limitations?

 every hurdle in our lives can be a gift or a curse...but only if YOU allow it!

I have had lupus as well as rheumatoid arthritis for over eleven years now. The first few years were the hardest. Before I was put on drugs that reduced the inflammation, I could barely walk, let alone lift a pencil, and yet I still worked two and three jobs to care for my family. Once I had the medication needed, I felt like I was 25 years old again! I was "free" of the pain! What disease, I thought. In the past two years the illness has reared it's ugly head once more. Due to the illness, my resistance is lowered. I have dealt with MRSA, (a nasty antibiotic resistant bacteria) cancer several times, as well as numerous other things. The medications have also lost their power and I once more have been reduced to struggling through my days.

I often asked God, "why? why do I have to deal with this?" 

GRRRR...then I remembered the Bible passage which says, "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." -2 Corinthians 12:10.

A reminder also came from Paul: 

I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations.  Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees.  No danger then of walking around high and mighty!  At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it.  Three times I did that, and then he told me,

‘My grace is enough; it’s all you need.

My strength comes into its own in your weakness.’

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen.  I quit focusing on the illness and began appreciating the gift.  It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness.  Now that I take my limitations in stride and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size -abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks... I just let Christ take over!  And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

 It doesn't have to be an illness, it can be any number of issues, maladies or setbacks that bring us down. A Job loss, a death, a sudden move...yet remember, it can make or break us. Instead of looking down...look up! and beyond! You can do this too, just as I have!
May the peace of our Lord be with you all!