Faith and Love

Last night Sewell, Cori, Taryn and I returned from a six day drive up the coast to San Francisco. We saw beautiful crashing waves, seagulls, seals, otters, a redwood forest, the rolling hills of Napa Valley and an array of sights to be found only in San Francisco. It was a restful, memorable trip that we all needed.

Before I left I had an appointment with my nutritionist. I asked him if he was a Christian and he said he was. I then asked if I could pray before we started our appointment. He reached his hand out and took mine and I prayed. I was not expecting him to pray at the end but he prayed for me. It was very encouraging knowing God has divinely directed me to this doctor. I am praying God will continue to give him wisdom as he treats me. My nutritionist wants me to up my protein and good fat intake. He had me do a 24 hour iodine test to check the iodine level in my body. My thyroid levels are low and the main function of iodine is the synthesis, storage and secretion of thyroid hormone. I have felt for many years my levels are not right. I had thyroid surgery over 7 years ago to remove a large portion of my thyroid because it had a benign tumor on it. Through my reading I am discovering that iodine plays a critical role in the ability for all hormones in the body to operate correctly and for the destruction of abnormal cancer cells. We are waiting for those results. I have asked my oncologist to order more blood work that my nutritionist wants to look at. Please pray she will agree to write the order. My oncologist had to cancel my appointment with her in February and it could not be rescheduled until April 12th. She has never gone over any results with my about my blood work. I am anxious to hear what she thinks. Meanwhile I have been able to get acupuncture and massage coverage through my health insurance at school for only $7 a month. I am very excited because I think the massages will help release toxins out of my body and eliminate the stress that I feel is sitting in my muscles due to this long journey. I was able to get the same coverage for Sewell which should help with his arthritis pain. A specific prayer would be for me to be able to find a good Christian acupuncturist that might be able to help with Sewell's arthritis pain and with getting everything operating correctly in my body. For me it is a journey of continual education. I was talking to Sewell yesterday about when I will feel like there is nothing more I need to do concerning my health than what I am already doing. Therein lies the importance of resting in God and following the leads He brings into my life. Meanwhile, I bought some great cook books to give me ideas on new healthy things I can prepare to eat! The challenge has been to make things my family will eat. They are pretty good about it but most of the time I am making 2 separate meals at night so maybe these new books will eliminate that work. My taste buds have changed because I know this is what God has called me to do in order to get healed but this is not true of my family. It has been difficult to change the years of eating habits I have established and I know it will be equally true of my family.

I am reading David Jeremiah's book Slaying The Giants In Your Life. I believe with God's help I have faced the giant of cancer with a God saturated soul. Each day I am confident this giant is being slayed. You may not be facing a giant of cancer. Your giant may be finances, worry, anger, doubt, jealousy, failure, loneliness or discouragement. The giant of cancer brings with it other giants that must be faced. Two of those are fear and worry. In his book Jeremiah says that fear boils down to disobedience. If the Bible says to fear not and we fear then we are in sin. Psalm 34:4 says, "I sought the Lord and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." Isaiah 41:10 says, "Fear not, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God, I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
Pastor Jeremiah has this to say about fear, "Your fear level is ultimately a referendum on the closeness of your friendship with God. It's a spiritual yardstick. Do you see things in human dimensions or godly ones? After you spend time with your Creator, you're simply incapable of shrinking in fear at the appearance of every human anxiety. You've seen His power. You've seen His love and faithfulness. The opposite of fear, you see, is not courage. It's not trust. The opposite of fear is love." II Timothy 1:7 says, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sound mind." I John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." Jeremiah goes on to say,
"Our Father wants us to leap into His arms... when we're afraid. He wants us to realize who He really is, and that we need never fear. And the key to that assurance is love, the opposite of fear. To experience in full the love of God is to feel the deepest security in heart, soul, mind and strength. Love begins to dispel fear."

I have determined to put my trust in God. Each day I allow His love to wash fear from my mind. I refuse to worry. God is big enough to handle all my problems. I want my life to be characterized by faith and love not worry and fear. I encourage you today to look at your heart and see if any fear has taken up residence. Allow His love to envelope you and drive fear and worry out. Don't let your thoughts take you captive. Every time a thought of fear or worry stands at the door of my mind I lock it out through prayer. I remind myself of God's great love and faithfulness to me. I encourage you to do the same. There is no giant you will face that is bigger than His love for you. No matter the size of giant that has walked into your land, face it with confidence knowing God is standing right by your side. He will place the stones of victory in your hand. Don't listen to the taunts of the giant telling you otherwise. I believe when we get to heaven there will be a "giant slaying party" where we will all tell the stories of God's love and faithfulness as we faced and defeated our Goliaths. I want to be there with my story. How about you?