Truth vs. Reality

As I watched the full moon tonight God reminded me of a lesson He shared with me last year. It’s one I needed to be reminded of during this tough week.

The full moon has always been the way God reminds me of His love for me. As I was dealing with my questions about healing during my bout with cancer and my continued struggle with RA, God used the moon to help me understand things more clearly.

When we look at the moon we see different things at different times. Sometimes we see a full moon. Sometimes we see a crescent moon. Other times we see nothing at all (new moon) and it’s as if the moon isn’t even there. That’s our reality. However, the truth is that the moon is always there. It is always a complete sphere. It is always whole. What we see is just our perception of the light that is reflected off the moon. While the truth doesn’t change, our perspective does.

Our walk as Christians is like that. There is God’s truth and there is our reality. We only see a part of what is true. God’s truth does not change because of our partial understanding. God does heal. His Word promises it. But in our reality, with our incomplete perspective, it’s easy to lose sight of His promises. We are still in pain, we still suffer and we get discouraged. We need to remember that this is not God’s will. It is not God’s punishment. (How I hate it when people attribute pain and suffering to our God). Rather it’s the reality of this world, but it is not the final truth.

During our struggles we must not loose sight that no matter what our reality is, God’s truth never changes. He is constant. When the pain and worries of this world overwhelm us, we need to quit focusing on them and instead focus on the truth that lifts us up. This is the way to seeing our truth replace our reality.

Pain and struggles will be with us until Christ’s return, but we have a choice in how we deal with them. Tonight I was reminded to stand up again, push past the pain, and turn my heart back to the One who loves me and says I’m healed. I choose to see the full moon.

A Lesson From Cancer

Cancer does strange things to you. I don’t just mean the obvious physical things, but emotionally and spiritually as well. For example I now know how strong I am and how close I came to breaking. On my own I would have broken. The weeks of sleeping for only 30 minutes at a time should have pushed me over the edge and indeed some times I thought I was there. But a funny thing happened there on the edge of sanity; I discovered that I am not alone.

I know, I know, I should have known that all along. Maybe it was the years of moving and always being the new kid. Maybe it was the low self-esteem I had for myself. But there were many times I felt alone in the world.  No matter what, now I have discovered that I am not alone. First of all, God had me even if at the time, I couldn’t seem to find Him. In fact I wondered if He was really a god who cared. Now I look back and see His hand extending beyond the ledge so I wouldn’t fall.

My husband was there. If nothing else good comes out of this horrible time, I know without a shadow of a doubt, my husband loves me. How does a marriage survive cancer, or a chronic illness or any crisis? My husband showed me the key, by laying down his life for me and the kids. Through it all, he was our family rock, Christ’s tangible hand in our lives. He showed that true love is loving someone more than yourself. I am honored to be his wife.

My children love me too. After years of pouring into their lives, during this time they poured back into my life. They took care of me and loved me in ways I still can’t comprehend. When the crazy woman replaced their mom, they still saw their real mom in there somewhere and encouraged me to rise to that. They loved me enough to know that what cancer did to me didn’t define me. They remembered the true me.

Finally I realized how many other people love and care for me. How do I know? Because they prayed for me and those prayers carried through one of the darkest nights of my soul. When I didn’t have enough faith of my own, they shared theirs and made me strong.

So what’s the point? First to say “thank you” and to bless all the wonderful people who helped me to walk through the cancer and not lose hope. (Or at least help me find hope when I lost it). The other reason is to encourage you to examine the relationships in your life; with God, with your spouse, with your children, with your friends. If those relationships are good-celebrate them, show appreciation for them and protect them. If those relationships aren’t good, then find a way to improve them. Read a book on marriage or parenting. Seek professional counseling. Purpose in your heart to make things better. Don’t wait for a crisis to reveal what is right in front of you. Don’t wait for a crisis to find out there’s nothing there.

So, while I wouldn’t wish cancer on my worst enemy, I’m grateful for the lessons it has taught me. What are you learning today?

Wendy

The First Day

Well, today a new season of my life begins. I am officially blogging. I’ve been wanting to do this for awhile, but it just hasn’t been right. I finally feel the timing is right.

First a little bit about myself. My name is Wendy. I’m a wife, a mother, a homeschooler, a small business owner, a seminary student, a cancer survivor and a woman with a chronic illness. I want to blog about my life, the lessons I’ve learned over the years and what God is teaching me. One of my life goals is to live a joyful, thankful life, hence the name of my blog. I’m hoping that as I share it might help someone else get a little closer to a joyful life.

I welcome your comments and input. Thanks for stopping by.

Wendy