Anchored in the Promise: A Faith-Based Healing Testimony That I Protected
- Shakila Barry
- Feb 13
- 7 min read
Updated: Feb 17
—A reflection on faith, discernment, and the power of protecting what God is doing.
What if healing doesn’t always require an audience?
This faith-based healing testimony reflects how discernment, boundaries, and trust in God shaped my second journey with cancer.
When Sharing Helped—and When It Didn’t
I see many people openly sharing their journeys, and without question, those stories encourage others, open doors, and sometimes even create opportunities to make a difference.
Still, during my second battle with cancer, I felt led to move differently than I had before.
During my first experience in 2018, I opened myself up fully. I received prayers, encouragement, and support—but I also opened the door to opinions and commentary I hadn’t asked for. Vulnerability came with exposure, and at times, with judgment.
I found myself wondering how my story would be received if I shared it again, especially by those who knew about my first battle. Would it be viewed through a lens of blame, as if this recurrence were somehow my fault?
I also realized something else:
I no longer wanted the sympathy I once needed.
Releasing the Victim Identity
In the past, I identified as a victim. When hardship showed up cancer or otherwise,
I instinctively looked for an audience. Within that audience, I searched for reassurance, for the right words that would help me believe in myself, or simply confirm that I would be okay.
What I understand now is that I was searching externally for something I hadn’t yet learned how to access within myself.
After facing so many challenges, often back to back, life had knocked the wind out of me.
I hadn't learned how to get back up, so I settled into the belief that I had simply been dealt a bad hand.
By the time I walked into my second season with cancer, that belief no longer had authority over me.
This Time Was Different
By then, I had built a solid foundation in Christ. I didn’t need to lean on external validation the way I once had. I told a small circle close family members and trusted friends not for sympathy, but with discernment. I chose people who were grounded and solid enough within themselves to show up in ways that were life-giving.
I also knew that sharing publicly especially on social media would create an atmosphere I didn’t want to cultivate.
An atmosphere that centered the disease, gave it more attention, more power, and more control than it deserved.
Choosing What to Magnify: A Faith-Based Healing Testimony
Before I even began treatment, I had already sat in the presence of God and felt a deep knowing in my spirit that the victory was already mine. Scripture reminded me plainly that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy—but Christ came so that I might have life, and have it more abundantly. John 10:10 (KJV)
If the outcome was already written, why would I magnify the problem?
To speak constantly about the diagnosis felt like giving the disease more credit than the truth God had already confirmed within me.
So I chose a different posture. I continued showing up in my life and online as myself.
I made my art. I talked about the things I loved. I lived.
As treatment progressed and my appearance began to change, I didn’t hide. I talked about my hair transitioning. I laughed about wigs. I tried different styles, bought hats and scarves, and eventually settled into wraps—the option that felt most like me.
I wasn’t denying what I was experiencing. I simply refused to center my life around it.
The deeper conversations about my health stayed in safe spaces: with the people I trusted completely. Looking back, I believe this approach supported my healing in ways I didn’t fully understand at the time.
I wasn’t avoiding the disease—I was choosing what to magnify.
Glimmers Along the Way
Around the time I received the news that treatment would begin, I made a quiet but intentional decision: I cut my own hair. I wanted to be the one to take it—not chemo, not cancer. It was my way of choosing agency in the middle of uncertainty, of embracing discomfort on my own terms.
While I was standing in that moment—processing the weight of what was ahead—I received a call that caught me completely off guard. A major client asked if I would be open to working on a project for a tour featuring four legendary women.
I remember thinking, How can this be happening at the same time?
On one hand, I was preparing to walk through cancer. On the other, I was being invited into a long-awaited opportunity in my career.
All I heard God say was, Just walk with Me. I will show you.
So I did.
Day by day, I sought Him. I asked for His counsel. I leaned into discernment—what to share, when to share, and with whom. And I kept working.
I showed up diligently, faithfully, standing on the truth God had already spoken to me:
that I was healed. And I believed Him.
The Foundation Was Already Set
Looking back now, I can see how intentional God was even before the diagnosis. He had already been inviting me to sit with Him daily. He spoke to me softly, and when needed, firmly—offering correction, encouragement, and reassurance.
In those days, I learned His voice.
I felt something coming in my spirit, though I couldn’t name it. I didn’t know if it would be good or bad—only that it was near. One song kept echoing in my heart:
Christ is my firm foundation, the rock on which I stand. When everything around me is shaken, I've never been more glad.
I sang it. I cried. And I kept going.
Then, on the day after my birthday—I received the diagnosis:
stage four cancer.
I cried, because I am human. But deep in my heart, I knew I was not about to let this defeat me.
It wasn’t easy.
But I made it.
Living in the Present, Anchored in Faith
I didn’t feel led to join a cancer support group this time. I had done that before, and while the experience wasn’t necessarily good or bad, I learned something important about myself: when cancer became the central focus, it pulled me out of the present moment.
It made it easier to lose sight of the healing that had already been promised to me.
Even while experiencing pain and deep discomfort, I held onto faith. I believed that part of my calling in that season was simply to keep going.
From the Other Side
Now, on the other side—cancer-free and undergoing immunotherapy—I’m grateful for how I handled it.
My focus stayed on my faith, my family, my art, my joy, my peace, and the present moment.
I never denied that cancer was real; I simply didn’t give it permission to stay.
I acknowledged it. I spoke to it. I thanked it for what it came to reveal. And then I released it.
That season showed me clearly where unforgiveness and resentment still lived within me.
I received the message, and I did the work.
There are moments now when I wonder if I should have shared more while I was in it—but I don’t regret waiting. I’m sharing my story now, from the other side. And to me, that matters.
Because this is not just a story about cancer.
It’s a story about survival. About trust.
About believing God when He speaks—without needing the world to confirm what He already settled in my spirit.
Closing Reflection
Sometimes the most powerful testimonies are the ones we live before we ever speak them. Healing doesn’t always require an audience—sometimes it simply requires faith, obedience, and the courage to protect what God is doing within you.
I share my experience not to prescribe a path, but to encourage you to seek God’s guidance in how, when, and with whom you share your story. Magnify His promises, care for yourself, and remember that you matter.
I also want to honor all those who have lost their battle with cancer. May we continue to hold them in our hearts.
Whatever brought you here today, I pray this reflection lands softly and brings peace to your journey.
With love and sparkle,
Your Sparkle Bestie,
Shakila B.✨
Scripture That Anchored Me (KJV)
Job 5:17–26 (NIV)
17 “Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
18 For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.
19 From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will touch you.
20 In famine he will deliver you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
21 You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes.
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the wild animals.
23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your tent is secure; you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.
25 You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth.
26 You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season.
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