Rob Gales + Cancer

[00:00:00] Welcome to the Ask About My Faith Podcast, where our hope is to inspire everyday faith conversations. I'm Jess and I'm Abby. Today we're excited to share a conversation with Rob Gales. Rob is the founder of the Gales Group, a successful, retained business and executive advisory firm.

[00:00:22] He has had re-markable success in his career but today he'll tell us about how, in his life, before Christ, he was professionally successful but that did not translate to personal fulfillment. And then how everything changed after he found faith.

[00:00:41] Rob has tons of stories to share but one of the highlights is his miraculous cancer healing. The doctors were baffled and Rob's senior opportunity to share his faith with everyone that he met. This conversation is shared with Mr. Faith. Let's jump in. Rob, welcome to the podcast.

[00:01:05] Thanks so much for joining us today. Thanks for having me. Oh man, can't wait to hear some of your stories just from our little pre-conversation. I know it's going to be really fun. So good.

[00:01:15] Let's have you start first with sharing with our listeners about how you came to know the Lord. Yeah and speaking of stories, I've got a, I think at a million of them, so I'm going to be interested in seeing what comes out here. Right?

[00:01:27] So I guess I would generally say I've got a couple halves of my life. There's sort of the before Jesus in the after Jesus, right? And the before Jesus was very much in the world. I guess it would call myself successful in business, not successful personally.

[00:01:42] There are, there's trials in life. There are things that happen and there are consequences and consequences are of poor choices of which I may have locked. Right? So in and around the time, I went through a particularly rough time in my life.

[00:01:56] It was divorce and, and, and I didn't know where to turn. I was just confused by everything and my decisions and all this stuff and I met the Lord and kind of a radical way. I had some of it prayed for me, prayed over me.

[00:02:10] I wasn't even sure what was happening and it happened and I met him in a pretty radical way but what I found is that's not like the magic cure God is not this vending machine that everything is all the same. Better, better, better.

[00:02:24] Life got harder but that started my journey. Okay. What was that moment like? Did you go to somebody and you're like, hey I'm not in a good way or did they approach you or where did that conversation go?

[00:02:40] I sort of a boat and it was somebody was a lady that had got to know and she prayed over me and I just received a Holy Spirit at that time. I don't know how to explain it but it was more than just being somebody praying over

[00:02:54] me and saying well hey thanks but something happened to me. I felt it. Right. Yeah. So what happened from there? Did you start going out and just living in a totally different way? What did that, what did life look like after you accepted the Lord?

[00:03:10] Yeah, I was I had a Wall Street career at that time and it's pretty aggressive lifestyle doing that and then I ultimately turned on that. I married at some point blended family and there's all kinds of emotions around that. Right.

[00:03:26] And my journey was hard when I said one thing that was really hard as I didn't really have anybody coming walk along side of me. I was the leader in my organization and always expected to have the answer and so really

[00:03:40] nobody walked with me and talked to me about things and led me and so I was sort of figuring things out on my own and I certainly didn't do it all well and I certainly still

[00:03:52] don't do it all well but I understand that journey I understand the prize right. And so that's kind of what happened. So a lot of things happened after that. Yeah and walking through that season alone has really inspired you to not let other men walk

[00:04:11] through seasons like that alone. Right. So you're your life now. Yeah, yeah and I can so I can fast forward that too. So that season I described was probably early 2000s, you know, I did a job served on boards, kids stuff, marriage stuff, everything right.

[00:04:33] I would fast forward to around 2015 I joined the M&A firm, Merges and Acquisition firm. And my job was to work with business owners who were transitioning or selling and for me it became along my journey.

[00:04:50] I really came to understand sort of the depravity and men because of my own journey right and life is really hard, right? For everybody but from a man's standpoint, it's really hard. So I looked at it as a ministry.

