I write these words on the eve of prostate cancer surgery: Do I believe in God’s power to heal?Through a miracle and medicine. I know it’s right and good to pray for both types of healing. Cancer is not wasted being cured by God. Will it receive glory, it’s because cancer exists. So not praying for a cure can waste your cancer, but healing is not God’s plan for everyone, and there are many other ways to waste your cancer. I pray for you and me so we don’t waste this pain.
You’ll lose your cancer if you don’t think it was conceived by God
- Don’t say that God is only using our cancer.
- But that He is not planning it; what God allows.
- He does for a reason.
- And that reason is your will.
- If God predicts that molecular developments become cancerous.
- He can stop them or not; otherwise.
- It has a purpose.
- Because it is infinitely wise.
- It is right to call this purpose a plan.
- Satan is real and causes many pleasures and pains.
- But this is not the ultimate cause.
- So when he attacked Job with ulcers (Job 2:7).
- Job attributed them to God (2:10).
- And the inspired writer agrees:?And you comforted him with all the evil the Lord had sent him?(Job 42:11 ).
- If you don’t think your cancer was conceived by God.
- You’ll waste it.
2- you will waste your cancer if you think it is a curse, not a blessing
So is there no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus?(Romans 8:1). Did Christ save us from the curse of the law, made by us curse?(Galatians 3:13). Against Jacob, is there therefore no enchantment, no divination against Israel?(Numbers 23:23). For the Lord God is sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; Won’t he deny anything good to those who are in justice?(Psalm 84:11)
3) waste your cancer if you seek comfort in your opportunities instead of turning to God
God’s plan for his cancer is not to train him to calculate rationalistic and human probabilities. The world is comforted by statistics. Christians do not, some count their chariot (survival percentages) and others count their horses (side effects of treatment), but we trust in the name of the Lord, our God (Psalm 20:7). God’s plan is clear in 2 Corinthians 1:9: “Therefore, we already had the death sentence in ourselves, that we may not trust in ourselves, but in God, who resurrects the dead. “God’s goal for your cancer (among many other good things) is to overcome the self. -trust in our hearts so that we can rest there completely.
4. – you will waste your cancer if you refuse to think about death
We will all die if Jesus does not return today. Don’t think about what it would be like to leave this life and discover that God is meaningless. Ecclesiastes 7: 2 says: “It is better to go home where there is mourning than Go to the house where there is a banquet; because in this we see the end of all men, and the living apply it to their hearts. How can you apply this truth to your heart if you don’t think about it? Psalm 90: 12 says, “Teach us to count our days in such a way that we reach wise hearts. ” Counting your days means thinking about how few and how few they are. How will you get a wise heart if you refuse to think about what a waste if you don’t think about death.
5. Are you going to waste your cancer if you think? It means surviving and not approaching Christ.
God’s plans and plans for his cancer are not the same; Satan wants to destroy his love for Christ; God plans to deepen it; cancer will not win if you die, only if you do not approach Christ; God’s plan is to deprive him of the food of the world and satisfy you with the sufficiency of Christ. This is to help you say and feel, “I also lose everything for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. “Is it Christ, and dying is gain? (Philippians 3:8; 1:21).
You’ll lose your cancer if you spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough about God
It’s not bad to read about cancer. Ignorance is not a virtue, but the desire to know more and more and the lack of zeal for God’s continued knowledge is symptomatic in the disbeliever, it is the purpose of cancer to awaken ourselves to the reality of God, to put feelings and strengths. in charge? (Osseas 6:3), awakening to the truth of Daniel 11:32: “People who know their God will become strong, and will they do feats, make us indestructible and unwavering oaks:?the law of the Lord, and in his law meditates day and night; because it will be like the tree planted next to streams of water, which bears fruit in its time, and whose leaf does not fall, and everything you do will prosper. Psalm 1: 2. 3). What a waste to read day and night about cancer and nothing about God.
7. You will lose your cancer if you isolate yourself instead of deepening your relationships by showing affection.
When Epaphrodite brought the gifts sent by the Philips church to Paul, he became ill and was about to die. Paul said to the Philippians: “Because you all missed them, and were distressed because you heard that he was sick? (Philippians 2:26). What a wonderful reaction! He did not say that you were distressed because Epaphrodite was sick, but that He was distraught because the Philippians had found out that he was ill. This is the kind of heart God wants to create with cancer: the deeply emotional and caring hearts of people. Don’t waste your cancer by turning to yourself.
8. You will waste your cancer if you are sad as if you have no hope
Paul uses this term to refer to people whose loved ones have died: “Do we not, however, want the brethren to ignore those who are already sleeping, so that they are not sad as others who have no hope?(1 Thessaloniki 4:13 ). There’s sadness in death. Even for the dying believer, is there a temporary loss?Loss of body, loved ones, and earthly ministry. But is sadness different? It is imbued with hope: of this body, to be present with the Lord?(2 Corinthians 5: 8) Don’t waste your cancer getting sad as if you don’t have that hope.
9. You will waste your cancer if you treat sin as before.
Are your frequent sins still as attractive as they were before cancer?If the answer is yes, then you’re wasting your cancer. Cancer was designed to destroy the appetite for sin. Procrastination? These are all adversaries that cancer must attack. Don’t just think about fighting cancer. Also consider using it. All these things are worse than cancer. Don’t waste the power of cancer to crush these opponents. May the presence of eternity make temporal sins as useless as they really are. “What is a man’s purpose to win the whole world, get lost or hurt himself?(Luke 9:25).
10. You will waste your cancer if you do not use it as a means to witness the truth and glory of Christ.
Christians are never in a particular place by accident. There are reasons why they’re taking us where we are. Consider what Jesus says about unexpected and painful circumstances:?But before all these things, they’ll arrest him and chase him, hand him over to synagogues and prisons, and lead you to the presence of kings and governors, by my name. Will there be any time in your testimony? (Luke 21:12-13). The same goes for cancer. This will be an opportunity to testify. Christ is infinitely worthy. Here is a golden opportunity to prove that Jesus is worth more than life. Don’t waste it.
Remember that you are not alone; you’ll get the help you need:?Will my God plead with all his needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus?(Philippians 4:19).
Pastor John
By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod. org
Translation: Josaas Junior
Diary: Rogério Portella