Fear not

4:34 p.m. Today's project was to call my prayer partner to pray for her at 8:30 a.m. She wanted strenghtening before she made calls to Loma Linda to see a specialist for a second opinion on the nodules discovered in both breasts last week. The Cancer Institute recommended immediate cone biopsies to identify the kind of tissues, whether cancerous or not. My dear friend has her mammogram films and is hoping for a less invasive procedure. My take, as a cancer survivor, is to get lifesaving early detection--yesterday! "But I'm a big baby and am scared of needles!" she said. "So am I," was my reply. "My head is turned the other way when they just draw blood!" But my counsel is the same nevertheless.

Biopsies are very familiar to me, since I had a very painful biopsy in 2001, probably due to their just giving me a local painkiller. The biopsy was inconclusive, so I had full anesthesia when a non-cancerous lump was removed. The pain of both procedures and the inconvenience of the recovery was worth it, because I wanted the facts, for my own and my family's sake. I've always found that facts replace fear, because, as a woman of action, I can then ask the Lord what steps to take next, and carry out those steps. But fear can paralyze us at times, and that's what I don't want to have happen to my friend!

I found that God regularly tells us in His Word not to fear. I found 7 verses with "fear not" in Genesis alone, starting with His covenant word to Abram in chapter 15:1, "Fear not, Abram, for I am your shield and your exceedingly great reward." Two years later, when my cancer was found, I had a definite reason to fear--the tiny lump was malignant. Steve and I prayed with the kids, we took speedy action along with our HMO, doctor and oncologist, and the cancer, along with 22 lymph nodes, was out in two weeks. I was off work for 5 days, and by the next week, the drainage, wound care and post-operative pain were under control. Radiation and physical therapy in the next several months completed my recovery regimen. God pieced every aspect of my cancer together, even to the point of having assigned me to the Jurupa district office instead of in a classroom where students would be frightened by their teacher's absence!

God is so good! Faith, facts and forward action according to His will and timing are the best antidotes to fear that I know of. As I continue to encourage my friend to get her medical matter taken care of expeditiously, I will emphasize time and again God's Word to His children, "Fear not."