[00:05:04] It's like, you know what is if you're a believer in calling you to do post the transaction. If it's a secular situation, at least know what your plan is when you sell the business

[00:05:17] because in some form it's your identity and when you wake up that next morning in your identity is gone. It's a really hard place. I would say then fast forward again to early 2017. I had a blue god diagnosed with a advanced stage aggressive cancer and rocked my world

[00:05:41] and I didn't handle myself well. I went to fear in a really big way and it was an aggressive situation so over the course of three or four months trying to discern what do I do right?

[00:05:55] I ultimately ended up at MD Anderson in Houston, Texas which is an amazing hospital. I had to go through a whole bunch of tests to qualify for some kind of a clinical trial that was aggressive.

[00:06:09] So I qualified for it but and I'm ready to go down there in September of 2017 then hurricane Harvey hit and he used to have a devastating hospital, a devastating everybody and it's like, oh man I just went to even deeper fear.

[00:06:29] And so in other words if it's spread I don't qualify for the clinical trial and I'm going to die right? And all these things when I got diagnosed with things that I didn't do the things that I did do, it is true it floods right.

[00:06:44] So when I ultimately the open real pain in the hospital I had my 60th birthday party on a Saturday night and on Monday morning I'm sitting in a hospital right? The head of the hospital wants to see me and it's like oh no, oh no.

[00:07:03] And he shows me he said look I'm holding two scams. This is the one from six weeks ago and this is the one from this morning. I am believing still in fear right that something went wrong that I'm getting out of

[00:07:15] or planning going home and he goes there's a chunk of your cancer most of it is missing. I go what do you mean by that? He goes it's not here. I've never seen it before.

[00:07:27] So immediately now my fear goes away. I know that that I am on my way or I am healed but I decided to help God out and stay there and go through the trial anyways right?

[00:07:42] So I started my journey, my treatments that day and I became sort of miracle boy in the hospital and so I got to pray with people and this is when I started to catch fire.

[00:07:54] My nurse had washed her home and her mother had a heart attack and the doctors had lost their homes and everything and they're pouring into me and I'm pouring into them. So when I left there I can't

[00:08:05] to the three five weeks there my son came down to bust me out. It was the most powerful time in my life. I had no idea what to do. I didn't know what to do. And so I got back.

[00:08:20] Minneapolis and I just really was on November cold rainy night and I literally didn't know what to do. And shortly after that I went to my boss my partner and I said look, I can't do this anymore.

[00:08:34] He goes you can't do what? I said I can't go around talking about what an amazing investment bank we are, what a great deal makers wear and I love you and I love our firm and we're awesome what we do

[00:08:44] but so we're a lot of other people and he goes, what are you going to do? I said I think I'm being called the bless men. You know was that look like I go? I don't know. And so I left. Yeah.

[00:08:56] And so I spent the next couple of three years meeting the same. Yeah, I spent the next couple three years as meeting with men one on one in groups and just share my own put my own stuff on

[00:09:08] the table so it's safe right? Yeah. And then I just kind of walk into life with these guys and it was like three years of my life is what I did and so that's still a part of what I do today

[00:09:20] and there's a lot more to that where we want to take this. Wow. Yeah, it's amazing. So when you got the cancer diagnosis it was I mean you said pretty advanced probably the word term terminal

[00:09:33] was like is that through a word? Yeah. It was like in conversation and then did you did you in your your wife and community start praying for healing right away? Yeah, so

[00:09:45] yes, so back to the story when I sat with the doctor okay thanks for asking me that question he looked at me and he says I have never seen it like this in my life before because what are you doing?

[00:09:57] Well I now I know where this is going. And I kind of baited him a little bit while I was thinking about exercising and working out well I've been even right for about a week or so but I said look dude

[00:10:07] I don't know what they got. But I have I have so many people praying for me. I got men's group women's group friends my firm we had 35 people over our house for eight hours and we just cried out to

[00:10:21] God for eight hours he was a has to be it. I've never heard anything like this before so now I now I'm not my student gone right and and that was my first Holy Spirit at that point.

