Speaking Life, Choosing Faith, and Trusting God's Promises with Gail Schaar!Speaking Life, Choosing Faith, and Trusting God's Promises with Gail Schaar!
Anchored by the Sword
Gail Schaar shares her journey from a chaotic, alcohol-fuelled past into a faith-centred life, and how that faith shapes her response to a breast cancer diagnosis. The conversation focuses on identity, scripture, and choosing God’s promises over fear and medical labels.
40:27•24 Jul 2026
Faith, Healing and Refusing the Label of ‘Cancer Patient’ with Gail Schaar
Episode Overview
- Gail describes leaving a life marked by alcohol and destructive choices after finally surrendering to God, noting that He “changed everything”.
- She challenges the idea of accepting the label “cancer patient”, emphasising that identity should come from what the Bible says, not medical reports.
- Key scriptures like Mark 11 and Hebrews 10:23 underpin her approach, highlighting the importance of believing and speaking God’s promises without wavering.
- Gail stresses the daily habit of feeding on scripture as “daily bread” to stay grounded in peace and prevent fear from taking over.
- She encourages using prayer and spoken confessions as active weapons against anxiety, statistics and the enemy’s attempts to steal hope.
“It doesn’t matter what shows up in the flesh and in the body. That’s not who you are. Who you are is found in the Word and in the Bible.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol and cling to faith when everything suddenly falls apart? This conversation between host Gina Fox and returning guest Gail Schaar brings that question to the forefront in a very real way. Gail shares how her relationship with God began after years of what she calls a “rough life” filled with alcohol, promiscuity, destructive behaviour and chaos.
She talks about finally saying, “All right, Lord, come on in,” and how, from that point, “He changed everything. He changed my desires for alcohol… I’m just not even the same person.” If you’ve ever felt too far gone to change, her story may challenge that idea. Things take a sharp turn when Gail recalls being diagnosed in April 2025 with two types of breast cancer.
She describes the early days as a blur of appointments, statistics and other people’s horror stories, all while her spirit was saying something different. Instead of embracing the identity of a “cancer patient”, Gail leaned on scriptures such as Hebrews 10:23 and Mark 11, stressing the power of words and the choice to believe God’s report over medical labels.
Her new book, *I Am Not a Cancer Patient*, grew out of that year-long battle, which she jokingly compares to being dragged behind a horse rather than gliding through gracefully.
Gail is honest that fear, doubt and panic still show up, yet she keeps returning to confessions like, “By His stripes, I am healed,” and the belief that “God can be trusted to keep His promise.” You’ll hear about parenting strong-willed kids, praying for struggling family members, and what it looks like to stay close enough to the “Good Shepherd” that you’d bump into Him if He stopped.
If you’re facing addiction, illness, or just feel worn out by life, this episode asks a simple but bold question: whose report are you going to believe?
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