The Way I See It

A few weeks ago, my girls and I followed our youth praise band, Decrease, to a youth rally they were playing at. (*Sidenote: Please support your youth group and their endeavors to spread Christ to others.) Anyways, they sang the song "Do it Again" by Elevation Worship. The first verse says "Walking around these walls I thought by now they'd fall. But You have never failed me yet. Waiting for change to come. Knowing the battle's won. For You have never failed me yet." These words got me to thinking about the past 4 months. I was hoping for more improvement by now, and to be able to take the trach out by the end of the year. I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen, but I'm reminded that God has never failed me. There are still lessons to learn through this trial, and there are still people to encourage. I must always remember that God has never failed me, and that His timing is perfect.

I was encouraged today at my ENT appt. My doctor asked me how I was doing and what my rheumatologist has set up for my treatment. I said "I go through another round of Rituxin starting at the end of October, and I'm down to 5mg of prednisone. That and lots of prayer." He looked up and smiled at me. Before he walked out of the room he said "Keep thriving and keep praying for healing and a cure for this." Having this disease is tough,  having a trach is even tougher, but having such an amazing doctor by my side, determined to do all that he can do to help me, well that is an amazing blessing.

God doesn't cause the storms in our lives, but He does allow them. Storms serve a purpose in our lives, they help us to grow. Romans 8:28 "says that ALL things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose" (emphasis mine) I'm starting to get an idea of what that "good" might be for me, or at least part of it. Don't give up when life throws you curve balls. Hold on to God and ask Him what the lesson(s) is/are that you need to learn for it. One last reminder. I recently came across a few verses that blew me away when I grasped what they said. The first one is 2 Peter 1:3 and says "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness." Let's also make sure to see the part that says "through our knowledge of Him". This is one reason it is so very important to be in your Bible, soaking up His Word, on a daily basis. The next is Ephesians 1:3 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ." (Emphasis mine). This should get you excited. These verses tell me that God has ALREADY given me EVERYTHING  that I need to live a victorious life with Him. We are already victorious. We have already won the war, we just have to win the battles. And God gives us what we need to win those battles. We just have to trust in Him.