[00:10:36] Yes, and then five weeks later you did treatment five weeks that seems like such a short time frame and you are left the hospital to totally cancer free. Yeah it was it was the clinical trial piece

[00:10:49] of it was normally that's a five week or an eight week treatment period which in of itself is also short but it was radiation not chemo. It is and the trial of it was getting everything jammed into

[00:11:03] five weeks so heavier doses in five weeks so I've got a lot of effort for five weeks I had an apartment and he used to and that's what I did so it was isn't drink from a fire hose and time

[00:11:16] in life. Yes okay yeah and just getting to share your faith even though you didn't know if you were going to be fully healed maybe you know who knows what what the scans could have been

[00:11:29] showing a lot of the way but your faith had been boosted so much. You got to share about orbit doctors and nurses and probably anyone that listed right yeah I had I'm I I got so many

[00:11:42] stories about praying for people and and pretty cool but truth is at that point I did know I was healed you know I had gone from the first year it's like I think I'm going to be healed I hope I'm

[00:11:55] going to be healed and God please seal me to I knew I was healed and that's how I'll experience it because in me I wasn't capable to make that decision myself. Yeah yeah and I just I want

[00:12:07] to say thank you for correcting me and that your your faith and your belief that you were healed is such a powerful tool especially in prayer having that full belief even I mean they say like a

[00:12:21] mustard seed but having like full belief that you were healed it is what makes prayer so powerful so yeah that's fun. Yeah exactly. Do you recall any specific conversations that occurred in that short window of time that were especially powerful for the person on the other end

[00:12:40] of the conversation. Yeah well it was it was interesting is we would go into the call the treatment room right every morning I'd going there every morning with a different set of guys

[00:12:51] and you know my heart was still pounding I know I'm healed but I still got to go through a process and and I'm walking into the treatment room there's a guy walking out carrying a Bible I go

[00:13:02] dude what's that goes it's a Bible like oh I know it's a Bible I said but why did you bring into the treatment room are we are we concerned right and so him and I partnered up and with

[00:13:12] blessed people and pray for people together so I found my my my buddy my treatment buddy and I had one situation where there was a nurse she was running a test on a prepare me for some

[00:13:28] kind of a procedure and I just I talk a lot and I just started asking a lot of questions about her life and she had a stunt that was in jail for murder and I don't say no if it was

[00:13:43] falsely accused or accused but this mom's heart wasn't so much pain and she's preparing me or a pretty significant procedure that I had to have done but the next thing I know that when

[00:13:54] it was done I'm walking around you know I become she becomes the patient I have my arms around her I'm walking and I'm praying for her just sort of mind blowing to me that I go in to receive the

[00:14:06] treatment and I'm the one sort of given the treatment Holy Spirit is on the way out was those kinds of stories that that happened for me and so she had so many things going wrong in her life that

[00:14:17] it was it's like I just didn't have any more fear it just started coming out and by the way you know praying for me by the four people or publicly or out loud or whatever

[00:14:29] that didn't happen just overnight because it's like I wonder what they're going to think about the words that I say and it's like Lord I you know how come you sound so cool and you pray

[00:14:37] and I don't sound that cool so it was a process for me and it still is a process for me yeah yeah well and I think something important to point out too is that fear I think is so

[00:14:50] inward focused and going through a situation like that I imagine if you would be if you would have been like consumed with fear you probably wouldn't have even had the wherewithal to ask other

[00:15:01] people questions or to encourage them when you're so just fear so like self-focused and being able to release that going into those five weeks and give yourself over to. So you know it's

[00:15:14] interesting about not having any fear I mean hospitals full of sick people and although I sick I didn't feel sick right and so I literally just walked around looking for people to pray for them

[00:15:24] I mean it's just like I didn't care it's like like this is all kind of new for me nobody's seeing what I'm doing nobody knows me and so that's kind of that's kind of where I also

