offices open. We, of course, went to church Sunday, needing to lessen the guilt of having missed two consecutive Sundays, unusual for us. After service was over, my son, Rickey was the first one at the church that noticed or said anything about the lump. My wife had asked a young physician friend of ours to take a look at my neck. She asked how long it had been there and I shared with her that my doctor had thought these were simply reactive lymph nodes. She responded that they could be, but why had they