Purifying My Life
MS, a refining disease? Probably not. If anything it may be considered the opposite of being refined. Refining is defined as the process of purifying. If you are diagnosed with MS you are finding out that your once perfectly “healthy” and “normal” body is now under attack and is causing or will/can cause you to lose your ability to walk, see, talk, think, and function normally. Your body is so confused that it is actually attacking your own central nervous system, causing internal scar tissue and nerve damage. I am not so sure this is the right way to “purify” your body.
My brain may not be pure, perfect, or desirable, but the lifelong battle can refine my life and my faith. There is no better time to purify and cleanse my life and hope in Jesus than now. I need to trust God’s word, that He is holding my right hand in his right hand telling me that there is no reason to fear because He will help me (Isaiah 41:13).
This life is a gift we are given from God. It can be beautiful, messy, challenging, and scary. My life is all of these things and more and I can only imagine the graceful mess that lies ahead. My hope is that by sharing my life, my disease, and faith with you that you will find grace, love, and hope in Jesus. I will have hard days ahead of me and hopefully some additional blessings ahead and I hope to share the truth with you. There are times in our faith that we can be challenged to accept that this is the card we were dealt, and that is okay. We can’t and won’t be perfect every day, but my personal goal is to be surrounded by those who can lift me up and redirect me to God when I am at my lowest.
My goal is to not let MS destroy me, the person I am and who I want to be, but allow it to refine me and my faith in Jesus. It may take away certain aspects of my life, but it can’t take away my desire to be more like Jesus.
Won’t Stop Smyelin!
You heard me. I don’t care how disabling this disease ends up being. I don’t care if it tries to take everything from me. It may strip me of important myelin causing permanent damage, but I can’t stop, and I won’t stop smiling.
Thanks for journeying with me and praying for me. My hope is that by walking alongside of me you won’t feel so alone, whether or not you have an autoimmune disease, or you just need to know that life isn’t perfect and we all suffer in different ways. I hope that you will learn something new about multiple sclerosis (maybe the next time you meet someone with the disease you will be a bit more informed!). Most importantly, I hope that you will see the raw, unedited response to life’s challenges and the importance of Jesus and his grace for us.
As an adult we are striped from our childhood innocence and we know the pain that is ahead. I hope to find the joy, peace, and happiness that God intended for our lives. Keep on smiling!
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:3-9 New Living Translation (NLT)