Semicolon Stories

Wanting the miracle and preparing for the fight | Faith and Cancer

March 10, 2013 at 11:22 pm Danielle B 1 comment

Long time no post. I know… I’ve been busy.

But today’s revelation is blog worthy.

For some of us, God miraculously removes our cancer. For others of us, we have to fight.

Both roads are equally part of His plan. 

Both roads are good.

Jerichos and Ais…

Graphic from The Avenue Church

We talked about Joshua of the Bible today at church.

Most of us know about Jericho – Joshua’s squad marched around the city and the walls fell down.

But just a few chapters later, there’s another city, Ai, which God also told Joshua to seize.

Except this city didn’t fall like Jericho. Joshua had to follow God’s strategic plan for Ai to conquer it.

As my pastor explained, “Sometimes God gives us “Jerichos” in our life – our challenges can be tackled with ease and creativity. Other times, God calls us to “Ai” – our challenges must be faced with strategy and toil.”

And then it hit me.

This can apply to the fight against cancer, too.

Two roads to the fight against cancer

For some of us – our cancer experience is a Jericho.

God miraculously takes away tumors and cancer cells. The cancer goes away. We are healed.

For others of us, the road is not so easy. Roadblocks. Recurrence. Treatment. We put things in place to help us survive… which is not even a guarantee.

Even if we do not get dealt the Jericho, it does not mean that God’s turned his back on us.

We have to remember what “victory” truly means.

Just take it from Joey…

As a youth, I remember Joey Butler’s loud voice echoing through the old chapels at youth camp. I was saddened today to read an article in the KC Star about his advanced disease.

But just like God used him to encourage my young faith as a teen, I was encouraged today by his words now as a fellow cancer survivor:

“This circumstance [cancer] is teaching my family and friends to trust God,” he says. “This is not all there is. You know there’s more to come after this life. … This is not our final destination.”

For Joey, it seems that he didn’t get the road to Jericho when it came to his cancer diagnosis.

His cancer journey is more like the conquest of Ai. Aggressive treatments to fight the cancer have failed. I’m humbled by his response:

“Here’s what belief means: It means I put all my belief, all my weight, on Christ. I’m all in,” he continued. “I’ve had no regrets.”

But Joey knows that the “victory” in cancer for us Christians is not that we defy death.

Instead, it’s that we let God use our cancer journeys to save lives.

Even if those roads to victory look more like Ai than Jericho.

Entry filed under: Faith + Cancer. Tags: ai, cancer, faith, jericho, joey butler, joshua, point of cancer, sermon, the avenue church, victory.