Have you ever received God’s assurance that things will be okay? Laura shares.
“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:25-27)
“Everything will be okay even if you don’t work.”
What? Where did that come from? I was sitting in my favorite chapel–having had to leave my son’s Confirmation Mass several times due to the length of the celebration and the fact I can’t sit anywhere for too long without becoming symptomatic.
I was in serious shape, my arms and legs were heavy; the heavy feeling that comes before passing out. My brain was foggy, breathing labored and thoughts were turning towards how or if I was going to make it back to church.
I knew if I could walk the 20 yards to church I would warm up–as I was freezing. I had little strength to keep my body upright, let alone walk. So I stretched out on a pew in this beautiful St. Francis Chapel and prayed.
It was one of the first times during my illness I had found this recently-built chapel–adorned with statues of Jesus, Joseph, Mary and St. Francis of Assisi. I wondered if the emergency squad would need to carry me out or if I would walk on my own accord.
I was not frightened just tired from the long evening in which I saw my son receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation.
As I prayed, this message came to me as clear as ever:
“Everything will be okay even if you don’t work.”
Okay, what does this mean and why did I hear it at this moment? I wasn’t thinking about work, I was pondering whether I would stay conscious.
After hearing the message, I recovered enough to get back to church, warm up and eventually take some lovely family pictures with the bishop. I don’t remember conversations after Mass as I was still a bit fuzzy, but the photographs I have show pure joy on our faces.
And from that day forward while dealing with many uncertainties that came up as I prepared to retire from my job, I thought back to that night and the message I received. I admit there was anxiety but in my heart I knew that everything was going to be okay–because in that chapel I was told.
Prayer: Dear God, thank You for Your reassurance that things would work out for my family even if I did not work. You have provided for us and I thank You for that. Amen.
About the author:
Laura Seil Ruszczyk lives in New York with her husband and three kids. She retired from her job as an elementary school counselor in 2012. She is writing a book about her struggles with dysautonomia–a neurological condition in which the autonomic nervous system malfunctions, affected such things as blood pressure, heart rate, breathing and temperature regulation. She finds great comfort in praying often in the St. Francis Chapel at her church.
What reassurances from God have you received that you would like to share?
In this song Mandisa sings, “The Truth About Me.” It is a lovely song about how God sees us, regardless of how we see ourselves. I hope the tune and the lyrics touch you today and remind you how precious you are to Him. When you can begin to comprehend this–even just a little–you will believe that everything will be okay. -Lisa
What a special devotional Laura! Thanks. 🙂
Soooooo lovely to hear of your blessed testimony in that chapel & why it’s so very special to you there! VERY special when God speaks into your situation when you’re thinking of something else. I’ve had that too, always clearly God & just what I’ve needed to hear. Praise God for His voice amongst the noise of the world. May He continue to speak to us, as we draw away from the noise of the world. God bless. Lotsoluv Kerryn ♥
The message God spoke to me many years ago came at a time when I was feeling unworthy and unloved. Everything I thought I knew about my family – our public persona- had evaporated with the revelations surrounding my parent’s divorce. God spoke to me, saying “Before you were Larry’s* and before you were Betty’s* , you ARE MINE.!” I have carried that message with me ever since. To me it means that I am unique and beloved- precious in the eyes of my Heavenly Father. Through fire, flood, raising two special needs children, stalking, physical pain and many other challenges, when I was sure about nothing else in my life or faith, I have always had this very special promise as the bedrock and foundation of my relationship with God. My confidence in the truth of this promise has never been shaken, because God told me it is true!
*I have changed my parents names to honor their confidentiality.
Beautiful song. Thanks for sharing.
Great devotional, Laura!
I have dysautonomia as well. It is probably the hardest thing to describe to someone who doesn’t experience it – even more so than the rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia which I also have, as these have at least some recognition and information behind them. How cool that you are writing a book about it – I look forward to reading it!!
I have also heard God assuring me that everything will be OK even if I don’t work, which is really hard for me to understand now that I am a single mother. It really doesn’t make sense! But I have clearly heard from Him telling me to rest and have NOT heard from Him that I should be pursuing a job, although everything in my circumstances says I should be.
