Jeremiah 32:17 ESV ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.
Knowing the truths that nothing can change God or His work, deep in the soil of my soul, has been hard-earned through years of pain, grief, and loss. But the hope from knowing those truths helps me find joy every day. And that joy brings strength every day too.
This is because:
Each day is a gift from my Good God.
Each day has good in it from my Good God.
Each day is an opportunity to praise my Good God.
Please hear me – I don’t say any of that lightly or easily. I say that knowing what it costs to choose to rejoice in and trust God with my day. There’s very little that’s simple or easy anymore. Yet, now, the joy is sweeter and even more satisfying. For even a touch of joy can transform an especially challenging day into far more fullness than I used to know before chronic illness. I don’t just write about joy as something remote or hoped-for in my books or on my blog; I live in the strength and courage of that joy in all parts of my day.
Joy gets me out of the bed and into the blessing of helping others in writing and teaching. Joy sustains me in the bed and into the becoming like Jesus in trusting God on the days when disease requires far more than I have to give. Joy comes in the morning and doesn’t leave in the hardest of nights.
Because I’ve learned so much of God’s goodness and great love via chronic illnesses, I wouldn’t trade any of this for anything else. But I also wouldn’t wish any of this on anyone else, unless God graciously uses it to teach them about Himself, too.
Just like joy, my Good God comes and stays.
He provides and sustains.
He listens and knows.
He comforts and strengthens.
Some people call me brave. But I know better. What they’re calling brave is actually Jesus alive in me. For others can now see Jesus in me because the suffering from disease has peeled away my own veneer of self-importance. And that is just one of the good things which my Good God has done for me and in me and through me. Thanks be to God for His faithfulness to use all things for His glory and the good of His people! And be assured, if God can do it for me, He will do it for you.
There is a real and full life to be found in trusting our Good God. And the best way I’ve found to know this kind of life is by keeping Scripture in front of my eyes. Life takes on so much more than just everyday challenges if I keep my focus on what’s important and eternal – God’s plans for good. There’s so many distractions, good and not, but there’s only one God and His glory. And when I keep my focus on my Good God, everything else becomes less important and temporary, even when the pain and exhaustion are overwhelming.
A few verses which are especially helpful to me here in the trenches every day with chronic illnesses:
2 Corinthians 5:17 and 21
Romans 8:28 and 38-39
Proverbs 18:10 and 3:5-6
Psalm chapters 8 and 63
Psalm 30:5 and 103:14
Habakkuk 3:16-19
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written by and copyrighted to Beth Madison, Ph.D., 2024.
Soul Scientist 
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