There is still hope...

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There is still hope...

Postby Sheenar » Mon Nov 07, 2011 5:09 am

As some (or many) of you know, I am dealing with a chronic illness --a progressive disease --have had a rough time adjusting as my abilities change and have had to give up some dreams/goals and try to figure out where to go from here. The future terrifies me. Jer. 29:11 says God's plans are to give me a hope and a future --can I really believe that?

Well, this chorus from an old hymn has been getting me through life right now:

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives


Because my Savior is alive, I have hope --I don't have to fear the future. He has conquered death. He is with me through all of this --all the doctors, tests, pain, fatigue, neurological stuff --I do not go through any of it alone. And He has a plan for me yet --I don't know what, but I know He does (because I am still here!)

So instead of worrying about the future, my goal is to take life one day at a time --enjoy each day and make the most of it --whether I have the energy to go serve/meet with friends/etc. or whether I need a day to rest. Worrying doesn't do any good --it doesn't change anything --so why do it?

This poem describes what I'm trying to say really well:

No chance hath brought this ill to me;
'Tis God's own hand, so let it be,
He seeth what I cannot see.
There is a need-be for each pain,
And He one day will make it plain
That earthly loss is heavenly gain.
Like as a piece of tapestry
Viewed from the back appears to be
Naught but threads tangled hopelessly;
But in the front a picture fair
Rewards the worker for his care,
Proving his skill and patience rare.
Thou art the Workman, I the frame.
Lord, for the glory of Thy Name,
Perfect Thine image on the same.
--Selected


God has a purpose for my pain --it is not meaningless. I feel a calling to advocate for persons with disabilities and chronic illnesses --that I can definitely still do (with God's help).

Remember that suffering and pain are not meaningless --I know I have seen God take some seriously ugly stuff that has happened and turn it into something amazingly beautiful --a testimony to be shared with a broken world.


(I hope this all makes sense. I typed out thoughts I had and wanted to share, but I just pulled an all-nighter, so I'm not sure how coherent it is).
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

"Since the creation of the Internet, the Earth's rotation has been fueled, primarily, by the collective spinning of English teachers in their graves."
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Postby Okami » Tue Nov 08, 2011 1:16 pm

Thank you for this, friend.

We sang this song in chapel this morning. Your thread felt like a good place to pass it along. There is hope, indeed. :-^o^-:
~*~ Blessed to be Ryosuke's wife!
"We will be her church, the body of Christ coming alive to
meet her needs, to write love on her arms." ~ Jamie Tworkowski
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Postby ABlipinTime » Tue Nov 08, 2011 2:38 pm

I love that song.
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