First of all, I am so sorry that you lost your mom to that dreaded disease, cancer.  I know you must have gone through a terrible time watching your dear mother suffer until the time she passed.  I have lost two younger brothers to cancer and was pained to see them suffer so much.  I prayed much for both of them, even as others also prayed, but they did not live very long.  They were both believers on the Lord Jesus Christ and finally the Lord took them home to Glory. 

Watching a loved one suffer can be hard to bear and we often ask, “Why must they suffer like this?”  I know it sometimes seems illogical to think that a loving God would allow people to go through such a terrible thing…especially if they were Christians and knew the love of God in their daily lives.  Most of us will experience the heartache of losing a loved one.  The older we get, the more family members and friends we will lose to death.  However, the Lord is the One to turn to for help and encouragement.

The Lord Jesus, reading from the book of Isaiah, applied the words of that book to Himself.  We read in Luke 4:18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; HE HATH SENT ME TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”  Certainly, the Lord who created us knows how to heal our hearts when we are hurting.  We read in Hebrews 4:15, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”  Christ is our High Priest and He is touched by our infirmities.  In other words, when we hurt, He hurts!  Such a One can empathize with us because He absolutely knows what we are going through. 

Psalm 34:18 assures us that, “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”  Yes, the Lord is near to those who are hurting.  As we allow Him, He will draw us into His bosom and minister His comfort to our hearts.  Indeed, He is the “God of all comfort.” (2 Corinthians 1:3).  It is the Lord that can give us great and needed peace in the midst of our sorrow.  “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:7).

You did not indicate if you and your mother are believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, but since you came to this Christian site to ask your question, I will assume that you both have put your faith in Him for the free gift of salvation that He offers to all.  If your mother was saved, and you are saved, you have not lost her.  The Bible tells us exactly where she is.  2 Corinthians 5:8 tells us, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”  When a believer on the Lord passes away, they immediately go into the presence of their precious Lord where there is “fulness of joy.” (Psalm 16:11).  It may help to think that your mom’s suffering is over and has been replaced by indescribable joy! 

Let’s consider 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”  For those who know the Lord Jesus and have passed, we need not grieve as those who have no hope.  Definitely, there is grief, but that grief is much slighter because we know they are with the Lord and we will be reunited with them when the Lord returns for His church.  Verse 18 says, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”  I trust these words have been a comfort to you and you will cast this care upon the Lord, for He does care for you.  (CC)  (695.4)