Tags
Adrenal Fatigue, Christ, Contentment, Discipline, Faith, Glorifying God, God the Father, Life, Self-Discipline
As some of you already know, I have fairly recently discovered that I have a case of adrenal fatigue. Over the past year, my ability to think, to read, to write, to focus, to sleep, to be able to concentrate on anything, has gradually diminished to where it is sometimes difficult for me to hang on to a conversation. This is why I haven’t been posting very frequently–more often than not, I’ve not really quite been able to think clearly enough to write with much coherence. Healing from adrenal fatigue often takes about a year or so–there is no “quick fix” for such a disrupted physiological state.
But one thing is for sure and certain: “the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake.” ~I Samuel 12:22
In every difficulty that comes our way in life, in every time of testing, during every occasion for re-evaluating ourselves, in every situation in life, whether pleasant or hard, the Lord God of heaven and earth is in the midst of it, working it to our good–for this is his good pleasure. Additionally, there are those times where, especially in diseases and difficulties when the body is ill or out of balance, it can be hard to distinguish the influence of the body upon the heart and visa-versa. Nevertheless, it is for his name’s sake that our heavenly Father carries us through all the rough places.
It is also good for us to remember our Lord Jesus Christ this during such times, as the writer of Hebrews reminds us: “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood…It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?…For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those have been trained by it.” ~Hebrews 12:3-4, 7, 11
It is a wonderful thing to understand that all the events in our lives are part of his disciplining us and preparing us for entering into his presence–even if we don’t always understand why or how they serve to his glory. For he knows–and in that we must remain content, thus displaying that childlike faith that fully trusts our Father, not only to provide for us, but also to work all things out for his glory and our good, day by day.
This reminds me of what Naomi told Ruth, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today” (Ruth 3:18). Even so, all matters are in the hands of the God of glory, before whom we often must wait quietly, as did Ruth, leaving things in his hands to bring to completion. For true, that is easy to say, but more difficult to apply to our own hearts and in the complicated situations in which we often find ourselves in life. We too often wish to be in charge of our own disciplining and course in life–but it is in the midst of the Father’s perfect discipline that we must learn the self-discipline of true, believing faith.