Legendary Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh took to the air Monday afternoon to give a health update, and in the process opened up about the role his faith was having throughout these challenging times:
I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is of immense value, strength, confidence. That’s why I’m able to remain fully committed to the idea that what is supposed to happen will happen when it’s meant to.
The nearly 70-year old political commentator shared last February that he has been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, a sickness which has a grim prognosis and which treatment focuses on slowing the progression of the disease, seeking to maintain quality of life, and minimizing symptoms wherever possible rather than curing it.
Depending on the nature of the cancer, it has a 5-year survival rate of between 1-10% and a 1-year survival rate between 15-19%.
Limbaugh said during Monday’s show, speaking to 20 million listeners:
I feel more and more blessed hearing from you, knowing that you’re out there praying and everything else you’re doing. That is a blessing. It’s just a series of blessings. And I’m grateful to be able to come here to the studio and tell you about it and really maintain as much normalcy as I can….the only thing that any of us are certain of is right now, today. That’s why I thank God every morning when I wake up. I thank God that I did. I try to make it the best day that I can…I try to remain as committed to the idea that what’s supposed to happen will happen when it’s meant to.
I mentioned at the outset of this, on the first day I told you, that I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is of immense value, strength, confidence, and that’s why I’m able to remain fully committed to the idea of what is 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.
While Rush has long spoken of his belief in God, it has always been in more generic types of reference, eschewing talk of repentance and faith in Christ with more broad terms and phrases such as “This country needs to understand the importance of religion” and “I believe in God.” Even during the initial cancer revelation back in February, he said “I told the staff today that I have a deeply personal relationship with God that I do not proselytize about, but I do, and I have been working that relationship tremendously.”
The fact is that specific reference to Jesus and having a “personal relationship” with him is a new development for Limbaugh.
Rush’s Brother, David, a well-known political commentator in his own right, is a professing evangelical Christian, and we can only hope that he ministers to Rush in these last days, helping him truly understand the gift of faith and everlasting life.
