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In 2014, I was diagnosed with Amplified Pain Syndrome, or Fibromyalgia. i was 14 years old. Fibromyalgia usually begins in adulthood, not as a high school student. Even though I was supposed to be enjoying my freshman year, I couldn’t get out of bed in excruciating pain.
It was clear that God was trying to change the course of my life, but I trusted Him and didn’t want to let go. Life didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to, and I started to question if he was good and loving.
After a year of physical therapy, things started to go back to where they were. I was hearing voices. Three weeks into his freshman year of college, I dropped out and moved home.
You are not defined by your struggles, God makes you grow through your struggles. (iStock)
It’s safe to say that my life didn’t turn out the way I thought or planned. I’m sure there is at least one thing that happened to you. It’s also the one that changed the trajectory of your story, whether it’s a struggle or an unexpected twist. It’s easy to think we can’t take our story back from there, but there is hope.
I am a Catholic priest and found God while cooking in the kitchen
Here are three things God taught me through the twists and turns of my story.
Your diagnosis or struggle is neither the end of your story nor the definition of your story.
My hopes of having a “normal life” that I had planned changed after my diagnosis. But what I learned was that my diagnosis was not the end of my story, but an important part of how God intended me to accomplish so many things in my life.
You are not defined by your struggles, God makes you grow through your struggles. If I hadn’t been diagnosed, I wouldn’t have the testimony I have today. I wouldn’t have the faith I have today. Remember that God wastes nothing and redeems everything.
It may feel like everything is falling apart, but God holds it all together.
Life can feel crumbling when the unexpected happens, when plans don’t play out the way you hoped, or when you encounter hardships. Easy, but control is a false sense of security.
On the other hand, we are free to surrender to God and trust Him to guide our lives. Even if you can’t see him, trust that he’s putting everything together and always working for you behind the scenes. I learned that it is God’s way of reminding me to rely on God instead.
Your weaknesses are not burdens or shortcomings.
The world teaches us that weakness and poverty are flaws. The world tells us that we don’t need help because we have the power to ‘reveal our destiny’. But what happens when you are hit by illness, struggle, or confronted with your own humanity?
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There is nothing wrong with us needing God and help. It’s a blessing. Let’s not burden ourselves with the weight of the world. God wants to carry it for us. With your surrender and trust in him, he will do a lot more than you have planned for yourself.
Through it all, I wondered if God was really in control, and if He even cared about my story. Trust was the answer and surrender was the way.
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