Cancer is Never God’s Punishment
by Dan Held
“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.
It’s as old as human history, a hand-me-down message we’ve been telling ourselves since ancient civilization when bad things were thought to mean that the gods were angry at bad people and were requiring punishment. Such an explanation of why bad things happened was common even among the ancient Jews, prompting such writings as the book of Job. Job’s friends were initially convinced that his suffering was God’s punishment for his sins. They did all in their power to convince Job that such horrible suffering happened only to horrible sinners. So, the writer noted the back-story in which God didn’t cause Job’s sufferings but, to the contrary, used them to prove Satan wrong in his own accusations.
The writer of Psalm 136 goes to great lengths in assuring the Hebrew people that God’s enduring and everlasting love had cast out those ancient enemies they had once been fearful of. Other gods of other nations and indeed their own kings may punish out of anger, but our God of Israel is different. Our God is the creator of all life, and our God loves forever. Whatever happens, whether good or bad, it means but one thing in all twenty-six verses: “His love endures forever” (Psalm 136).
In our New Testament epistle of I John, the writer goes even further when in the fourth chapter he explains that all love comes only from God. Jesus alone was made perfect in love, but His perfect love for us on the cross of Calvary is enough to cast out all fear of God’s punishment. As we abide in His love, God’s love endures forever and even our own fear can be driven out.
God never uses cancer to punish us, or anyone else. Through Jesus, God’s perfect love, our guilt is forgiven and not punished. We no longer need to trust in our fear and doubt God’s love. Through Jesus, the resurrected Christ, we are able to trust that God’s love endures forever. Our fears do not. And our guilt will not.
Pray: O God of perfect love, take away our guilt and with it our fear of punishment. Remind us that whatever happens, and whether in good things or bad, Your love endures forever. Through Christ our risen Lord we pray. Amen.
Your Turn: When you cannot drive away your own fearful or guilty feelings, give them to God and watch His perfect love do what you alone can’t do.
*This is an excerpt from Daily Reflections from Inside the Cancer Journey, a 365-day devotional book. Learn more and register to receive these daily devotionals here.
