Suffering & Faith

I was at a Bible Study the other night & towards the end the lady hosting asked me to share about having Lyme Disease & how it has affected my faith & what’s it’s been like in that regard.

Sadly, I had to go get my kids & couldn’t stay to share but on the drive back to Franklin I thought about her question & wanted to share my answer here...

So I think about why I am even here on earth…for me, it’s to grow in my love & relationship with God, to serve, love & worship my creator. To be His hands, His feet, His mouthpiece, His compassion & His heart to others here on earth.

So I’m going about life doing these things, somedays I carry them out better than other days, but this is my purpose, my goal each day. Then one morning I wake up paralyzed, in massive pain & end up finding out that I have Lyme Disease. I could go 2 ways with it…

1. I could say God I want to serve & worship you with my life, to be your hands & feet but I can’t even get out of bed somedays now because I hurt so bad. I don’t always think clearly with the brain fog & how am I supposed to share your word & speak to others if I am having trouble focusing & have these headaches. I can only fully functions like 4-5 days a week, what a waste. I wanted to serve & love you & others but now I really can’t. Why would you let this happen…

2. OR I could say WOW, I have felt pain & despair unlike I have ever felt. I know how it feels to be broken & scared. There are SO many people who feel these things daily who NOW I can speak into their hurt & pain & tell them… I know, I get how you feel, I too feel this way & I have the opportunity to bring them hope & love unlike others who haven’t experienced these things can. My mission field just greatly increased really:)

If I am being honest having Lyme has allowed me to know & experience God in ways that I have never known Him before, it’s allowed me to speak into peoples hurt & brokenness in ways I couldn’t have before, so when I look at my original thought of why I am even here. I have to say that Lyme in some ways has been a gift. I know it sounds weird & backwards but I choose to look at the good that has come from it all & thank God for the new depth & opportunities that I have been given.

Of course I don’t want Lyme Disease forever, I’m praying for healing & have received so much healing already BUT we live in a broken world & there IS hurt & pain, death & awful things and we as Christians aren’t immune to them all & so we need to learn how to let the hard times make us better & stronger & to use them for our ultimate purpose here on earth. We can use it all, the good & the bad to glorify God & show others His love.

So whatever pain, brokenness or hurt you are experiencing today let it grow you & deepen you, look for the new opportunities that it brings you for loving & helping others, because I have found that suffering has a way of doing amazing things in our life if we let it. I don’t ask for suffering or wish it upon anyone, but in this life we will have suffering & I pray that we can all allow it to draw us closer both to God & one another.