[00:15:33] want to have for me and and and catch on fire for my I know you have another story of healing when you were I think in Wisconsin can you tell us that story yeah it's actually it's kind of a

[00:15:47] random one it was it was actually when I was in Denver we have moved to Denver for a couple of years and you know a really cool thing in my life as I am surrounded by a bunch of guys you know

[00:15:58] in in the in the aposaria now in Wisconsin area and then in Denver and I find myself literally all of day long in conversations you know you know I would consider myself a marketplace minister right

[00:16:11] it's I just look for where's God in this conversation not to judge somebody where are you spiritually how can I help God what do I need to say this person and as a result I I've got amazing

[00:16:23] amazing guys in my life and these guys are let's say a lot of these guys are about my pay grade and it's like I'm in there at land hands and doing crazy stuff I'm in it's like whoo I mean

[00:16:33] I get it all right but I've never it's never happened I've prayed for so many of God and he'll say you know not skeptical but not having a grid for it all one day I I walk over the

[00:16:46] grocery store for my office it was one of these cold Denver heavy snow even in Minnesota it's everywhere right heavy heavy snow a day and I walked into grocery store I'm going there and

[00:16:59] and the parking lot actually sloped away from the down the hill a bit from the grocery store and there was this lady probably you know four foot six probably in her 50s and she's trying

[00:17:11] to push she works she works that her job is to push the cards from the car and rack up into the storm I heard broke it's like wow this is her job yeah so I talked over to her and

[00:17:22] um I actually had my card and I just put it into the car so I'm willing to down it's like I don't to do with it and I said can I you know do I put my card in with these or she and she starts yelling

[00:17:34] at me like can't you see I'm already having a hard time it's like nine other she's got some mental challenges right my heart breaks even more and so I said well how about this how about

[00:17:46] I just push these cards up for you to the top of the hill and she yells at me again she goes this is my job don't tell me did I just like no no no no okay okay and she's about here do this grab

[00:17:58] on the side of the car grab on here and walk with me up the hill I said okay so I'm walking up the hill with her and my head's kind of spinning okay God what's what's going on here

[00:18:09] and she goes yeah we got to slow down my knees my knees are hurting she was I have I have knee problems like I can't walk in her hurts and now my heart's just wrecked I mean this is her job

[00:18:20] this is how she lives I don't think about it I I had that point wasn't looking for reasons to to pray for people all the time let alone expect to heal I said I put my arm

[00:18:31] around her I said can I can I pray for you I just I just did and she goes yes and I started praying for she starts crying she goes my knees my knees they don't hurt me Margot what she goes

[00:18:44] they don't hurt she's looking she lives her knees up I go what it's like I mean and it's like Lord and she goes I've my knees are healed they're here look at this and she's walking around the

[00:18:56] it's like and it's like why am I surprised why are we surprised no matter where we are spiritually all said we pray for somebody for something if we don't pray for expectation why even bother

[00:19:09] right and so that is another my journey so every time I pray I pray with the expectation right that people are going to you know people things are going to happen in their lives and even

[00:19:20] if we don't see it God here's it right and he does something with it so just another not chip in my journey you know yeah I appreciate that your second nature response to pray for healing

[00:19:35] is it to get your mind there yeah it's it's it's become more of who I am now and I just I don't have any fear about praying for anybody at any point you know with what

[00:19:50] I'd expectation and I don't know why sometimes it happens why sometimes it doesn't God doesn't that's good enough for me so it doesn't stop me it doesn't discourage me it's something doesn't happen immediately you know right you know he's still working yeah absolutely

[00:20:11] thank you for listening to the Ask But My Faith podcast we'd love your supporting continuing to bring you encouraging and inspiring stories please subscribe rate and review wherever you're listening and you can learn more about us and donate at AskButMyFaith.com

[00:20:26] God bless you the speak as you go out and share your faith you