I also grew up Catholic, though not practicing any more, and the memories of Confirmation and praying in the chapel were warm ones.
Anyway, I appreciate you sharing your experience and thoughts.
This is beautiful!! Thank you, Laura!
I once heard God say a similar thing. It was before my chronic illness, but our baby was having serious growth and feeding problems. No doctor could figure out what was wrong with him. It was very difficult & emotional. But then God told me that our son would be okay but that we would find out what was wrong with him first. Sure enough, within 2 years, we found out what was wrong with him (different doctors in a different city), and then they helped us, and then he WAS okay! It turned out that he had “gastric delay,” something not many doctors knew about in babies at that time but our new city doctors had been researching. They knew what to do to help him “grow out of” the gastric delay. He is now 16 and 5 ft. 6 in. 🙂 Praise God for His faithfulness and His comfort to tell me everything would be okay.
What a wonderful experience for you! Thank you for the lovely devotional where you share it, too! I have not received such a verbal assurance but have been blessed with doctors who figured out my diagnoses as each condition arose, so perhaps I’ve not needed them. I have fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and dysautonomia, so like Julie am looking forward to your book as well.
Laura, I, too appreciated your devotional and all you had to share.
I could relate to the chapel as I often, when I am in downtown Seattle for doctor appointments, stop in at our St. James Cathedral. Though it is large ( compared to your chapel retreat ), there is a quietness when I am there that takes me back to my growing up days in the Catholic faith and the closeness I felt when in such settings.
What is most interesting to me in reading your devotional was getting to the end of it and your sharing that it was a “literal job” you were being led to quit that was in God’s message to you when you heard the exhortation: “Everything will be okay even if you don’t work.”
That was a great word for you to get from Him. But what I first felt as I read it was that “everything will be okay even if you don’t work” to FIGURE out everything. Isn’t that an area where we all struggle? We want to be able to figure out everything and how He is working good out of our challenges and our not “knowings” – be it whatever that is for each of us.
So – in both ways – wise words all around.
I have found that the times I have heard God the clearest is when I am not intentionally praying about what concerns me. I have prayed but it was not in the “praying time” the answer came and that was such a clear and peace-filled way to know it was Him and not me giving myself an answer I wanted!
Then, again, there are many answers still awaiting their/His time for revelation!
Love, Lynn
Beautiful Laura, thank you for sharing this precious moment and reassurance that our Father is in control. Blessings to you. Diane
What peace you must feel! Thank you for sharing such an intimate moment! You are a special lady!
Love,
Joanne O’C
Kerryn – thank you for writing. I like how you put it – ” God’s voice amongst the noise of the world.” Sometimes we have to remember to settle and listen. Blessings to you.
Robyn- “you are mine” – what an amazing message to hold on to through such trials. Thank you for sharing. God bless you.
Julie- yes, dysautonomia is difficult to explain and I am sorry to hear you too have it. Thank you for your kind words about the book and sharing your experiences. Blessings to you.
Christa- It is a great reassurance to “hear” from God although we still have feelings of anxiety and such. So glad to hear your sun is grown and well. Yes, praise God indeed.
Diane S. -so glad you have wonderful doctors but sorry you are in the dysautonomia “club.” I am hopeful to start a group for dysautonomia on RM once we change servers. Blessings.
Lynn- Cathedrals are beautiful, how lucky you can visit one. Great take on my message because yes, after our entire life is ultimately God’s plan not our’s. What I did not say in the devotional was I had just begun a sick leave from work a couple weeks prior to this and my life was totally up in the air. This message gave me amazing comfort and each time anxiety rose while I made life decisions – filling out paperwork, seeing doctors……I thought ” Everything will be ok even if I don’t work.”
Blessings to you Lynn and safe travels to downtown Seattle.
Diane K. -thank you for your kind words. God bless you.
Joanne- yes, I feel amazing peace every time I step in this chapel and definitely that day. I failed to note the date of this 10/4 – in the Catholic Church the feast of St. Francis. I guess that makes it even more special.
Thanks for commenting dear friend. Laura