Trusting God With Months to Live

“I couldn't talk. And I would try to verbalize things, and it was just like I had no voice.”

This was the second time in two months that Stan Lander felt this strange sensation.

His wife Aleta said, “I asked him a question and he didn't answer, and so I looked at him and asked again, and didn't respond.”

This time, he listened to his wife Aleta and went to his doctor, who sent him for an MRI.  It revealed a mass on his brain.

“We were just praying, "Lord, whatever this is, we give it to you.  We know that You're the Healer," said Aleta.

The couple had no idea just how much he would need God’s healing.  After more testing, doctors concluded Stan had a malignant brain tumor, known as primary CNS lymphoma.  it was rare and, in Stan’s case, inoperable.

Stan said, “It was a death sentence. Yeah, when he said you have, I'm counting, literally, he says, you're looking at 3-to-6 months.  I was thinking, "Is this really my life?" This isn't the script  that I've been living. This isn't the way that things are going to end. They're not going to.”

“There's a lot of fear that wants to grip,” said Aleta. “You can't go there. You just can't. It's like, "Okay, how are we going to do this?  And we really said, "God is our only hope.  There is no other option."

That Sunday in church the Landers asked for prayer.

Stan said “You go back and you recount those testimonies where God's come through. So even in the midst of that dire prognosis we knew that God was still for us, and He had a plan for our life.”

Later they went for a second opinion with respected Seattle neurosurgeon known in the community as “Dr. Lao.” but the report was the same.

“I agree with the first neurosurgeon that this most likely was tumor or cancer. And I said that, from neurosurgical point of view, we cannot do anything much,” said Dr. Lao.

“So, the only option left was to believe in the miracle that God can heal him…to me as a surgeon.”

Stan said, “He said, can I pray for you?" I've never had a doctor pray for me before, and here Dr. Lao was praying for me.  I felt the healing of his prayers that night.”

By now it had been 7 weeks since the first MRI, and as a matter of protocol, Dr. Lao ordered another. Everyone the couple knew, including Dr. Lao’s church, continued praying for a miracle.

“From the human point of view, it's hopeless, no question,” said Dr. Lao. “But again, we don't walk by sight, we walk by faith.”

Then a week before the follow-up MRI, Stan and Aleta were watching The 700 Club.

Terry Meuwsen said, “There’s someone else, you’ve been diagnosed with a brain tumor. It’s not a question whether you have it or not. It’s there. You question whether God can heal such a thing. Today God is setting you free.  He’s totally healing that tumor. It’ll just...disappear.”

“We look at each other and go "That's for me!" said Stan. “And it was just, it was more than icing on the cake. It was like that seal that "it's a done deal. And again, it just contributed to our hope and faith.”

Aleta said, “So it was just a confirmation that, “Yes, you don't need to worry.” 

Supported by prayers and hearts full of hope, Stan went for his MRI.

“There was a sense that this is the MRI that counts. This is the one that's going to tell the story one way or another,” said Stan.

A week later they met with Dr. Lao for the results.

Dr. Lao said, “This is the one you see the picture your jaw drops.”

“Dr. Lao came in and said "There's a hole in the brain where the tumor was! There’s a hole in the brain!” said Aleta.

Dr. Lao said, “You see the white stuff here, and it’s all gone, has become a cavity.”

Aleta said, “Isn’t a hole in the brain still a bad thing? And he says, "No, it's scar tissue.  It's gone! it's completely gone.”

“I wanted to shout it from the rooftops and tell everybody in sight that God heals, and he'd performed a miracle,” said Stan.

“We just were laughing and crying, and it was just it was a fabulous moment,” said Aleta.

Ever since that day in November 2014, Stan has been the picture of health, with no signs or symptoms of brain cancer.

“God is so faithful. He's just so faithful,” said Aleta. 

Stan said, “It just leaves me in awe of God's goodness, of His love for us. I have learned that not to hesitate to pray for people, because God just might heal them. And there's a good possibility of it.”

“I have seen so many supernatural healings in my life, so that's why I believe,” said Dr. Lao.