Faithfully Clinging to Christ

Introduction: A Faith That Gets Tested

What happens when faith is no longer theoretical—but required for survival?

In this episode of Becoming the Oak Rooted in Christ, I had the opportunity to sit down with Nicole Shanks—and it’s a conversation that has stayed with me long after we finished recording.

Nicole shares her family’s journey through her husband’s stage four cancer diagnosis, but more than that, she shares what it truly looks like to live out your faith when everything is uncertain.

This wasn’t just a conversation about trials. It was a conversation about what it means to cling to Christ when nothing else feels stable.

In this episode:

• Nicole’s journey through her husband’s stage four cancer diagnosis

• The moment faith shifted from comfortable to tested

• Choosing “who God is” instead of asking “why”

• The daily habits that build real spiritual strength

• Learning to cling to Christ instead of outcomes

Nicole is a wife, a mom of two, and someone whose faith I have admired for years.

She shared that she and her family now live in Florida, but spent over two decades in Washington. She’s a labor and delivery nurse by trade and spent years building a business while raising her kids—never realizing how God would later use every piece of her story.

Today, she serves as the executive director of a pregnancy resource center, something she now sees was shaped through both her strengths and her trials.

As we started talking, I asked Nicole where she was spiritually before everything changed.

She described a faith that was consistent—but untested.

“My faith had never truly been tested until we went through this hardship.”

And I think so many of us can relate to that.

We build our faith in the everyday moments. We feel strong. We feel steady. But there’s a difference between knowing truth and being in a position where you have to decide if you actually believe it.

One of the most powerful parts of our conversation was when Nicole described the moment her faith was no longer theoretical.

“You either believe who Jesus Christ is or you don’t.”

There was no middle ground anymore.

And I found myself reflecting on how often we live in that middle space—until something happens that forces us to choose.

Nicole shared how her husband began experiencing severe symptoms that no one could explain.

After months of doctor visits, everything changed in a single moment.

He was diagnosed with stage four diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, with tumors throughout his body.

And yet, even in that moment, Nicole said something that deeply impacted me:

“From the minute that we got the diagnosis, I can track God’s hand of mercy and grace.”

When something this devastating happens, the natural response is to ask why.

But Nicole made a different choice.

“I mostly said what and who. Like who is my God and what does he promise?”

That shift in focus grounded her.

Instead of spiraling in unanswered questions, she anchored herself in what she knew to be true about God.

Nicole didn’t just rely on a moment of faith—she built it daily.

She shared how every morning she would sit with her Bible and devotional, sometimes for 30 minutes, sometimes for an hour.

“I stayed there until I was strong enough to get up.”

That line stayed with me.

Because strength didn’t come from avoiding the hard—it came from intentionally preparing her heart to face it.

She also made the decision to let people in.

Meals, rides, encouragement—she said yes to it all.

And in doing that, she allowed others to be the hands of Christ in her life.

One thing I deeply appreciated about Nicole’s honesty is that she didn’t pretend this journey was easy.

She shared about moments where she would go to a friend’s house and just cry.

“I had to let it out. But I couldn’t stay stuck there.”

That balance is something I think so many of us struggle with.

We either hold everything in—or we get lost in it.

Nicole showed what it looks like to feel deeply, but still stay rooted.

As the journey continued—with treatments, setbacks, and uncertainty—Nicole faced one of the hardest parts of all: letting go.

Letting go of outcomes.
Letting go of control.
Even trusting God with her children in the middle of it all.

“You either get better or you get bitter.”

And she made the intentional choice to grow.

If there was one takeaway from this entire conversation, this was it.

Nicole shared how she realized she had been clinging to things that kept changing—the treatment plan, the hoped-for outcome.

And then it became clear:

“You can’t cling to the plan. You can’t cling to the outcome. You can only cling to God.”

That perspective changes everything.

Because when circumstances shift—and they will—our peace doesn’t have to.

This conversation was a reminder to me that peace isn’t found in everything working out the way we want it to.

It’s found in where we place our trust.

Nicole’s story is not just about enduring a trial—it’s about being transformed through it.

And if there’s one thing I hope you take away from this, it’s this:

You don’t have to wait for your circumstances to change to experience peace.

You can have it right now—when you choose to root yourself in Jesus Christ.