When Bethany Hayes of Capacity Corner was diagnosed with MS, her life dramatically changed. Today she shares some precious lessons she’s learned:
Multiple Sclerosis is often called “the invisible disease. “ Still, when I first diagnosed, I felt like a giant sign hung around my neck that read:
I HAVE MS.
I think I felt this way because I realized I suddenly had a new identity—one I’d have the rest of my life; an identity I didn’t particularly want.
In spite of how I felt, the Lord used this identity to teach me something about His love. As I read His Word, He began to reveal truths that had never been so important to me.
He showed me that no matter what labels or characteristics are attached to or unattached from who I am, one identity always remains.
I am loved by a God who wanted me to be His child, and that truth is my truest identity.
Along with this truth, I am:
Forgiven (Eph. 1:7)
Hidden in Christ (Phil. 3:9)
Sealed (Eph. 1:13)
An heir of God (Gal. 4:7)
And the list goes on . . .
No matter what labels are attached to us as we journey through life, in Christ we are more than a label. We are each a child of God and everything that includes.
- God’s love gives us our truest identity.
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son” (1 John 4:10).
Often, I’ve struggled to believe this truth and the greatness of God’s love for me. With sickness and trial come some of our strongest temptations.
My flesh has often succumbed to doubt. I’ve wondered how the love of God could allow discomfort in the life of His own. I’ve been tempted to look at my circumstances, compare them with the circumstances of others, and conclude that God’s love for me waxes and wanes.
The truth tells me that “God IS love” (1 John 4:8).
His love is beyond comprehension.
He allows circumstances that seem less than ideal because His love has a perspective too high for me to wrap my mind around—a perspective that stops anything that would destroy and sees our wounds as a chance to make new.
Several times, I’ve had to refocus my own perspective, turning my eyes from my circumstances and fixing them on the truth.
If He didn’t spare His own Son in the greatest act of love, who am I to define who He is and the extent of His love by the pleasant or unpleasant things in my life?
- God’s love can never be defined by our circumstances.
“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him“ (1 John 4:9).
I remember the day several months after my diagnosis when it finally sunk in that the MS would never go away. Some days, I completely forget there are limitations. Other days, persistent symptoms won’t allow me to forget.
Many of you reading this can relate.
Others of you deal with chronic circumstances even more severe than a lifelong illness.
You know that along with the longevity comes days when the darkness seems like silence—a sense of divine absence.
At these times, our faith wears thin. I’ve watched as my own fingers began to let go.
One thing we can be sure of—God’s love will never let us go.
We may deny Him, but He “remains faithful, He cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). His love is:
Faithful,
Strong,
And will never fail.
No matter how it feels, darkness is simply the shadow of His presence (Psalm 23:4).
And silence means He’s resting in His love for us (Zeph. 3:17).
- God’s love will never let us go.
“He Himself has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).
Twelve years later, I’m still learning to be grateful for that which teaches me more of this incomprehensible love.
Some of us need this lesson to be chronic.
Thankfully, God’s love is chronic too.
Bio:
Bethany Hayes lives in Gresham, Oregon and is a regular contributor at various online devotional ministries. To contact Bethany or subscribe to her weekly inspirational posts, visit her blog at www.CapacityCorner.blogspot.com Follow Bethany’s Facebook Author Page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bethany-Hayes-Writer/361395160736257