Looking Forward to the Eternal Cure

Ever since I was little and diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, I've been told by some people that they wish they could take my Diabetes away. 

I know they meant well, they were trying to comfort me, but you know what?  I don't ever want to be "comforted" by this phrase again. 

Don't tell me you wish you could take away the very thing that saved my life.

Yup, Diabetes saved my life.  I didn't realize it until I turned 18, after I'd thrown myself into a fit of anger and depression.  I turned my back on God because I couldn't understand why He would allow me to have such an awful disease. 

Of course I didn't understand.  I was a naive little girl.  I've grown up now and I've done a lot of learning and growing.  I can see now that Diabetes is the very tool that God used to show me my need for a Savior.  And I don't want it taken away for anything.  I'm glad I have Diabetes.  I'm glad I have Celiac.  I'm glad I have hypothyroidism. 

Having a broken body keeps me humble and meek.  It helps me focus on God as my source of strength.  It reminds me that I am nothing without Him.  I am NOT self-sufficient.  I am NOT self-reliant.  I am NOT the center of the Universe. 

My trials, pains, and frustrations are for my good and His glory.  It's taken me years...YEARS, to learn this.  But I am grateful that these lessons were part of His plan for me.  He made me this way and He did it for my good, for my salvation. 

Every trial has a purpose. Every setback has a reason. Every health issue keeps us humbly reliant on the One who created us. Our lives are about more than overcoming these obstacles; our lives are about glorifying God through them.

 It has taken me 18 years to come to this point...to be able to say that I want to glorify God with every step I take as I work to manage my invisible illnesses. Diabetes, Celiac, and hypothyroidism do not define or identify me; they are merely a part of me. And yet, only for a fleeting moment, for they too shall pass and I will have the eternal cure for all 3 of them.

What will remain will be my True Identity, which is found in nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.