Christmas Devotional 11: Cancer is a New Location to Worship God

Matthew 2:1-2; 1 John 4:18a

There are lots of weird things about cancer. One weird thing is that on the day of diagnosis, many people don’t feel like they have cancer. Why? Because they don’t really feel sick. These days, most people are diagnosed by a test. Say you wake up one morning and feel fine. You go get your regular cancer screening, like a PSA, colonoscopy or mammogram and the doctor says, “It’s cancer.” You look at them like they’re crazy. “How can I have cancer? I feel fine.” Or maybe you are diagnosed from a small symptom, like a cough or nagging headache that won’t go away. They take a scan and say, “It’s cancer.” Even though you did nothing wrong, it seems your life suddenly took a sharp left turn to who knows where.

Cancer is probably not the first sharp turn in your life.

We all have them, sometimes because of our own or others’ bad choices, but sometimes they just come out of the blue. You’d be surprised how often people are confidently following God’s path, and suddenly find themselves in a yucky place. Take the wise men.

These guys were so smart they not only figured out that the King of Kings had come, they knew which star to follow to find Him. (That’s smart.) So, they followed the star.

1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:1-2

Using the verses above, answer the following questions:

1. Where was Jesus born? vs 1 ______________________________________ _________________________________________________________________

2. Where did the star lead the wise men? vs 1 __________________________ _________________________________________________________________

3. What did the wise men ask once they arrived? vs 2 “________________ ______________________ is the one who has been born king of the Jews?”

4. They said they had “come to _____________________________________ _________________________________ him.”

Do you see the problem? They followed the Christmas star- just like they were supposed to- and it took them to the wrong town. The star led them to Jerusalem, when Baby Jesus was in Bethlehem.

I’m guessing these wise men were thinking, “Wait a minute! We followed that crazy star across miles and miles of barren wilderness just to worship the Messiah, and we end up in the wrong town? This is not OK.” That had to be a tough day for those wise men.

Cancer can feel a lot like that. Before the diagnosis, you might have been confidently walking with God, not expecting cancer to creep in. Cancer can have us thinking, “How did I end up here?” On the super rough days, it can have us wonder, “Maybe God put me in the middle of this cancer because of some past wrong turn I made.”

No, that’s a lie. God does not work like that. God doesn’t punish you for your wrong turns. As a matter of fact, He can’t even see them. How does that work? Jesus knew each wrong turn you made in your life before He climbed on the cross.

Jesus: “Yeah, I see your wrong turns. Not your best decisions, but it’s OK. I’ll wipe them away on the cross, so that even our Heavenly Father can’t see them any more. They’ll be as far as the east is from the west. All He sees when He looks at you is abundant love, not wrong turns or a need for punishment.”

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. 1 John 4:18a (New Living Translation)

Use the verse above to complete these questions:

1. Circle the word “fear” each time it appears.

2. Underline the word “punishment”.

3. Draw a square around the word “love”.

If God the Father cannot see your wrong turns, your sins, then when He looks at you, it is with pure, abundant, overwhelming love. Result? There is no reason for you to fear. Since Jesus washed you clean, God has no desire to punish you. All He sees when He looks at you is love, and love banishes fear.

Cancer is not a punishment. It’s just a new location to worship God.

God doesn’t make mistakes. The wise men were not in the wrong place, they were right where God led them. It was just one more stop on the way to worship the Christ Child. On your cancer walk, you are not in the wrong place, either. You are right where you are supposed to be.

God is leading you this Christmas, like every Christmas, to the peace and beauty of the Christ Child. By walking through your cancer to get there, you will see a new fullness of all the wonder Christ has brought into your life. Come to the manger and receive. Receive the double portion which comes from walking through cancer to the manger. Amen.

Please pray with me.

God, please do not let cancer get in the way of my worshipping You. Open me up to see You and the glories of this life with You with more clarity and more wonder this Christmas. Give me a hunger to see the Christ Child this year with a deeper awareness of all the wonder He has placed in my life. In your precious Son’s name, I pray, AMEN