Responding to Cancer

We live in a fallen world, and we know that there will be times when illness comes, when our world is rocked by painful and sometimes even perplexing health issues.  We know that God is good, and He is sovereign, but we struggle with these moments where face health challenges, which can sometimes lead to long-term illness and even death.  Through those challenging times, we can remember that God is the one who can sustain us.  James 5 states:
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Stacie Hastings had harbored some misconception about what it meant to be an American Christian, according to a God Reports article.   She said, “I thought there was a bottom through which, as a Christian, at least in America, we wouldn’t fall through,” adding, “We’re a godly nation and I’m a Christian girl, and so nothing too bad is ever going to happen. I always felt like a victor, like there was a charm on my life, and it couldn’t get too bad.”

But, her attitude shifted dramatically when her son developed cancer at the age of two. He had not been feeling well, and she took him to the doctor, who diagnosed him with neuroblastoma.  He died shortly thereafter.   The article relates:

“The bottom of my world fell out,” Stacie says.

She entered a deep grief. “I would pray, and I would feel nothing. The heavens felt like brass.”

She wrestled with God. “I judged God to not be good, because he let this happen, he let me down and I felt like nothing like this could ever happen.”

Her husband believed it to be a spiritual attack; she believed a good God could not have allowed this to happen and that He would redeem the occasion.

13 years later, Stacie had her own diagnosis of cancer - stage 4 cancer. Things looked bleak, but God sent multiple people her way to provide words of encouragement.  She was told that she did not have long to live, but she continued to hold on in faith.   Ultimately, the doctor announced she was in remission.  The article quotes the oncologist: “I know you don’t like to give false hope, but this is a miracle. Let’s take this as a win.”  It says: "In Stacie’s last chemo treatment, the nurses told her she was a rock star."

God Reports says:

Stacie marveled at the way God protected her. “God has been so real and so close, and I know that for some reason, he’s chosen to spare me,” she says.

After they moved to Florida, Stacie had a recurrence of the cancer in the lymph nodes in her neck. She began medical treatment, along with a nutritional regimen recommended by a health food store owner, who happened to be a Christian.

One day she was sitting in the backyard doing her devotions. She read the passage about Jesus sending out the disciples two-by-two, and some of the healings that took place as a result.

I wish Jesus would send some healing people to me, she thought.

One hour later, a husband and wife came to see Stacie, because she was selling something online.  They told her they wanted to pray for her.  And, she received words of encouragment.  Another son had a cancer diagnosis, as well, but he pulled through.

In the midst of the hard times, Stacie and her husband Ken have sensed the hand of God. The article says:

Ken’s warnings about the spiritual warfare their family would endure became more than real, yet Stacie emerged from their battles with gratitude.

“I could share with anybody who’s going through something awful that God’s plan is always beautiful, it’s always Jeremiah, 29:11.

“I don’t know why he allows the difficult things that he does, but he can and will redeem it. We just have to receive it. He already won the victory. And whether we live or not, there is some redemptive work that he’s performing.

“He’s good always, even when the things that happen aren’t good, I wish I could tell that to everybody.”

Stacie Hastings' trust in God grew through her trials.  After the death of their son, she  and her husband harbored anger against God.  But, through her own journey and that of another son, she has developed a sense of gratitude and hope.

Even though we cannot expect for circumstances to always be good, we can know that we serve a God who is good, who always has our best in mind.  Yes, we can and should pray for healing, but we can also know that in the midst of turmoil, God will work His purposes through us; as James 1, reminds us, the trying of our faith brings patience.