“It’s a roller coaster,” wrote conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh in October, talking about his ongoing battle with Stage 4 lung cancer. “There are a lot of ups and downs in this particular illness. And it can feel like a roller coaster at times that you can’t get off of.”

The 69-year-old Limbaugh rocked the airwaves on Feb. 3, 2020, announcing to his national audience that he had been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and would be undergoing treatment. The following day, he was a guest of President Donald Trump at the 2020 State of the Union Address, where he was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

And now, it appears that Limbaugh’s treatment has been less than successful. Despite a regimen of  chemotherapy, the cancer has continued to spread. Limbaugh’s doctor has confirmed that the diagnosis is terminal, and Limbaugh has been given a time frame as to when he should expect to die. He doesn’t tell us when that end will come — but he does tell us of his gratitude for life, and of his faith. “You know, I wake up every day,” he says, “and thank God that I did. I go to bed every night praying I’m gonna wake up... It's a blessing when you wake up. It’s a stop-everything-and-thank-God moment.

For Limbaugh, every day results in his feeling more and more blessed. Hearing from his listeners, knowing that people are out there praying for him, is a blessing. The illness that threatens to end Limbaugh’s storied career and his life has been a great positive, in that it’s enabled him to focus on the present day. Limbaugh explains that his personal relationship with Jesus Christ is a source of strength and confidence. He wrote on his website, “I try to remain committed to the idea that what’s supposed to happen, will happen when it’s meant to.... There’s some comfort in knowing that some things are not in our hands. There’s a lot of fear associated with that, too, but there is some comfort. … It’s helpful to be able to trust and to believe in a higher plan.

Even as his health continues to decline, Limbaugh has kept up his work in radio and other media. When the time is right, may God welcome him home to the place he has prepared for him.

The story of Rush Limbaugh’s health crisis is also my own. Some of you may know that I faced a serious bout with cancer, and I went through a routine that included two surgeries, as well as chemo and radiation. I've passed the 18-month mark and things are looking good — but I suppose I’ll always, as is the case for most cancer patients, spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder and wondering whether the tumor will return. This awareness of impending mortality is a good thing!

How one responds to news of a serious illness is an individual decision, but I don’t think I get any special points for using my personal experience to really — I mean, really — appreciate the life I've been given. Rush Limbaugh and I have each developed a positive outlook; but so have many others. Coming face-to-face with approaching death and understanding more deeply the frailty of this life is a great opportunity — a God-given chance to grow in grace, to spend more time in prayer, to ask forgiveness, and to come to know more deeply the One whose house you will soon enter.

It’s a renewed opportunity to celebrate, if for the last time, the incalculable beauty of the world God created. It’s a last-chance opportunity to touch the hearts of people you love, to make peace where there have been conflicts. If it turns out that your days are short, the knowledge of impending death offers a chance to say goodbye, to write letters to your children, to tuck a special love note into your husband’s drawer. 

Sometimes I hear people say that they wouldn’t want to know they’re dying; but diagnosis of a fatal illness is a great gift in disguise. The healthy guy who is killed in a car accident or a plane crash may never have had that piercing reflection on the brevity and the greater purpose of his life. He may never have received the world-shattering news that would nudge him to make wiser choices about how to spend his remaining days.

Rush Limbaugh is facing eternity with humility and determination. My prayer for him at this time is that he will live well and, if it be God’s will, he will move on to the next stage, where he will bask forever in God’s steadfast love.