In my last Life Lessons post, I talked about submitting to God's will and I got a lot of feedback on how submitting isn't always easy because trusting is hard. God respects boundaries and is very intentional with us. He knows how hard it is for us to give out trust and because he understands just how important it is for us to trust him, he works to earn our trust.

Abraham's Example

I think about Abraham's story a lot and how God asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac whom he had waited years to have. Abraham obeyed God without as much as a complaint and I repeatedly asked myself how he got to the point where he could give up the most precious thing in his life so easily.  

I recently got some understanding of this story as I read it again. Abraham did not get to the point of total submission in a day. God had over the years brought Abraham to this point by earning his trust and proving himself faithful in other aspects of his life.

If you recall, God asked Abraham to take his family from his home and move to a foreign country. Abraham obeyed and God blessed him richly because of it. Abraham and his wife Sarah were way past child-bearing age when God told him they would have a son. This was not the easiest thing for Abraham to believe and even though he had his doubts about this one, God showed up and showed out in the form of Isaac. There are many more instances where Abraham trusted God and God blessed him for it. So by the time God asked him to sacrifice his son, Abraham had gotten to the point where he trusted God completely, knowing that God's plan is always beautiful.

Trusting God with my Health

I think about my life sometimes and wonder if I would have the same blind faith as Abraham did if God asked me for something equally big. I would love to say yes, without hesitation I would give anything at any time. The truth is that I actually don't know. What I do know is that I am growing in trust every day and this makes it easier to submit my will to God. I sometimes have doubts, but I tell him about them and he does his thing in sometimes really subtle ways. There are days I wake up to find that that some doubts I struggled with the week before have completely disappeared.

There are things I now trust God with that would have been nearly impossible for me to do 2 years ago. One aspect of my life that God has intentionally won my trust with is my health.

Dealing with Photophobia

In 2015, I was diagnosed with photophobia (light sensitivity) and had to start wearing glasses for it. My eyes could not stand light. I had been having debilitating headaches for a while before I was diagnosed and it got so bad that I used to wear shades indoors and cover my eyes with a blindfold just to avoid the light.  For the next 4 years, after I was diagnosed, I was extremely dependent on my glasses and only took them off to have a bath or to sleep. Staying without them for even 30 minutes ensured that I would spend the rest of the day suffering a headache.

This went on until late 2019 just after my wedding, I had misplaced my glasses in all the wedding preparation and had gone on without it for a while. It wasn't until I resumed work without them and my colleague started making fun of me about how marriage had cured my eyesight that I realized I didn't need my glasses anymore. I was working as a UX Designer at the time and was in front of the computer screen for a minimum of 10 hours a day and yet not a twinge of headache. This has been the case to this very day. The way it happened, I don't know but I know it was God who did it and I am super grateful for it.

Healing from Menstrual Cramps

From the moment I experienced my very first menstrual cycle, it had always come with extreme pain which was characterized by puking, rolling all over the place, and sometimes wishing I was dead. I always ensured I took painkillers 2 to 3 days before my period started because once it did, everything I put in my mouth would come out as puke.

Just before I got pregnant, I decided to trust God even more with other aspects of my health, one of which was menstrual cramps.  I was frightened out of my mind because I had gotten so dependent on these painkillers that they had become an anchor that got me through the dreaded monthly pain. What if it didn't work? What if I missed the timing to take my drugs and then have to go through the almost unbearable pain for nothing? I committed this fear into God's hand and after a while, it became a case of if I perish, then I perish.

So a few days to my period, I found a couple of scriptures on healing which I saved. On the morning of the first day of my period, I sat down and prayed. Then my period came. I kept reciting the scripture verses I had saved at intervals throughout the day, and for the very first time in years, I went through that day with no drugs, very minimal pain, and no puking. Brothers and sisters, I even ate very well that day.

Conclusion

These are the two most recent encounters I have had with God when it comes to healing and I have also shared how I got pregnant so easily after my wedding even when doctors thought it would be difficult. God saw me through my first trimester and has been with me throughout this pregnancy, I keep holding on to God's word because he is the same God that healed my sight and saved me from cramps. He had proven himself in those instances. So whenever I falter, I remember all that he has already done and this helps strengthen my faith every single time.