In this episode of the VulnerABILITY Podcast, Bruce Matson, a Stage 4 Follicular ​Lymphoma survivor, shares his story of faith, positivity, and taking the fear out of facing difficult things by trusting in God. As a long-time Christian, Bruce shares about his faith experience, the ups and downs of being a believer, and how, in the wake of hearing news no one ever wants to be told, he was able to channel his fear into complete trust.
Highlights From the Episode:
[2:50] "The first thought that went through my mind was: 'I'm going to be okay. God's got this.' I just believed, with all my heart, that it would turn out alright. I just knew that I might have to endure some difficult things...he did tell me about chemotherapy and some things I would need to go through. But the initial gut instinct in my heart said, 'You're going to be okay.' I think it was the faith deeper than me just saying, 'You need to lean on me [and] know I'm here.'"

[4:20] "I just knew that whatever I was going to have to do, I was just going to have to endure something. It might be difficult, but I'm going to do it a day at a time nd eventually that clock's going to run out to the point that I'm cured or I'm healthy again."

[5:05] "It was that moment that I knew I needed something higher than myself... Through my life to that point, I was very goal-driven and doing things through my own effort, through my own pride, [and through] thinking that I could will things to be. And it hit me immediately: I can't do this without the Lord."

[6:15] "I went from being a very healthy man to... basically I was brought to my knees."

[7:30] "It's so easy, when we're thrown these unexpected moments, to feel like it's a punishment... so we make up all these things to try to understand and to try to rationalize what's happening to us."

[8:00] "It's not a punishment. Pain is a part of our path here on earth, and instead of seeing it as, 'Oh, what did I do to deserve this?' and even falling into the victim mentality, it's [about] trying to get beyond the victim mentality to say, 'Okay I don't deserve this—none of us deserve the pain that we go through—but we're not alone.'"

[8:40] "I believe we're spiritual beings in a physical world. Because I think we're created in the image of God and we all have a little bit of his spirit and we're part of his family, but we're in a fallen world... So yes, things don't go right in this world. There are going to be bad things that happen, even to good people, but God will see us through."

[9:25] "It takes the fear out of facing difficult things, when you just know that the Lord is with you."

[10:10] "In the business realm [or] business world, fear keeps us from taking those next steps. It keeps us from pursuing our passions. It keeps us stuck. But if we remember that fear, like pain — we can't control it, but we can accept and we can lean on other things around us—lean on faith, lean on people we love—then it makes it so that we're not alone."

[10:25] "God doesn't cause disease, cause us to us be sick. He doesn't cause the COVID19. But He helps us to deal with it."

[11:10] "The difficult circumstances guided me back to what's truly important, and that's faith, family, and friends. The other things are good and important, but they're not the priority."

[12:00] "I think that pain helps you to focus on what's important, which can lead you to your purpose."

[12:50] "Going through the illness took away the fear of attempting to share what's on my heart."

[14:00] "It's not to diminish the pain or diminish what's happening, but rather seeing it—on some level—as an opportunity... Finding a means of going through that pain to lead you to a greater purpose or a greater understanding of who you're meant to be."