Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and this week I’m talking about cancer.
Or more specifically, breast cancer since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It's been exactly four years since my last chemotherapy for cancer. But even though many, many good things came out of that difficult time, I can assure you, the Lord took no pleasure in my diagnosis. For that matter, God didn't take pleasure in my 1967 diving accident either, which resulted in a broken neck and paralysis. God, like any good father who has compassion on his children… well, it brought Him pain to see me hurt. Yet (and here’s the thing) at the same time, it pleased Him to permit my accident. God permits all sorts of things He doesn't take delight in. God allows all sorts of stuff to happen that He doesn’t approve of.
Let me explain what I mean by that. You see, Lamentations chapter 3, verses 32-33 says, “Though God brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love, for he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.” Did you catch that? Yes, God brings grief, but it doesn’t give him joy in bringing it. Yes, God permits painful circumstances, but it doesn't make Him happy, watching us squirm! I like how Dr. John Piper explains it. He says that God has the capacity to look at any affliction — cancer, quadriplegia, whatever —through two lenses: a narrow lens and a wide-angle one. When God looks at a disease like cancer through a narrow lens, he sees the heartbreak for what it is; and it’s awful! God feels the painful sting when your doctor says, "You have cancer."
But when God looks at your condition through his wide-angle lens, he sees it in relation to everything leading up to it, as well as flowing from it. How your battle against this disease will strengthen your faith; how it will make you more prayerful; how it will inspire you to encourage others and make you empathetic toward those who hurt; how it will draw you, your family, and friends closer together. How it will realign your priorities. And best of all, God delights in how a battle against disease will give you a platform to share your story, and so much more. This is God's wide-angle view of disease and disability. He sees this grand mosaic stretching into eternity, and it is this mosaic with all its parts, both good and bad, light and dark, that includes his wonderful plan for you.
In the span of a single verse in Lamentations 3, the Bible asserts that, "the Lord brings grief," yet "he does not willingly bring grief." And you know what is really amazing? God tried all this out on himself. He willed the death of his own Son but He took no delight in it. It gave him no joy to see his Son be tortured. But, God saw how the death of Jesus would demonstrate his mercy, as well as bring millions and millions to salvation. Friend, God often wills what he despises because—and only because—he has an amazing, wide-angle view on the world. We, however, struggle with that, because we are so, well, so human. We focus so much on the here and now. We have such a limited, narrow view of our problems. We tend to only see the problem for what it is: nothing but a difficult, painful inconvenience. This is why during chemotherapy I made myself remember that even breast cancer can fit into a beautiful mosaic that one day I’m going to understand. And when it comes to your trials you will understand, too. I've written more about this in my booklet on battling cancer, so visit my radio page today at joniandfriends.org and ask for your copy.
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