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What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
- Pastor Daniel Krebs
- Apr 7
- 3 min read
Happy Monday to our CFC family! This morning, I met up with former colleague of mine from when I worked for Adult and Teen Challenge. After some small talk, I asked her how her hearing issues were doing. Like me, she suffered from hearing loss and tinnitus and while I lost my hearing back in 2007, her condition developed only in the past couple of years. As she shared some of the frustrations that she’s was currently facing, it brought me back to my own dark moments almost twenty years ago. When I first lost my hearing and developed the constant ringing of tinnitus, I honestly thought I was going to lose my mind. The unrelenting ringing in my ears, combined with the difficulty of understanding what others were saying, took me to a place both spiritually and emotionally where I believed I might never recover. I remember nights when I was lying in bed with tears streaming down my face, wondering how I would survive. It was during those early days that I had many people praying for me, and even others who gave me a “Word from the Lord,” saying I was about to experience divine healing. While I knew they meant well, their words lingered in my mind, filling me with hope that unfortunately never seemed to materialize. Those unfulfilled promises only deepened my sense of disillusionment and despair. I questioned God’s power, my faith and especially my calling. How could I minister to others when I myself was living through such misery in my head. Looking back on these almost twenty years with this condition, I find it amazing how my faith not only survived, but grew deeper and more committed not ‘despite’ my health issues but because of them. In James1:2-4, we read the following; “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the tests of your faith produces preseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lack anything.” That last statement of letting, “perseverance finish its work so that you my mature…” really is the key to all of every trial in our lives as believers. Too many times we give up before perseverance is able to, “finished it’s work.” To use my favorite pastime as an example, it’s almost like pulling your fishing line out of the water just seconds before the fish strikes, convincing yourself that the fish aren’t biting that day. I can’t really explain how I am different from my ailment, I just know that I am. Rather than becoming more a more bitter over time, I just decided to began to surrender my ailment to God. And it’s this surrender that I believe caused me to became more and more reliant on him, because the truth is, I wouldn’t have made it this far without him. Nearly 20 year later, I still pray for healing, yet I have stopped trying to figure out why these things had to happen. Everyone of us has and will experience trials in life. These moments are unavoidable and really inevitable. Yet the one thing that we can all avoid as believers is becoming bitter in our walk with God. Patience with God and love for our fellow man only develops through trial. It’s what gives us spiritual “calluses” to handle even bigger difficulties down the road. This morning, as I listened to my dear friend share her frustrations about her hearing issues. I gave her an encouraging word that we all need to remind ourselves of. “It will get better.” I said, “Slowly but surely, your mind will learn to adjust and adapt to your new normal.” Pain and trials never really go away but they do change us. And with the power of God, that change can develop into something very beautiful. Question: Can you think of trials that at the time made no sense but in the end they made you stronger? Have a blessed week and we’ll see you this coming Palm Sunday! |
Christian Fellowship Church 417 Hanover Street Steinbach, MB R5G 0G0 Church Office: 204-326-2228 http://christianfellowshipchurch.ca Want to change how you receive these emails?You can update your preferences or unsubscribe |