Sometimes it’s not about where you are
standing today, but about where God already knows you are going tomorrow.
Like last August when I stood shocked
(and quite frankly, aggravated) at the pediatrician’s office as the
receptionist politely handed me back my new health insurance card and informed
me that they don’t accept the new company.
What?! Seven years I had been at
that practice. My children (and their
seven years of medical records) would now have to transfer and start over. The thought overwhelmed me. I pouted.
I screamed inside. I
panicked.
After turning to friends for
recommendations, I ended up at another wonderful practice and after some time
to cool down (or warm up to the thought, maybe), I reasoned that this was a
good change. I found a practice closer
to my home. I found a practice that
offered many of the similar features of our old pediatrician. Most importantly, I found a practice where
the receptionist would not reject my insurance card. In a day of age where having health insurance
is a tremendous blessing, this was key for our family. We needed to go where insurance would help
cover.
Just months after the switch, our oldest
son became quite ill. The new pediatrician was running all of the
tests he could, but with nothing showing, he needed to send us to a
specialist. This, of course, would take
time.
Within the next few weeks, our son became
even more lethargic. He began losing
weight. He constantly felt awful. His normal energetic personality was
changing, but not for the better. My
husband and I felt we needed to try something, and we weren’t certain waiting
until the specialist appointment would be helpful. We prayed.
We asked others to pray with us.
We asked if God would reveal to us what was wrong with our little
boy. We prayed for wisdom. We were seeking answers and hopeful for
healing.
Years prior at our OLD pediatrician’s
office, I had inquired about a gluten-free diet (our daughter was having issues
at that time and I tossed out the idea of maybe it being food-related). To my embarrassment, the doctor completely
shot down the idea, citing that going gluten-free would be “far more difficult
and probably unnecessary in the long run.” I left that day thinking nothing more on the
issue.
But our son’s symptoms now mimicked many
of the same ones complained about with gluten intolerances…rashes, nausea,
headaches, loss of appetite, weight loss, just to name a few of the nicer ones. After a brief discussion, my husband and I
decided that we would move forward with our own food challenge at home. We felt that we were being led by our Great
Physician, the One who truly knows, and we had peace about it.
In the end, going gluten-free is what
helped our son. We continued to pray and
praise God for the answers He was showing us!
We praised God for the many people He had already planted into our lives
that were now walking with us and cheering us on (and for the many already
gluten free families that breathed words of wisdom and encouragement into us;
what a HUGE blessing!). It was by no mistake that we had a circle
already of people who knew what we were going through. We praised God that our family was not another
statistic of an average of five to seven years before knowing for sure (testing
for gluten issues, particularly, are not always accurate, which often leads to
more confusion for those suffering). By
the grace of God, our son suffered only 5 months before it was revealed to us
what he needed. This was, and still is,
amazing to us.
After the food challenge, our son did
grieve briefly. Being old enough to know
this meant a lifestyle change came with some sadness for him. There were foods that would now have to be
“off limits”. I grieved with him. For him, my heart was sad. I didn’t want to see him hurting. As a
family, our whole kitchen and home had to be reconfigured. As head chef, I was going to have to learn
how to cook and prepare foods in a whole new way. Food had become our enemy. We were overwhelmed. Really
overwhelmed. But I also remember
very clearly clinging to God’s Word (what else could we do?!) and together
reciting WITH GOD, ALL THINGS ARE
POSSIBLE (Matthew 19:26). We don’t
know the why’s, but we can trust without a shadow of a doubt that God has
bigger and better plans than we can ever imagine (Jeremiah 29:11). God was in control and we needed to choose to
trust in HIM and HIM alone. After all,
He had already brought us this far!
The good news is that going gluten free
has not been as “difficult of a journey” as we were led to think a few years
ago. In fact, it has been far easier
than what we ever could have imagined! Based
on my experience with the topic a few years back, I can only guess that our
former pediatrician would not have been encouraging about the idea. What I love is that God removed that burden
and had already placed people in our lives that said, “You can do this.” God knew what we needed, well before we even
knew something was wrong. He had laid
the path.
I was aggravated and flustered when we
unexpectedly had to make a pediatrician switch.
I was not unhappy with our former doctor and was honestly (a little too)
comfortable there. I didn’t see any
reason for uprooting and starting over.
But God knew beyond that moment. He knew where we were going. He closed that door and opened a whole new
one for us to walk through. One, that we
can see now, held less friction. And it
is only because of Him that
we had faith to step through that open door.
More recently, we went back to the new
pediatrician to fill him in on what was revealed to us and how we were
game-changing on the food front. This
new doctor literally hugged us and with a huge smile on his face celebrated
with our family that our son was beginning a road to healing. He commented on how wonderful it was to see
such drastic change so quickly and how grateful he was that it was something
“simple” (quite a different word choice than our previous medical advisor,
ehe?). Come to find out, his own wife
was gluten free (something that had never come up in prior conversations). He proceeded to share with us some websites
that his family found helpful. Wow. I never even entertained the thought that
just maybe I could be unhappy with our old doctor.
Overwhelmed by God’s amazing mercy and grace…my
heart definitely fluttered that day. It was an affirmation for our family that God had
had bigger plans for us; bigger than an aggravated Momma a few weeks prior…bigger
than an office closer to our home…bigger than just a new insurance card. We were reminded of God’s great love for us,
and how He goes before us, walks with us, and remains with us after. All
glory to Him who led us to the very spot we needed to be!
We don’t always know the whys (which can
be so difficult, particularly in trials), but we can trust that God is in
complete control and that He holds purpose in our lives. With Him, all things are possible. And remember, for those who proclaim Christ
as their King, God promises to continue a work in us until the day of Christ’s
return (Phil 1:6). Those works look
different from person to person and from season to season, but we can always
trust the One who delivers them.
Are you aggravated with a situation you
find yourself in today? Is there some
inconvenience or struggle that you have prayed would be lifted or made to
vanish (and it’s not going away)? Is
there something that you are certain if it would just go away, things would be
better? Or maybe, like me, you find
yourself annoyed at some unexpected glitch in your plans for the day. Have you considered maybe that with God’s
plan, things could be even better?
No matter where you are, take time to
stop and thank God for His working in your life. Thank Him for your many blessings, but also
thank Him for allowing the annoyances.
They refine us, too. Out of love,
God is molding us to look more like Christ.
In the good or bad, don’t lose an opportunity to seek God’s face and see
Him within your situation. He
orchestrates even the tiniest of details in our lives. He is in perfect control.
I am so very grateful that God sees
things beyond what we can see. Our sight
is so extremely limited, but He knows all time…every moment passed and every
moment to come. I am also thankful that
He knows what we need, even before we need it (and that He loves us far too
much to give us merely what we want).
This is why sometimes it’s not about
where you are standing now, but about where God already knows you will be
going. That’s the encouragement I need
to change my perspective on where I find myself standing today. Today is easier to walk through when you
fully trust who holds your tomorrow.
Father,
Please
help me to fully trust in Your will for my life. Thank you for the tremendous blessings and
yet also thank you for the areas that cause me to squirm. Thank you for being in control, for guiding
me, and for reminding me that I can trust fully in where you lead. Thank you for having the perfect vision that
I will never possess. I want to be fully
rooted in Christ, growing in my faith, and I know that through these moments
you are lovingly molding me. Thank you
for your great love, for your perfect Son, and for your desire to make me more
in His image.
To
You be all the glory,
Amen
