That awful C Word... Several months ago one of my adopted daughters (Rev. Davisons daughter Twila - you have to hear the story sometime) was diagnosed with cancer. Please pray for her as her sister tells me she is currently in the hospital w/ pneumonia... and weak. Then a little over two weeks ago, we found out Carolyns brothers older daughter (see: PrayingForApril on Facebook) found out she has cancer (and now there seems to be some complication). The very next day my brothers younger daughter, Kim, called to say her doctors were concerned about her, though nothing definitive has been found. Last week, our daughter, Christy, was home and was able to spend a few minutes with April, at which time she mentioned a booklet by Pastor John Piper titled, Dont Waste Your Cancer. She then downloaded it to my tablet, and yesterday was the first time I had the opportunity to read it. Heres the 11 chapter outline (initially hard to understand perhaps), which you can download from Kindle for $0.99. We waste our cancer if... 1. we dont hear in our own groanings the hope-filled labor pains of a fallen world; 2. we do not believe it is designed for us by God; 3. we believe it is a curse and not a gift; 4. we seek comfort from our odds rather from God; 5. we refuse to think about death; 6. we think that beating cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ; 7. spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God; {here I suggest the book Ruthless: Knowing the God Who Fights for You by Bo Stern; also on Kindle} 8. we let it drive us into solitude instead of deepening our relationships with manifest affection; 9. we grieve as those who have no hope; 10. we treat sin as casually as before; 11. we fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ. Of course we can waste any experience, if we do not acknowledge Gods real-time, personal involvement. Paul once wrote, What a wonderful God we have - He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the One who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does He do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same comfort God has given us. You can be sure the more we undergo sufferings for Christ, the more He will shower us with His comfort and encouragement. (2 Cor. 1:3-5 LB) I personally learned the truth of those verses from a fellow brother in Christ when my father died. When I thanked him for his note, his response was... I lost my father one week before you lost yours. I can tell you, it made a difference as I ministered to others in their time of grief! Dont waste your cancer (any experience God permits in your life) as it is His way for you to witness to others of His goodness and mercy... in their times of hardship and trial.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 22:26:15 +0000
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