“Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.’ ” John 9:3
“But when Jesus heard it he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’ ” John 11:4
Why did I get cancer? Well, that is a question that I think, has many answers. Only God knows the real reason why I had to go through that valley. Only He knows why my family had to go through the intense struggle. But I am so thankful that it is God who knows and it is He who gives a purpose for every event.
I was thinking about this on my way home from running a couple of errands. I don’t think about my past battle with cancer very often. I tend to minimize it because it was so short. I think about others who have either died from it or survived from being in stage IV. My cancer? Stage I. It was sitting in my intestine almost like in a little bubble. Only four rounds of chemotherapy and one case of emergency surgery did the trick. My whole cancer ordeal lasted for almost 3 months. Compare that to about 2 years of being in and out of the hospital when I was a baby in need of a new kidney. Or perhaps, to people who struggle daily with intense pain and illnesses where the situation seems hopeless.
See? Cancer wasn’t and for some reason still isn’t that big of a deal to me. I know it is for the people around me. I can’t imagine what they went through watching someone fight a disease that could easily kill. I apologize for the lack of deep emotion.
Anyway, I thought about the passage in John 9 where Jesus heals a blind man. The disciples at the beginning asked Jesus, “Who sinned and caused this man to be born blind? His parents or the man?” Jesus redirects their question in his answer and pointed to God. The works of God was shown in the blind man by the miraculous healing from Jesus.
I know it is a miracle I survived. It’s a miracle anyone would survive cancer. But most importantly, the works of God were displayed. I didn’t survive for the purpose of people marveling at me. I survived for the purpose of glorifying the King.