Choosing Joy Despite Stage 4 Cancer
I was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Prostate Cancer and am currently undergoing chemotherapy. At times, my immune system is low, and it affects my mood and energy. Many times I feel down, miserable and vulnerable.
With illness, well-meaning people will have a lot to say about your condition, telling you to do this and to do that. However, I’m learning to keep my eyes focused on Jesus, and meditating on Psalm 61:3, “For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.” By His grace, God has enabled me to stay strong and go through treatment.
No longer ‘miserable old me’
God has also blessed me through the people around me. I’m thankful to my loving, supportive wife, my family, and church members for always taking care of me, providing me food and transportation to places I have to go.
I especially thank Him for my sister, who is a cancer survivor and is now going through Parkinson’s. She has been a huge encouragement to me, as she would video call me all the way from Australia and do a simple Bible reading while spending time with me. God’s Word is so powerful and gives me reassurance every time.
My sister used to tell me, “None of us can escape suffering because we live in a broken world. But we can make a choice either to be joyful or to be miserable.” And I thought, will being miserable help me to recover? No! So I choose to be joyful, because Psalm 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
“Are you really sick or not?”
To me, it’s about not looking at myself and thinking, “poor miserable me.” If I adopt that mindset, I don’t think I can get through the days. It’s not that we’re running away from our pain, but when we choose to be joyful and start focusing on others and looking out for them, our own problems will be diminished.
Despite my diagnosis, I’m joyful and going around to meet people. Before chemotherapy began, I was still actively continuing my work with churches and attending Christian events and gatherings. I realise now that I’m an extrovert, drawing strength from others and feeling energised when they are around me. People who saw me would think and ask, “Are you really sick or not?”
The key here is not to turn inward, but to turn upward to God and outward to others. There are so many things for me to worry about now, on top of the sickness. I can worry about my retirement when I’m not working, because I’ll have no income. But I choose to focus on God, for He knows and provides for my “daily bread”.
Encouraging others instead of focusing on my pain
I also choose to encourage those around me who are sick and need comfort. Now that I’m in and out of hospitals, I have a new opportunity to reach my fellow patients, their loved ones, nurses and doctors with evangelistic booklets. Our God is relational, so we have to keep reaching out to others.
Once, before chemotherapy when I was preaching in a church, I was told that a few in the congregation had Stage 1 cancer and felt like giving up. But they were encouraged to move on and to never give up hope. That’s when I knew that even through my sickness, God can use me to help others.
So is there someone that you care for, that you think you would like to approach? I encourage you to just make the first move, and not just do it once in a blue moon. Just like my sister, you can regularly spend time with someone by reading God’s Word together with them. You can be a listening ear and encouragement to them, as you follow God’s leading.
About the Author
Rev. David Boey is a former Church Ministries Director at Our Daily Bread Ministries, based in Subang Jaya, Selangor. He now worships at Gereja Methodist Subang Jaya and has a special love for people, food, and Garfield.
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