“For the joy set before him he [Jesus] endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2b NIV).

At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light,

And the burden of my heart rolled away–

It was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day.1

For those of us who are familiar with this beautiful hymn by Isaac Watts, we recognize the spiritual power and passion of this song. Resonating gently, it rises like a prayer to our heavenly Father, thanking Him for the gift of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2-3 NIV).

According to Jesus, heaven is a real place. It is not a product of religious imagination or the result of a psyched-up mentality, looking for "pie in the sky by and by." Heaven is the place where God dwells and where Jesus sits today at the right hand of the Father. Heaven is described as a kingdom, an inheritance, a country, a city, and a home.

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4 NIV).

Crying and cancer go together. How often have you cried in your life? I can remember a lot of tears around cancer events in my life. It seems tears often come when we try to balance what is inside of us with what is outside of us. My tears remind me that something is not right. To cry is to be human. Even Jesus cried (see John 11:35). Our tears often show us how frail we are.

“The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command” (Hebrews 1:3a NLT).

As a cancer patient, you may need radiation treatments. I recently completed my second round, a total of forty individual treatments. Thankfully, they appear to have been effective.

The radiation machine looks like something from a science fiction movie. While you lie on a rock-hard bench, the machine slowly rotates around you. It pinpoints the cancer cells, focuses, and blasts them from different angles with high-energy particles or waves such as gamma rays.

“My soul yearns, yes, even pines and is homesick for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out and sing for joy to the living God” (Psalm 84:2 AMPC).

It has been said that the perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. In the silence we might listen to the prompting of the Spirit and possibly hear a word from the Lord.

“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7 NIV).

It’s two in the morning! You haven’t been able to sleep. Anxiety has crept into your every thought. For some of you, the voice of your doctor telling you his findings plays over and over in your head like a bad Seventies disco song. For others, the lingering pain of chemotherapy burns every fiber of your being. Still another grapples with the gnawing thought, “How am I going to pay for an immunotherapy pill costing more than six months of my salary?” Or, “How long before I die?” The list goes on and on for those in various stages of a cancer journey.

“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and God, with a terrific east wind all night long, made the sea go back. He made the sea dry ground. The seawaters split. The Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground with the waters a wall to the right and to the left” (Exodus‬ 14:21-22‬ MSG‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬).‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

On your cancer journey, you are likely to run into roadblocks. Whether you are denied the care you need, exhaust your last option, or can’t find a parking place, God can make a way.

“For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers” (Proverbs 11:14 NIV).

The waiting room looked like most: comfy chairs, encouraging but generic quotes on the wall about thinking positive. The receptionist answered the phone, and smiled when people signed their name and arrival time on the paper. I felt obligated to show a smile to the people who sat near me, but my stomach was doing cartwheels and I had a cold sweat. For thirty-eight years, fake smiles and nausea were my constant companions in every waiting room. My childhood cancer made some unseen part of me believe that every waiting room was a trap. But I was ready for some victory in this battle, so I sat in the therapist’s waiting room ready to talk about the emotional wounds that cancer had inflicted on me thirty-eight years ago.

“He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’” (Mark 4:40 NIV).

As a counselor, I have taught many stress management classes. Here’s the short version:

1. Our bodies are made to react to danger.

2. This reaction is called “fight or flight” for a reason: when danger comes, your body automatically makes your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate increase. Why? So that you can fight or flee the danger.

3. After the threat is gone, your body returns to normal.

“He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6 ASV).

I was starting a new job, filled with all the excitement and anxiety that comes with a new venture. An old friend from seminary sent me a card in the mail with the sixth verse of Philippians chapter one written on the inside, “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” My friend’s gesture and the words of scripture spoke to my heart. I was able to see the new job as part of a much larger picture—I could see it as God working towards my completion. Even though it was easy to see that God was doing a good thing in my life, anxious questions had been coming to my mind. How much more does that happen to us in difficult times, when it may be harder to see God at work?

“We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19 NIV).

Have you ever played hard to get? It’s when you like someone—I mean REALLY like someone—but you don’t want them to know you like them. So, what do you do? You act like you don’t like them.

You walk into a room, and instead of running over to the person and saying how happy you are to see them, you turn and talk to someone else. When they invite you to spend time with them you want to say yes, but you don’t want to seem too anxious. You may even leave your calendar open just in case they want to get together, but you don’t actually ask them to spend time with you. If you did, they might think you liked them—which you do—but you act like you don’t. Pretty silly, huh?

“”But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5 NASB).

We all want to benefit from wisdom, not just knowledge, when we make decisions that matter. Wisdom can be defined as the ability to discern inner qualities and relationships, or having insight. It can also include good sense and good judgment.1

“The devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Revelation 20:10 NIV).

In the book of Revelation we are given a vision of the end of time. It includes the final battle between God and evil. The forces of evil come out to battle God: the devil (portrayed as a red, seven-headed dragon), the world’s evil empires (pictured as a beast of the sea), and the false prophet all unite to fight.

Before they can strike a blow or say a word, Jesus arrives in splendor. He immediately disposes of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, as well as hell and death. The battle is over before it begins. It turns out to be no battle at all. (See Revelation‬ 19:20-21; 20:10, 14).

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18 NIV).

As a pastor, nothing gave me a sense of greater sorrow and yet inner compassion than when someone would say words to this effect: “I’m afraid God is using this to punish me for all that I’ve done wrong in the past.”

Fear of punishment.

“…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” (Isaiah 61:3 NIV).

In February, my best friend from college was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer while she was expecting her second child. She was afraid. She didn’t understand why she had to go through this. She told me that she had only ever heard bad stories about cancer, and quickly recounted all the people she knew who lost their battles to this disease.

“From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2 NIV).

I am sure you have heard the phrase, “I’m at the end of my rope.” We have all felt, at some point, like we have gone as far as we can go, and we have exhausted our resources. “I have tried everything I know to do” is an expression of exasperation. My wife and I attempted to fix our washer for three weeks without success. Finally, I said, “I don’t know what else to do.”