“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit’” (Jeremiah 17:5, 7-8).
Illness stinks, long-term illness. . . well, it stinks even more. It’s bad enough being sick, but then there is that nagging worry about not doing anything worthwhile. Being useless. (Whimper.)
Fortunately, we are never useless. Everyone has a purpose in God’s kingdom. Thankfully, God doesn’t define us by what we can do, but what we will allow Him to do through us.
God is not impressed by physical strength. He only asks we trust Him and place our faith in His strength and His might. Paul shared that in his weakness God was strong. And fortunately God does not look at outward strength; He looks at inner strength. And inner strength is freely supplied by Him in limitless quantity.
“The Lord gives strength to his people. . .” He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak” (Psalm 29:11, Isaiah 40:29).
Strange as it may sound, some of my best times were when I was too ill and weak to do anything but lay in bed talking to God. In the darkness, God’s light shined all the brighter. And in those moments, I learned that regardless of circumstances, we’re never useless. Every breath taken has a purpose.
What a blessing that no matter where we are physically, we can focus on God who makes all things possible. We can spend time with Him, pray, read His word, and get to know His heart. We can be available to others. For in encouraging others we find encouragement. Even when our world is shaken, we can find strength in God’s solid foundation.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, let us rise like a phoenix above the ashes of life’s circumstances. Let us leave a trail leading straight to heaven’s door.
About the Author:
Lisa Buffaloe is a madly in love with God, Christ-follower, happily-married, mom, writer/blogger/speaker. God has helped her through molestation by a baby-sitter, assault, rape, divorce, cancer, death, seven surgeries, and years of chronic illness due to Lyme Disease. For more information, please visit www.LisaBuffaloe.com
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Lisa–how encouraging! What a wonderful post! I have Crohn’s Disease, which went undiagnosed for years before they figured out what was wrong. Then I went through years more of trying to bring it under control. During that time, “useless” was about the best way to describe me.
I still have flare-ups now and then, still have to endure surgeries which add to my roadmap-tummy, but the realization God still has a purpose for me is an incredible blessing!
Lisa – You have expressed this wonderful truth so clearly and personally. Our world woships the strength, beauty and “success” of mortal human beings. We Christians battle with this concept constantly. As Romans 12:2 says, we need to “be transformed by the renewing of (our) mind” and god has used you to do that with this devotional.
Thanks so much.
Sorry for the typo. That should definitely be “God”, with a capital “G”!
Linda, how grateful I am for a God who sees beyond human perception and wisdom. I love that He loves us for who we are — regardless of what we do!
Thank you, Beth. Isn’t it amazing how God loves us in spite of our human weakness and frailties!