Cancer: A Time of Weakness and of Strengthening
Over the years, many people have asked Joni, “Why would God allow quadriplegia and chronic pain, and then add two vicious rounds with cancer?” Her answer has always been:
“God is less interested in my physical well-being and more interested in strengthening my soul.”
And she adds…
“I’m not the same Joni I was before cancer. I know, I can feel, that I’m becoming more like Jesus, and I love that.”
Maybe you can nod your head in understanding and recognition. Or maybe not.
Perhaps you have not yet seen what good thing God is accomplishing in the splash-overs of hell you have experienced through cancer and the difficult road of treatment. It can put you in a place of great suffering, sorrow, and neediness. God may seem distant, and the future uncertain.
But in every painful moment, God is with you, ready to embrace you with his comfort and mercy. As Hebrews 4:15–16 says:
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (ESV)
You can receive mercy and grace by drawing near to God’s throne through prayer. And you can also lean into mercy and grace through the body of Christ. The Apostle Peter exhorted:
“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly… As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” First Peter 4:8–10 (ESV)
Ask your church for help—and help others through your church!
If you need support in your journey with cancer, let your local church know about your needs. They may be glad to know of a specific, tangible way they can help support you. Allow them the blessing of giving!
And to support others in your community navigating the challenges of cancer, take a look at the suggestions the American Cancer Society has for How to Be a Friend to Someone with Cancer. Whether you share the link or name a few specific needs that rise to the top, use this as an opportunity to demonstrate the love of Jesus.
Giving and Receiving the Comfort of Christ
If you are fighting cancer today, ask God to bring you comfort, which you will in turn pass along to others. As 2 Corinthians 1:3–4 says:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
Whether you pass along the comfort of Christ in the waiting room or through a ministry such as Cards of Hope, as Joni points out,
“God can reach down into what otherwise looks like awful evil—terrible evil—and he and he alone can pull out of it positive good for us and for others, as you connect with them in your cancer battle.”
The blessing of giving is not the only way God redeems your suffering in cancer.
As John Piper writes in his book Don’t Waste Your Cancer, God may have many different purposes in your cancer. While you do not know whether God will heal your cancer in this life or the next, you can be sure that God has plans to use it for your eternal good. With this assurance, you can face your cancer with joy.
Yes, cancer can bring you face-to-face with new losses—to a point of neediness you’ve never known. In that place of weakness, let God strengthen you with new revelations of his goodness and grace as you draw near to him and to the body of Christ, his stewards of grace.
“God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him. We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in seastorm and earthquake, before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains. Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.”
Psalm 46:1–3 (MSG)
