Daily Dose of Encouragement: Accepting

 For every chronic illness, God has an amazing plan that goes right a long with it.  What do I mean?  Well, just like any human life, those with health conditions have many, great purposes here on earth.  Though being sick certainly was not one that we would have ever hoped and dreamed for, it is ultimately being used to help us live out our life to the fullest.  Now, this is not to say that the trials that come a long with a chronic illness are not painful, exhausting, and completely debilitating.  However, it is crucial to not get wrapped up in today’s troubles, and thus forget see the entire picture of what is in store for us.  This can be hard, especially when we feel as though everything that we knew, were comfortable with, or good at in life, has been stripped away.  Yet unlike ourselves, God knew that this moment in life would come all along,  and has been planning and perfecting what will come out of it before we were even born.  Now it is our choice to either accept what is happening and what is in store, or rebel against our illness, God, and all of the effort that comes a long with finding health once more.  At times it may seem easier to just give up, not put in our own, personal effort to heal, and just wait for doctors to fix us.  However, it is crucial to realize that God has brought us to this circumstance for a reason, and we must do all that we can to learn, grow, push ourselves, and earnestly seek what He has available to us now, and what He has in store later down the road.  If we don’t accept the change of life, our own, selfish and limited perception of how things should be, blocks our view from seeing all of the limitless possibilities that God wants to bring out of this illness. Just because we don’t like change in life, doesn’t make it is a bad thing, as this negative view on the turn of events is simply our human nature.   Instead, we must take hold of our situations, learn from our health condition, realize what changes we must do in our diet and lifestyle to heal, and know that through Christ, doing all the seemingly impossible tasks at hand is possible.

 Yet it all comes back down to us, and our decision of acceptance, despite what the trials of life may bring, or how easy, hard, or seemingly impossible they may seem.   God is all mighty, all knowing, and ever present, and will always help us succeed in rising above our illness.  The devil will try and make us feel worthless, weak, indecisive, unable to tackle what we know must be done in order to heal and take care of our ourselves. He will make us feel as the life God has given us is more of a curse than a blessing.  However, doing things our own way, and not accepting the trial that God has presented in the form of a chronic illness, will only ever lead to disaster in both life and our health.  Instead, we must not only accept our chronic illness, but we also must embrace it.   Of course, it can be hard to willingly welcome a change in our lives, especially something as drastic as a chronic illness, and this certainly won’t happen overnight.  However, we must not forget that it is always possible to grow from any circumstance, and become a stronger and smarter a long the way.  Though finding peace in accepting pain and suffering can also be difficult, everything that God is allowing to happen in our life is for the good, and we therefore must learn to always accept it with thanksgiving.  Though this is tough love, God knows that it is necessary to fulfill His perfect plan in our lives, otherwise, He would not allow it. As humans, it is easy to get stuck in our old ways, feel sorry for ourselves, view our illness as an inconvenience, or even try and pretend like you aren’t sick, looking back on your old life with wishfulness.  Yet this is not where God has called us to be.  Instead, we must have faith in the present and future life that God is giving us, know that it is not the end of our story here on earth, and after a living a life in submission to His will and His word, all of our tears will be wiped dry, as we spend eternity with Him in heaven.  Overall, having a chronic illness is not the end of the world, but rather, can serve as just beginning of finding all that is in store for us, as long as we accept and believe it.

1 Timothy 4:4 “For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving…”