Would it not be some of the greatest news of all time to have your day interrupted with the news that cancer had been cured? Of course it would.
"Following heart disease, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. In 2008, more than 1.4 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed and about 566,000 cancer deaths will occur in the United States. The overall survival rate for all types of cancer is 66%. Today there are approximately 10.8 million cancer survivors in the United States." www.cancer.net
To eliminate the second leading cause of death in the United States would definitely be a miracle of God that would not only save lives, but spare millions of people the pain and anguish of watching a loved one suffer from the devastating effects of the disease. On November 10, 2006, my mother passed away after a, relatively, short battle with cancer. The stress and anxiety my family went through is not something I would want to deal with again. The ability for me to deal with such things as having to change my mother's IV, clean up after her, hearing her moans from the pain she was dealing with and watching her slowly die, was only possible because of my faith in Jesus Christ. So, to save someone from having to go through that would be a blessing of immeasurable magnitude. With that in mind, I received an email the other day on the subject of cancer.
A Small Request: All you are asked to do is keep this circulating.
Dear God, I pray for the cure of cancer. Amen All you are asked to do is keep this circulating. Even if it's to one more person. In memory of anyone you know that has been struck down by cancer or is still living with it.
This prayer request reminded me of the prayers I used to say to God when I was growing up. I used to pray for my mom to stop smoking and for my dad to regain full use of his body (he suffered a stroke 26 years ago). My mom eventually stopped smoking, but by the time she stopped I realized there were more important things in life than her quitting smoking. Regardless if a person stops smoking, gets full use of their body back or we find a cure for cancer, there is a deeper issue that needs "circulating."
"Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." John 11: 21-27
I heard an analogy about cancer that I'd like to share. If someone dies from cancer and you brought them back to life, but didn't cure the cancer, they would just die again. However, if you cured the cancer first, and then brought them back to life, they would live. When Adam sinned, God removed His life from him, and Adam died spiritually. All mankind is thus born into the world in the image of Adam, spiritually dead to God without His life indwelling them. God, in His love, desired to indwell mankind again. But, before He could do that He had to deal with the sin (cancer) that caused Him to remove His life in the first place. Otherwise, the next time someone sinned, after receiving His life, they would just die again and lose His life. Therefore, God sent Jesus, the only Man who had a life to give, being born spiritually alive, that would satisfy God's requirement of shed blood as payment for our sins. Now, that our sins are no longer an issue between man and God, because of the death of Jesus Christ, God can offer His life, made available through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as a free gift to all who accept Christ by faith. Therefore, because of the cross, there is now no sin that will ever cause the life of God to leave again. That is why it is called an eternal life. A life that will carry you through this life and on into eternity even after you physically die. That is the Gospel of Jesus Christ; sin, death, forgiveness, life!
"At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen." 2 Timothy 4: 16-18
It was my knowledge of the Gospel and the assurance I had that God was faithful that strengthened me during my mother's illness. When she passed away, I knew that death was not the end, but the beginning of an eternal journey. Cancer takes the lives of millions of people each year, but nobody has avoided the cancer of sin and the spiritual death that has infected all mankind. A prayer for a cure to cancer, my request for my mom to stop smoking and for my dad to regain the use of his body, is, ultimately, a desire for healing. Whether we realize it or not, we all are in need of healing. The sin issue that separated man from God is not something that could be prayed away. I do believe God hears the prayers of those desiring for a cure to be found for cancer. But, God's will is that none should perish, but all come to repentence. The first, and only, prayer I said to God when I first heard the news of my mother's cancer was, "God, please use the cancer to bring those in need of salvation to you. And, make me available for You to use me in the midst of it all." I knew that a cure for cancer is not the key to eternal life. Stopping a bad habit, like smoking, does not give one person access to the Kingdom. And my dad was not being barred from heaven because he couldn't use his entire body. God desires that mankind recognize their condition of spiritual death and turn to Him and His only provision of life eternal through faith in Jesus Christ. For those, like myself, who have received His offer of life in His Son, we don't circulate a prayer for a cure for cancer. We circulate The Cure for what ails mankind the most. And that is the need salvation in Jesus Christ. I can best remember my mother by telling everyone about what God has blessed me with in His Son. God gave me strength to stand tall while my mother suffered so He could use her death to embolden me to proclaim the message of Christ. The only breaking news worth hearing is the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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