Cancer is not for the faint of heart. When any major life-calamity hits us, we have several choices in the way we respond. We can flee, fight, or faint. Tomorrow morning (Monday) Mary’s doctor and his surgical team at Mayo Clinic will “put her under” and go through the complicated steps of something called the Whipple surgery.

These doctors and nurses are pros at this procedure and have done it many times.  Because Mary has been called “an excellent candidate” for it, the medical staff is confident she’ll get a new lease on life as a result.

They aren’t saying they can cure her, but they do label the surgery “curative”. My layman’s understanding is that after Mary has recuperated, she’ll feel cured. On a best-case basis, her cancer crisis will have all but disappeared, which sounds pretty good!

As with every cancer diagnosis, in the early days Mary was overwhelmed – faint of heart. But she refused to stay there. It wasn’t 24 hours before she’d pulled out her best weapons (God and his Word) and begun to fight, though what she chose to go up against wasn’t cancer but her personal enemies: fear, worry, doubt, and… faintness of heart.

Scripture reminds us in half-a-dozen places not to let ourselves grow faint, whether we’re facing surgery or any other crisis. It also gives us the how-to. Here’s one example: “Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of [your enemies]; for the Lord your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies.” (Deuteronomy 20:3-4)

The Bible’s most frequently cited instruction on this is found in Isaiah 40:31: “Those who wait on the Lord… shall walk and not faint.” More than likely this is referring to walking through life without becoming faint of heart. Instead we’re to be confident in God’s ability to keep us from it.

As Mary is wheeled away from her family toward the O.R. tomorrow morning, she may be tempted to slip toward a heart-fainting, but if she does, she told me she’s ready with a secret weapon. She’ll follow our mom’s example. When Mom was faced with a similar crisis, she hummed a favorite hymn to lift her from a near-faint:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

After that, even as Mary sleeps during surgery, she won’t grow faint.

“The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary.” (Isaiah 40:28)

Mary’s prayer requests several hours before surgery:

1. Praise for so much loving support
2. Praise for God’s wisdom that has come through prayer
3. Pray for Dr. Truty and his surgical team
4. Pray that Mary will be a good example of someone who trusts Christ
5. Pray for courage to face the unknown