Choosing hope during a cancer diagnosis may be the hardest and most important decision you ever make — and Dr. Michelle Bengtson's story will show you exactly how it is done.

Let me ask you something — and be completely honest in your answer.

The moment you heard the word "cancer," what did you feel deep inside?

For most people, it's like the floor dropped out. One second you're standing on solid ground, and the next second you're in freefall. Fear rushes in. Your mind goes immediately to the worst places. It goes to all the "what if" questions — and the answers you tell yourself are usually bad. And if you're being completely honest, hope feels like the most unrealistic thing in the world right now.

I get it. I really do. Because I've been there.

In 2017, I was literally walking out the door to a meeting when my phone rang. My doctor told me a CT scan I'd had the night before showed a tumor the size of an orange in my bladder — and it appeared to be cancerous. Which it was.

In that moment, hope was the last thing I felt. What I felt was FEAR.

But here's what I want to tell you today. Hope isn't a feeling you wait around for. Instead, hope is something you choose — even when everything inside you is screaming that there's nothing to hope for. And today, I want to introduce you to someone who figured that out in the most extraordinary way.

A DOCTOR WHO BECAME THE PATIENT

Dr. Michelle Bengtson is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist with over twenty years of experience helping people navigate some of the hardest moments of their lives. She literally wrote the book on hope — multiple books, in fact, including Hope Prevails. She had spent her career telling others that hope was possible even in the darkest moments.

And then one day, she had to live it herself.

Michelle was no stranger to cancer. Her husband had already faced multiple cancer diagnoses over the years. She had walked beside him through those battles — praying, trusting, holding on. And then one ordinary day, she went to her doctor about what she thought was a minor issue — and everything changed.

The call came. And the doctor said the words no one ever wants to hear: "You have cancer."

She later described that moment with striking honesty. She said she was stunned. Completely caught off guard. And in the fraction of a second that followed, she realized she had a choice to make.

She could slip into worry, fear, and anxiety — and be overwhelmed.

Or she could claim God's peace.

Now here's what I want you to really hear. That choice doesn't mean she wasn't afraid. It doesn't mean the fear wasn't real or the diagnosis wasn't terrifying. Instead, it means she made a decision — a conscious, deliberate decision — about where she would anchor herself in the storm.

And that choice changed everything.

CHOOSING HOPE DURING CANCER DIAGNOSIS - THE GOD MOMENT

One of the things Michelle said that has stayed with me is this:

"When I received the cancer diagnosis, I knew I had only a moment to determine how I would respond. I could give in to the temptation to become worried, anxious, and afraid, or I could remember that God has always been faithful. This diagnosis didn't take God by surprise. He wasn't up in heaven wringing his hands, wondering how he was going to help me — so I could trust him."

Read that again. Slowly.

This diagnosis didn't take God by surprise.

That is a God moment right there — not a flash of lightning, not an audible voice, but a moment of clarity where the truth of who God is broke through the fear and the shock.

And then she said something that flipped her entire perspective upside down. She learned to trade "I don't know how I'll do this" for "Lord, I can't wait to see how You'll handle this."

Can you feel the difference in those two sentences? One is despair. The other is hope. Same circumstances. Same cancer diagnosis. However, a completely different place to stand.

THE LITTLE "c" AND THE BIG "C"

Michelle eventually landed on a phrase that I think is one of the most powerful reframes for anyone going through cancer. She said:

"Cancer is a little 'c' but Christ and His finished work on the cross are a Big 'C' that triumphs over cancer. My bet is on Him."

A little "c." A Big "C."

I love that. Because it doesn't minimize what cancer is. Cancer is real. It is serious. It is hard. But it puts cancer in its proper place — underneath the authority of the One who defeated death itself.

That is the hope the Bible talks about. Not wishful thinking. Not blind optimism. Instead, it is actual, grounded, rooted-in-something-real hope.

Hebrews 6:19 says it this way: "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." 

(Read Hebrews 6:19 at BibleGateway: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+6%3A19&version=NIV)

An anchor doesn't stop the storm. Instead, it holds you in place while the storm rages. That's what choosing hope during a cancer diagnosis makes possible — not the absence of fear, but the refusal to be swept away by it.

HOPE THAT IS BIGGER THAN YOUR DIAGNOSIS

I want to share one more scripture with you, because I think it speaks directly to where you might be right now.

"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5 NIV

Did you catch that? Hope does not put us to shame. Hope in God will not disappoint you. Not because the outcome is guaranteed to look the way you want it to. But because God's love has been poured into your heart. That love doesn't leave. It doesn't run out. It doesn't depend on your scan results.

Paul wrote those words while he himself was suffering. This isn't a promise written from a comfortable chair. Instead, it's a promise forged in the fire — just like Michelle's story, and just like yours.

YOU HAVE A CHOICE RIGHT NOW

I know where some of you are. Maybe you just got the diagnosis. Maybe you're sitting in the middle of treatment, exhausted in ways you didn't know were possible. Maybe you've had a recurrence, and the hope you had is shaken all over again.

Here's what I hope you take away from this today.

You have a choice. Right now, in this moment. Not a choice about whether you have cancer — you don't get to choose that. But a choice about where you anchor yourself in the middle of it.

Michelle made that choice when the phone call came. She chose to remember that God was not surprised. She chose to trade fear for faith. And she chose to bet on the Big "C" over the little one.

I would strongly encourage you to make that same choice — the choice of choosing hope during your cancer diagnosis, no matter how impossible it feels right now.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13 NIV

Overflow with hope. That's what He wants to do in you — even now. Maybe especially now.

REFLECTION MOMENT

Before you move on, sit with these questions — really sit with them:

When the diagnosis came, where did your mind go first? And where is your mind anchored right now?
What would it mean for you today to trade "I don't know how I'll do this" for "Lord, I can't wait to see how You'll handle this"?
Is your hope currently anchored in your circumstances — or in the One who holds all of those things in His hands?

A PRAYER FOR CHOOSING HOPE DURING YOUR CANCER DIAGNOSIS

God, I'm going to be honest with You. Hope doesn't feel natural right now. Fear feels more real. The diagnosis feels more real. The uncertainty feels more real. But Your Word tells me that You are the God of hope — and that You want to fill me with joy and peace as I trust in You. So I'm choosing, right now, to trust You. Not because everything makes sense. Not because I'm not afraid. But because I know that this diagnosis did not take You by surprise. You are here. You are faithful. And Your love for me has not changed by a single degree.

Anchor me, Lord. Be my Big "C" in the middle of this little "c." And let me overflow with hope by the power of Your Holy Spirit — even today, even in this.

Amen.

YOU ARE NEVER ALONE

If you don't know Jesus personally, or if you've walked away from that relationship and want to come back, the door is open. Visit our Accepting Jesus page — it will walk you through that step.

The most important thing to remember is this — you are NEVER ALONE in your journey. Jesus is with you always. Share your deepest fears with Him. Ask Him to quiet your thoughts and fill your mind with hope and peace that only He can give.

You have a permanent companion on this journey — One who has all the answers to your deepest questions. All He wants you to do is ask.

When you do, please leave a comment and share how He responds. Your experience of never being alone — and of choosing hope during cancer diagnosis — could be the encouragement someone else desperately needs today.