A few months ago I had preached a sermon on Christ overcoming our greatest fear; Death! Separation! You can probably imagine where I went with it but it really was stemmed from the idea of cancer. This is a word we hear more each and every day that we are here on this earth. It is one of the most fearful words. Fearful because of a small part in everyone's mind, I believe, called doubt. Oh, even the Christian with great faith has it. Yes, just like the man in Mark 9 who wanted Jesus to heal his son, after the disciples tried & failed, who said, "Lord I believe, help my unbelief." Now I don't know about you but the reality of that statement really hits home with me as well as many others that I know and love. That little bit of doubt that we struggle with from time to time is real. I believe that there will be many surprised people, including believers, who will say, "It really is true!" when the great day of judgment arrives. I guess it's the fear of the unknown. The fear of death.
When we hear the word cancer, we hear the word, death. Separation., that's the greatest problem that Christ overcame for us. Therefore, to the faithful believer cancer, like death, is so limited. Think about it: "It cannot cripple love", but rather strengthens it. "It cannot shatter hope", but develops it. "It cannot corrode faith", but encourages it. "It cannot destroy peace", but ensures the peace Christ gave us (Jn.14:27). "It cannot kill friendship", but rather builds it. "It cannot suppress memories", but cause us to cherish them. "It cannot silence courage", but rather insist on it. "It cannot invade the soul", it belongs to God. "It cannot steal eternal life", Jesus has already given it to us. "It cannot conquer the Spirit", nor will it ever.
The words that are in quotations, in the above paragraph, I read from a church bulletin somewhere. They are so true when we really stop to think about it aren't they? When we truly have things in their proper perspective and Christ is the center of our lives, these words are so true. Even when cancer hits so close to home that we just can't stand it, they're still true. Christ has overcome our greatest problem ever! Everything else falls... Yes we will still fear the world and the physical struggles of it, but in reality, Christ has already taken care of it all. Trust Him! He really has taken care of man's greatest fear.
I've recently done one of the hardest funerals I ever had to do. Yet in reality, it was the easiest. Easy because she was a very faithful lady who knew where her citizenship really was. Heaven. She knew right up to her last breath. For eight years we prayed for a miracle. She did all she could possibly do and had times of remission. Cancer never got her spirit because she knew that Christ had already taken care of our greatest problem. Alhough she wanted, so badly, just one more remission, she knew the miracle already done, was remission of sin by God's only Son.
So friends keep praying for a miracle. That's okay, but know without doubt, that Christ has already taken care of the problem of the coming day. And when we remove the doubt, the fear goes away.