Even if you haven’t been diagnosed, there’s a chance – – a reasonably strong possibility – – that you have cancer or will one day be diagnosed with it.
This post is prompted because I am preparing to make a pastoral call to a friend recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. And, I am taking with me a copy of the below written by John Piper, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer,” with comments from Dave Powlison.
The time to spiritually prepare for your cancer is now.
Notice the first line and when Piper wrote this material.
I write this on the eve of prostate surgery. I believe in God’s power to heal—by miracle and by medicine. I believe it is right and good to pray for both kinds of healing. Cancer is not wasted when it is healed by God. He gets the glory and that is why cancer exists. So not to pray for healing may waste your cancer. But healing is not God’s plan for everyone. And there are many other ways to waste your cancer. I am praying for myself and for you that we will not waste this pain. . .
1. You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.
It will not do to say that God only uses our cancer but does not design it. What God permits, he permits for a reason. And that reason is his design. If God foresees molecular developments becoming cancer, he can stop it or not. If he does not, he has a purpose. . .
The whole thing here.
I may not be as skilled with words as these fine men, but I have witnessed the power of a life lived with grace under a difficult cancer. I can attest to the power to share Christ admist suffering and how that impacts others! Chris, I have heard of 2 more lives changed by Christ from Kurt’s funeral testimony. Praise God–He is so Faithful.
Pam
Pam, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I continue to reflect on the wonder of God’s grace in Kurt’s life. I pray that the Lord will give your family strength. How wonderful to hear that God used Kurt’s funeral in a powerful way.
Saturday, I am doing the funeral for a fallen marine. Again, I am praying that God will use this in a powerful way to point people to Him.