Here Come the Cummings: Don't Waste Your Cancer

I have always loved John Piper and his ministry at the Desiring God website. I read his blog, listen to his sermons and read a lot of his books. I also love the children's curriculum they have available for churches and anyone to buy and I use it for our churches children's ministry. I absolutely love teaching the curriculum and plan to use it for my own children to teach it during our devotion time. It is filled with Gospel centered truth and not just teaching children good morals, which you can't find in many children's curriculums (and I have looked at a ton). After my mom was diagnosed with cancer a month ago, I remember Piper having an ebook titled "Don't Waste your Cancer". He wrote the short book the night before he was going in for prostrate cancer surgery. I read it shortly after my mom was diagnosed with cancer and it was a big encouragement to me. Little did I know, one of my friends at my shower also recommended the book to my mom and she read it too! I wanted to share some of the insights that I have learned. I know there are so many people that have loved ones with cancer and it seems that it is all around me right now. I hope that it is an encouragement to others as it has been for me. Piper starts out by saying:

"I believe in God's power to heal-by miracle and 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 our cancer. But healing is not God's plan for everyone in this life And there are many other ways to waste our cancer. As I prayed for myself, and continue to do so, I also pray for you that we will not waste this pain."

He goes on with 11 ways on how we can waste our cancer:

We waste our cancer if we don't hear in our own groanings the hope-filled labor pains of a fallen world.

"....the groaning of our cancer has a double meaning, it means that sin is horrible, and it means that glorious freedom is coming. We will waste our cancer if we don't hear in our own groanings the labor pains of the new creation. Labor pains mean that something wonderful is coming. That's what our cancer means, " For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. (2 Cor 4:17)"

We waste our cancer if we don't believe it is designed for us by God.

I (Tracy) personally believe this is crucial when bad things happen. I hear a lot of people say "God can use this" but in reality "God designed it" He has the power to stop the the cancer cells from forming, and he chose, by his ultimate wisdom not to and it is for a purpose. Piper goes on to say, "Satan is real and causes many pleasures and pain. But he is not ultimate....if we don't believe our cancer is designed for us by God, we will waste it. "

We waste our cancer if we believe it is a curse and not a gift.

Piper says here that cancer is not a curse as Christ has taken the curse of our condemnation for us. Psalm 84:11 also says, "no good thing does he withhold to those who walk uprightly." We believe God is not withholding good from us. He is doing good by allowing our family to walk through this, because He is a holy and a perfect, good God.

We waste our cancer if we seek comfort from our odds rather than from God.

This hit home for me. Since Justin used to work with the type of cancer my mom has, I find myself asking him tons of questions about odds. How foolish am I to find some type of comfort from good odds. We believe in a God who has the power to heal and who has our days numbered. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow, no matter how healthy we are today. I want to find my comfort from God and his Word. Piper says, "the world gets comfort from odds...not Christians."

We waste our cancer if we refuse to think about death.

We will all die someday and as believers, this is not something we should fear. Our days are all numbered and our days on this earth are short. No matter how healthy or unhealthy we are, we must think about death and the fact that we are placed on this earth for a specific time for a specific purpose. And as believers in Jesus Christ, what comfort we have knowing where we will be after death.

We waste our cancer if we think that "beating" cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.

Piper says is beautifully here, "Satan and God's design for cancer are not the same. Satan designs to destroy our love for Christ. God designs to deepen our love for Christ. Cancer does not win if we die. It wins if we fail to cherish Christ." Phil 4:8- I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."

We waste our cancer if we spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God.

Piper says, "It is not wrong to know about cancer. Ignorance is not a virtue. But the lure to know more and more and the lack of zeal to know God more and more is symptomatic of unbelief. Cancer is meant to waken us to the reality of God."

We waste our cancer if we let it drive us into solitude instead of deepen our relationships with manifest affection.

God changes our hearts towards other people through our trials. I would never have the sympathy and affection I have towards women who experience miscarriages if I hadn't experienced it myself. Now, I have a renewed heart for people who have loved ones battling with cancer. "That is the kind of heart God is aiming to create with cancer: a deeply affectionate, caring heart for people."

We waste our cancer if we grieve as those who have no hope.

Though it is good to grieve, as Christians, we have hope!

We waste our cancer if we treat sin as casually as before.

"Cancer is designed to destroy the appetite for sin."

We waste our cancer if we fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.

"Christians are never anywhere by divine accident...this will be an opportunity to bear witness. Christ is infinitely worthy. Here is a golden opportunity to show that that he is worth more than life. "

I will never stop praying for my mom's healing from cancer. I will not stop praying for her health and to feel good with minimal symptoms throughout her treatment. But on top of that, I am challenged to pray that as a family, we will grow to cherish Christ more, put our hope in Christ, and pray that we will be a witness to those around us. I am thankful that God is sovereign and this is all by His design, it has not taken Him by surprise and His timing is perfect (no matter how badly I think the timing is). He has a specific purpose for this season, however long or hard it may be...and it is all for good.

For those of you who would like more updates about my mom, you can go to her website:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/debbiecollier1