Cancer: A Time of Weakness and of Strengthening

Over the years, many people have asked Joni, “Why would God allow quadriplegia, 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.”

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 we can take comfort in the truths of Hebrews.

“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.”

Hebrews 4:15-16 (ESV)

You can receive mercy and grace by drawing near to God’s throne through prayer, but we also receive 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,” (1 Peter 4:8-10, ESV). The church has been equipped with spiritual gifts and as we use them to serve one another, we pass along the mercy and grace of our Heavenly Father.

With this truth in mind, when you recognize needs in the midst of your battle with cancer, ask your church for help!

If you’re not sure how to name specific needs, 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 it as an opportunity to recognize the demonstration of God’s grace.

If you have needs that cannot be met by your church, there may be others who can help, as networks of cancer care teams have grown to meet needs such as house cleaning, rides to and from chemo treatment, and even mailed encouragement. But ask your church community and family first! They may be glad to know of a specific, tangible way they can help support you. Allow them the blessing of giving!

The wonderful news of this great blessing is that it doesn’t have to be all one sided.

Not only will there be opportunities for you to encourage those who are caring for you, but you will find opportunities to pass along the comfort 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 that is 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 sweet 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)