Casting Crowns Lead Singer Mark Hall on Cancer: I Can Still Trust God
The chance discovery of a cancerous tumor on his kidney during a routine checkup for acid reflux left Casting Crowns frontman Mark Hall while he was shell shocked, his Christian faith helped him overcome the ordeal.
In a podcast with "The Church Boys" last week, Hall explained that despite his health crisis, the roots of his faith runs deep and he's putting his trust in the healing power of Jesus Christ.
"My feelings kept slamming up against something solid in me, and that was the roots of my faith. The fact that I've been in the Word for years. The fact that I've been following Jesus for years, and the roots of my faith were reminding me: God is who He says He is."
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"All of these things you've ever read and believed and trusted are true. It doesn't stop being true just because this took you by surprise," the singer said, referring to Psalm 43:5 where David asks, "Why art thou cast down O my soul?"
Hall said the night he received the negative health report he sat down at the piano and wrote a song titled "Oh My Soul."
"I think sometimes when we're caught by surprise we feel like maybe God's caught by surprise. But He's at the end of my life already looking back on it. So I've got to remind myself of that."
Still, the band leader wondered about the logistics of his life. How would he tell his children? How would his group move forward? He said there was "no room" for cancer in his world.
Fortunately, Hall's cancer was contained and had not spread to the rest of his kidney. It did, however, have a high potential for growth. After surgery to remove the tumor was performed, the singer took some time to recover.
"It was about two-and-a-half months that I was out recovering from surgery, so it took a while. But compared to what so many go though, I was really fortunate to be able to get back out on the road."
Hall added, "Everything happened at a time that we were off, out of the road, and we didn't have a lot scheduled. So I didn't have to cancel events, and we ended up only canceling like two. But it really was a 'God thing' that it worked out like it did."
Hall hopes that his experience and music will inspire others to trust in Christ. "I just want people to know that God is who He says He is and that we can trust Him and we can follow Him from where we are."
