– By Joe Fornear
Not a day goes by that I don’t read or hear the f bomb dropped on cancer, or the phrase “cancer sucks.” Trust me, I totally understand the sentiment, and I’m not in judgment mode here. Nor am I wishing to lecture anyone on how to live.
I’m just wondering about the wisdom of focusing on how bad something is in order to cope or overcome it. Can we give our trials too much power, thereby making them even harder to overcome?
I speak from experience here. During my battle with advanced Stage IV metastatic melanoma, there were times I vented externally at cancer, and sometimes my venting was strictly internal. Still, the result was the same – the cancer got bigger and my God became smaller. Venting is the antithesis of praising God.
I think God illustrated forever the power of focus during the storms of life through Peter’s walk on water. When Peter kept his gaze on Jesus he was able to stay above water. When he focused on obstacles, the wind and waves, doubts overcame him and he sunk.
Now fortunately, there is a Plan B if we find ourselves sinking or under water. I have discovered, like Peter, that the Lord graciously responds to that simple prayer, “Lord, help me.” He always lifts us up with His strong right hand.
Still, He prefers we learn how to stay on top of our circumstances. The secret is to keep focusing on how big God is! He is the God who flung 300 billion stars across our Milky Way galaxy, which is just one of 100 billion galaxies in the universe. So do the math. Which is bigger, God or cancer? There is no comparison… so why focus on how bad cancer is? Eyes on Him.
