I (Dr. Jeff Myers) was writing my 16^th book, “The Truth Changes Everything,” when I found out I had cancer.

And I remember asking, how many more books will I get to write? And if this is my last book, is this the one I want to write?

Charting unexpected waters

At the time of my diagnosis, I was 55 years old and serving as the president of Summit Ministries in Colorado.

At Summit, our purpose is to equip and support a rising generation of young adults to embrace God’s truth and to champion a biblical worldview.

I had been leading the program for 10 years, and the ministry and my personal life were going well.

I remember thinking, my grandfather had his first heart attack when he was this age, and here I am still running half marathons.

Literally two weeks later I was in surgery for removing cancer.

An alarming discovery

This news came out of the blue.

It started with a routine health checkup and screenings that led to the discovery of stage 2 testicular cancer—something rare for my age and more common in young adult men. It was scary because it had spread into my lymph nodes.

I vividly remember the day I received the news. I was downstairs doing a TV interview about a topic related to the crises of the rising generation. Meanwhile my wife, Stephanie, was upstairs crying and wondering if this could be the end.

The doctors were encouraging and said I would have a strong chance of beating this with aggressive treatment.

But like a lot of people, when we heard the word cancer, we assumed this was the end.

Living with cancer

When you get a cancer diagnosis, it’s almost like you start a countdown clock in your mind. We all know the end is coming for us at some point, but it now seemed to be coming for me decades sooner.

I vowed to fight and try to live every day as a gift, even the brutal days of chemotherapy treatment.

Facing the final chapter

Anyone who has faced testicular cancer knows they hit you hard with chemo. For me, I faced 66 hours of infusions.

With cancer treatment, it’s almost like you are killing a person in order to heal them.

It got hairy for me. At one point my white blood cell count sunk so low that my wife thought I was dying. I didn’t realize it, of course, but when I look back at pictures, I am shocked at how frail I had become.

We may never know how close I came to facing the final chapter.

How I (Dr. Jeff Myers) found hope, strength and peace

The first thing that helped me was having people who witnessed my suffering. I didn’t need them to tell me anything, but their willingness to just to sit with me in my pain was meaningful and helpful.

Also, I had hope because of the truth I believe about God and the Bible. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says, “Do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.”

The writer didn’t say we should avoid grieving, but Christians grieve differently because we have hope through Christ.

The biblical idea of hope isn’t just a wish. It’s a convinced certainty that there’s something bigger than me who is working through my experiences to bring about something good.

The realization that there is Truth, or a true north, grounded me in the everydayness of my experience. I didn’t try to escape the pain or imagine it didn’t exist. Rather, going through it gave me a laser focus for each day.

This allowed me to find a greater motivation and purpose, including to finish my book, “The Truth Changes Everything: How People of Faith Can Transform the World in Times of Crisis.”

Why I (Dr. Jeff Myers) wrote this book

The title of the book addresses the pervasive thinking in our society today that all truth is based on the individual rather than on anything knowable.

Our culture is leading the next generation away from Truth and the results are devastating. More than half of young adults today struggle with anxiety and depression and 75 percent of them say they do not have a sense of purpose that gives meaning to their lives.

I’m convinced this is the core battle of our time: whether we will acknowledge a truth that exists outside of ourselves.

That’s why I wrote this book, which I did during my cancer journey.

Fighting chemo brain

Instead of just covering philosophical arguments, I tell stories of amazing people who believed that Jesus is the Truth. These people subsequently changed science, art, politics, justice, education and medicine.

Throughout the writing process, chemo brain kept me humble.

I couldn’t remember the name of my neighbor’s dog and I felt terrible the entire time, but somehow God enabled me to write and understand the philosophy and theology I was reading.

I published the book in the fall of 2022, and it is now widely available. I’m praying it will change many lives.

The journey continues

It’s now been more than two years since my journey started. I finished treatment and have begun to heal slowly.

My doctors haven’t said the word “cured” yet, but they continue to be optimistic about my future. 

Advice for others

For those going through cancer, give yourself grace. Grace to not blame yourself for that you are going through, grace to not feel bad that you are a burden to others, and grace to be patient with your healing, because it takes time.

Also, give yourself grace to reflect on what has been meaningful in your life.

For me, my Christian faith changed how I faced cancer.

The Bible does not ignore suffering but transforms it. When you read the Psalms and the Book of Job, you realize that God is perfectly fine with us telling him how hard what we are facing is. And he can help us through it.

There’s a hope that’s bigger than we are. Whether or not you are facing the final chapter, when you find this hope, it gives meaning to every moment of this life—even the most difficult ones.

You can find this hope—this unshakable Truth—today.

 

For more about how to begin a relationship with God see Knowing God Personally.

To unlock the power of prayer see Asking God for Help.

Is cancer a punishment from God? Discover the encouraging answer in this article. 

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