Some days you get stuck in the muck. Some days you need to remind yourself over and over that you are not alone. Some days you need to re-read a letter you wrote for someone else . . .
Dear Mama,
I know how you feel. You're tired, you ache, you want to made well, but this is it. This is the life that has been determined for you.
God knows how difficult it is at times, but you wonder if anyone else can relate.
Is there another Mama who always wanted to never be the Mama who wasn't well?
I begged for healing and I begged for babies.
Anyone else with a seven year old boy who talks one day about inventing a lung so that other kids, who would have to go through what his Mama did when she was a little girl, will still be able to run a marathon one day?
Any other Mama out there who can hardly keep up to her three year old because you live life now with 30% lung capacity?
I hoped to have stamina that would show up the Energizer bunny.
What about another woman who wondered why the months and then years would pass before two lines on a pregnancy test would appear? And then wondered how you are going to have the strength some days to raise and disciple these little ones entrusted to you?
A Mama out there who fights to be free from fears of receiving a secondary diagnosis now that you actually are a Mama? And what do you do to keep on 'toughing it out' with severe aortic stenosis now as a mother, as well as the lung damage all because of a dreadful disease from when you were three years old?
I know it could be a lot worse, but your own reality is all you will ever know.
I desperately prayed for healing, but for so long I failed to see how God has already healed me:
I am never alone. Ever.
God will strengthen me and use me for His glory.
The One who has healed my heart is the One who I cry out to.
He is my refuge.
He is my shelter.
He is my strength.
When you wonder how you will get through these days, know that you are not doing this on your own.
Your story has its own challenges, but our solution is the same.
Grace. Amazing, astounding, cascading, pouring down grace.
And like anything, perspective is half the battle. If I wallow in my woes I end up defeated.
Like Paul, I need to learn to be content in whatever circumstance I'm in.
Like Paul, I need to learn to be content in whatever circumstance I'm in.
So, I have to keep preaching to myself on a daily basis.
- Learn my own limitations and don't think I have to do everything.
"For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him." (Phil 2:13)
- Know that Christ's strength is made perfect in my weakness. And His amazing grace is all I ever need. The joy of the Lord is my strength and in Him will I boast.
"Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." (Cor 2:9)
- Accept the willingness of others to help me when I need it even though I may not want to admit it. We need one another and let it be a blessing for them and to you.
- Trust in the Lord. He will guide me in all I do.
"But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence." (Jeremiah 17:7)
- Believe that His goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life. He really has chased me down His unfailing love, wooed me with His eternal love, and proved to me that His mercies are new every morning. He is always good and does good.
- Be assured that the antidote to fear is the assurance of God's presence and protection.
- Use my health for the praise of His glory. I am here to manifest His glory.
- Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Especially for the thing in my life that forces me to lean into Him.
- Pray. Without ceasing. Because you must move forward even though you may not know how.
"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us" (Eph 3:20)
*Edited from a guest post written for Jessica for her 31Days series.
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So much good encouragement here! I've been there, needing to remember I'm not alone. (Visiting from Soli Deo Gloria)
ReplyDeleteThis year I'm rejoicing in a successful lung transplant for a cousin. A genetic lung disease runs through our family tree. Those who came before joined Heaven's crowd. I loved the "preaching tips." It was a blessing to be reminded that God's strength is made perfect in our weakness.
ReplyDeleteTo remember that we don't do this alone...His hand is touching us through it all. Oh this brings me such peace and comfort. Another fabulous post my friend. Thank you for being a party of the Three Word Wednesday family!
ReplyDelete{Hugs}