As you’ve probably heard, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Welcome to “Joni and Friends” and it is amazing to me how much we are hearing on the news about breast cancer this month. And this week I am marking a full year since I finished chemotherapy for the breast cancer I endured last year. And I just have to take these few minutes to celebrate how God strengthened my heart through that battle against cancer. Because there were times I just felt like giving in... caving into discouragement. There was one day I came home from the clinic ... I couldn't eat my lunch; not my dinner... every part of my body was aching (which for me, a quadriplegic, it's a very strange feeling).... Ken helped me into bed, but still I couldn't get comfortable. It was not fun.
But lying there in bed, feeling my soul shrinking, it was like I heard the Holy Spirit whisper in my ear this beautiful verse from Hebrews 10:38-39 where it says, “‘But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.” I would hear that Bible verse and tremble. Believe me, as awful as I felt, I couldn't bear the thought of reneging, of shirking back, of doubting in the darkness what I boldly proclaim in the light. I couldn’t bear the thought of God not being pleased with me for doing that; that thought alone terrified me, and so I tell you, I did not allow myself the luxury of caving in. Looking back, it’s amazing how that one Bible verse, time and again, was used by the Holy Spirit to keep me even-headed and my focus fixed on Jesus.
Now maybe you're not dealing with cancer or chemotherapy, but today you find yourself in the midst of a painful ordeal and you, too, feel like caving in emotionally. It's understandable -- we live in a fallen world and in this world, Jesus said, you will have trouble. But if you feel like going back on your commitment; if you feel like back-peddling, friend, don't do it. Don’t give in to defeat. The righteous shall live by faith; it means you're not supposed to understand right now; by faith you've gotta know that in the end God will make it plain; He will give you the answers; God will open up His mighty arms and embrace you at the end of the road. So please do not be of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but be among those who believe and are saved.
Join me today, would you, in holding onto that verse from Hebrews 10. And to encourage you, I’d like to offer you a special little booklet by Dr. John Piper called “Don’t Waste Your Cancer.” Dr. Piper battled against prostate cancer, and he knows from whence he speaks. I tell you, the insights in this little booklet are so powerful; it was a favorite of mine during that whole cancer journey last year. So, today, visit our radio page at joniandfriends.org and ask for “Don’t Waste Your Cancer.” Finally, join me in celebrating how the Word of God, time and again, keeps us from falling and helps us to persevere and endure. And if you are one who has shrunk back… if you are one who has reneged on what you’ve always believed about God and His Word, then I have one more word for you – an uplifting one from Micah 7:8 for it says there, "Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me." Friend, if you have fallen, you will rise – let the Lord Jesus be a light to you and before long, His Word will be that lamp to your feet. Oh, and one more thing, if you are going through cancer, a battle right now tell me on my blog. Our staff would love to pray for you.
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