Lessons Through Cancer
Our Physical Needs Are Real
It’s tempting to focus on my physical body as the priority in my life because it has real needs that I have to tend to regularly. Two years after the, bone cancer, osteosarcoma, I have quarterly PET and CT scans. My reality is that of a right leg that is weaker than a normal leg. As a result, there is continued PT, the regular need to not stand too long or sit too long in one position and a level of awareness that is exhausting because I cannot let my guard down in regard to that leg. I always need to be thinking about walking, making sure there are no obstacles, preparing for stairs and rough, slippery, steep terrain. In addition, I cannot run, which means I cannot rush. Lastly, I have neuropathy which means my feet usually feel prickly. The weather changing and exercise make this worse. Sometimes, the only thing that helps is to put them up. It’s takes a lot of intentionality to not tie my joy to the physical difficulties in my life and to not let myself be consumed by them. I’ve both grown weary and had God enabled victory in this area. This is a daily struggle. To be clear, it’s hard.
A Wrong Priority in John 6
Imagine my surprise, as I studied John 6, and found that Jesus’ followers also struggled with fixating on their physical needs. In this Chapter of the Bible we see Jesus addressing real, human needs like hunger and fear. In the previous two chapters, Jesus heals a terminally ill person and someone who could not walk. It is apparent that He cared about the physical and emotional needs of humanity as He ministered to them. However, Jesus is quick to call out His followers on their wrong prioritization. In verses, 26-27, He addresses that the crowds main concern is filling their bellies. They had, truly, worked hard to get to Him by boat, but for the wrong reasons. They were following Him because He provided for their temporary, earthly needs. He corrects them, encouraging them to put more effort into seeking their spiritual needs of belief and eternal life (vs. 29, 36, 40). He uses the figurative language of bread, and sustenance in it to point to their need for true spiritual sustenance of which He is the source. Their focus remains on their temporary need of literal food, and Jesus’ earthly family (vs. 34 & 42). They cannot help but be blinded to their spiritual needs when their gaze is unflinching fixated on their earthly circumstances.
Struggling to Prioritize Today
Isn’t that us? Don’t you see yourself doing the same? Aren’t you tempted to look at your real, temporary, human needs as you live in them because they feel the most pressing? Do you focus on them to the detriment of your spiritual ones? I do. We run to Jesus, making every effort to go to Him with our physical hardships. This is right, and even good. However, we are overwhelming concerned with them and it becomes a disservice to our spiritual needs. They are not the priority that they should be. Just like the crowds, we struggle to follow Jesus when we perceive that His focus isn’t on our physical, temporary struggles of today. We want to “no longer walk with Him” like they did (vs 66) when we stubbornly stomp our feet and demand God do things our way instead of His own. We look at how we feel today, this week, this year when God is offering us a greater, enduring hope. He stands over all time and tells us to focus on eternity.
Strength for Today and Hope for Tomorrow
This long view focus is an eternal one and in it we come to realize two things. First, this life, this body and these circumstances are fleeting, a blip on the timeline of our lives. Second, in the midst of this life, this God-given body, and these daily situations, God uses them as a vehicle to grow our belief in Him. Our spiritual needs aren’t something to address only after the physical ones have been dealt with personally or brought to God. Like a living parable, the circumstances of our lives show us our greatest need is only found in Him. Like the crowds, we need the reminder that our physical needs point to our spiritual ones. I know I need that physical picture so that I don’t forget that I will be sustained, not because I have my belly filled, or the cancer never comes back or my leg functions normally, but because He is growing a faith in me while my leg is weak, while I wait to hear every 4 months that the cancer hasn’t come back and while the pins and needles sensation in my feet ebbs and flows.
God withholds no good thing from me and He withholds no good thing from you. This includes using our physical needs as an instrument to grow our faith in Him. He will not stop prioritizing our greatest need of a life found in Him despite all the times that we do. Praise be to God for this needy body and His faithful work!
Questions for Reflection:
1. Name some pressing physical needs and consider how God has been meeting them.
2. Name some pressing physical needs that may never be met on this side of heaven.
3. When you come to God with your needs what does your time with Him look like? Prayerfully consider what you prioritize.
4. How has God used your physical life as a “living parable” to grow your faith? What have you learned?
5. Name your most pressing spiritual needs right now. Spend some time asking God for His enablement to grow in these areas. Write down actionable steps to work on these areas.
6. Name the spiritual needs and physical needs that are made complete in heaven. Take time to praise and thank God for these future hopes.
*Resources used for reference: www.blueletterbible.org (Including, Strong’s, Vine’s Expository Dictionary, Thayer’s Greek Lexicon).