Chart topping Christian artist Phil Wickham has had a challenging last few weeks.

It all started when his voice began giving out during singing, at which point he saw a doctor and a voice specialist to figure out the source of the problem.

Phil explains, "After they sent a video camera up my nose and another down my throat they saw a small bump of swelling on my vocal chord. These bumps are referred to as vocal polyps, and they are no good. Both the specialist and the doctor advised me that I should go on vocal rest for two weeks to see if the swelling would go down. That meant no singing and no talking for two whole weeks. I was also given some steroids to see if they would help."

The silence not only affected his career, but his home life as well as a father. "The first few days of no talking were pretty hard. My family had to adjust to it. There were definitely a few tears from my 2 year old, Penelope. We heard the question “Daddy talk now?” too many times to count."

 Once he reached day 15 of no talking, Phil returned to his doctor to see if any healing had taken place. Another video camera was sent down his throat, and they discovered that the polyp was still there. They opted for the least invasive treatment first which included vocal exercises and light talking to see if the problem would stay the same or get worse.

On his next trip to the doctor, Phil said, "After another look with the camera we saw that the polyp on my left vocal chord had been hitting the opposite spot on my right vocal chord resulting in some light hemorrhaging, or bleeding." That's when they decided on the surgical approach.

Throughout this entire journey, Phil has made the conscious choice of choosing joy and seeing this as an opportunity to grow in his faith. He says, "This season has had its share of stormy weather, but not without some silver linings. I’ve been thinking about the idea of trust. Specifically trusting God. Innumerable times in the Jesus followers life there is a decision to trust or to fear. To trust or to be anxious. To trust or to get angry. To trust or to take things into your own hands. Trust is an essential building block in any healthy relationship. In many ways, trusting God is the same as loving Him. I have been asking myself, what does trusting God really mean to me? How does it actually play out in my mind, in my heart, and in my life? It’s an easy enough thing to say. “God I trust You. Of course I do. You’re God and I’m not.” But when push comes to shove, and plans change, and uncertainty overshadows, what really wins in our hearts: trust or fear?
I am realizing that when I have said in the past that I trust God, what I was really saying was that I trust what He can do. This may just be me, but I immediately would think, I trust His power. I trust His strength. I trust His authority. But in the quiet and stillness of the last few weeks I have been hearing something different. I’ve been hearing God say, “Trust ME”. Obviously to trust God is to trust that He has all power, strength, and authority, but making the difference between trusting the power and the ONE who is powerful is changing the way I trust God."

On April 28th, Phil went in for vocal surgery, and afterward he posted this update to twitter: "Home safe and sound. Surgery went well. Polyp was bigger than than originally thought. Glad it's out. Time for recovery. Got a few weeks of no talking and hopefully by the end of May we'll have a good idea of how successful the surgery was. Thanks for praying!"

He posted this video update just prior to his surgery