John Piper: “Don’t Waste Your Cancer”
John Piper wrote the short article, Don’t Waste Your Cancer, on the eve of surgery for prostrate cancer, just two days ago. His words speak volumes about his faith and trust in a sovereign God. You need not have cancer to learn from this man.
Here are his ten points:
- You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.
- You will waste your cancer if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.
- You will waste your cancer if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.
- You will waste your cancer if you refuse to think about death.
- You will waste your cancer if you think that “beating” cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.
- You will waste your cancer if you spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God.
- You will waste your cancer if you let it drive you into solitude instead of deepen your relationships with manifest affection.
- You will waste your cancer if you grieve as those who have no hope.
- You will waste your cancer if you treat sin as casually as before.
- You will waste your cancer if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.
John Piper’s surgery was reported as very successful, but there is still need for much prayer. Please continue to hold him in your prayers as he recovers, that he will prove to be cancer free. For updates, click here.
HT: Justin Taylor of Theologica
February 16th, 2006 at 2:31 am
Thank you for posting this Brett and Alex. Only recently have I been recognize suffering as a gift from God rather than a curse that God “allowed”. Mr. Piper’s article is a manifestation of his faith.
Because He lives,
Sarah
February 16th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
Wow. Piper’s response to his cancer is an amazing testimony to his faith and is nothing short of inspiring.
Thank you for posting this….
February 16th, 2006 at 2:30 pm
I just want to thank you for sharing this with us - it automatically brought to mind my grandfather, who is currently battling cancer in his lymph system, and my friend Hunter (http://www.watermarkaussies.com/hunter/hunter_history.html), who went to be with the Lord two and a half years ago.
Hunter was such a blessing to those around him during this time (scroll to 7-18-03 to read his final message to the world before receiving “the Ultimate Cure” as he called it), and I can only pray that my grandfather continues to rely on the Lord as -he- faces this battle.
February 16th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
That was a very powerful article. I got it yesterday (via Fresh Words) and posted something about it on my xanga. I love Piper’s outlook on life in general. He is such a great example to all of us about how to make our life count!
February 16th, 2006 at 5:11 pm
John Piper is right on. I had testicular cancer when I was in my early 30s, and I’m grateful for the “adventure” the Lord gave me and brought me through. There’s a “briskness” that you experience in relation to the Lord when you go through things like that. When you trust the Lord in those difficult times, He rewards you with this kind of spiritual alertness. It feels like you’re on the cutting edge of life when you know Who is Lord in times like that.
Ah, the things you’re allowed to say as a cancer survivor; if I weren’t, I might not have the “credibility” to say such bold things.
February 16th, 2006 at 9:18 pm
Your entire blog site, and this article in particular, is a blessing to me. I’m a homeschool mom in Atlanta (transplanted from AZ), and it is so great to be able to point to you guys as virtual role models for my 10-year old son.
I’m forwarding the Piper article to my mom, who is battling “with” cancer right now. Much of what he says will let her know she’s on the right track; the rest will help her think differently about God’s reasons for her cancer and her life.
February 17th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
I have read a good deal of Piper, though not the new piece which you site.
I take issue with the statement “You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.” By definition, cancer is a decaying, destructive force which exists as a warped, twisted aberration, a form of parasitical, biological death, which we know from Scripture is part of the wages of sin- and as such CANNOT be the creative, constructive “design” of God. God may have “designs” around, with, and under the cancer, but cancer is itself an aberration of God’s design. As with all other forces of destruction in our universe, cancer is a perversion, to be challenged and persevered through, with our God, who also resists the destruction of His good creation in all its forms.
February 18th, 2006 at 3:00 am
MM: I don’t believe Piper meant to imply that God designed cancer itself, but rather that your cancer (specifically, which is key) is designed for you by a loving and sovereign God. Our trials are designed by God to sanctify and purify us… They are not just something that “Satan did” that God is somehow working for good. I think that is what Piper meant. As Romans 8:31 says, “If God is for us, who [or what] can be against us?”
February 20th, 2006 at 4:23 pm
Alex, I agree with your reading, as you put it- as I said… “God may have “designs” around, with, and under the cancer, but cancer is itself an aberration of God’s design. As with all other forces of destruction in our universe, cancer is a perversion, to be challenged and persevered through, with our God, who also resists the destruction of His good creation in all its forms.”
Having not struggled with cancer myself, and as an admirer of Piper’s, I am more than ready to attribute such a charitable reading to his thoughts. But Piper’s wording- “You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God… You will waste your cancer if you believe it is a curse and not a gift…You will waste your cancer if you think that beating cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ…”seem incongruent with an adequate and biblical doctrine of creation, wherein God designs, gives, and actively sustains LIFE, not death. From Scripture we know that death (of which cancer is a manifestation) is the converse of God’s perfect, lifegiving will.
… and yet certainly God’s purposes triumph even through the death and disease which God abhors in His creation, and ultimately undoes in Christ.
June 6th, 2007 at 11:34 am
God does ALL things for the good of those who are called according to HIS purpose.
God is the one who displayed Job to Satan allowed Satan to give Job terrible disease and boils over his whole body. Though cancer is a product of sin, it is used by God as He wills and to whomever He wills to get it.
April 26th, 2010 at 10:18 am
I was diognosed with cancer in Jan. had surgery in Feb. I too, have felt it was designed by God…It has been a hard but, wonderful experience, in sharing God’s faithfulness in all circumstances.
“In my weakness God can show HIMSELF strong”, and HE has. He has meet my finacial needs, as well as, that is another miracle in and of itself. To see Him at work, and no one else can take the credit, He is Glorified and lifted up.
In my desperation, comes total dependency upon HIM! I must decrease that He can increase, whatever it takes LORD! To reach the souls you want to touch, I am delighted to be HIS instrument. O, that I may continue to yeild to HIM fully and see what HE has in store, in this life and the next!
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