Don’t You Wish?

Don’t you wish there was a way to text God? You know, like you do your family or friends? You could text Him when something is bothering you and He would text back encouraging words, or better yet, just take care of the problem. When you are lonely, you could text Him and He would make you feel like your best friend is right there with you in the same room. When you’re sick, you could text Him and He would either bring over chicken soup or at least send happy faces that would make you feel better. When Myasthenia Gravis gets you down, you could text Him and He could make your symptoms disappear and make you feel strong and resilient again.

We have better than texts with God; we have prayer. No matter where we are or what we’re doing, all we need to do is pray to Him. We don’t need cell service or wifi. We don’t need a phone or a tablet. We just need our hearts.

In our impatient world, we often struggle because sometimes it appears God isn’t responding quickly enough. We feel that same level of frustration when we text a friend and they don’t respond immediately. We don’t know if they didn’t receive it or if they’re ignoring us. God never ignores us.

The other difference is when we text a friend, they may offer encouraging words, but they may not completely understand what we’re going through, and they usually can’t offer solutions. After all, they’re only human. And sometimes they respond in a completely inappropriate way or the advice they offer turns out to be bad advice.

God never gives bad advice and He understands completely. He’s never impulsive. He never ignores us because He’s too busy. He never says things just to pacify us. He’ll never turn on us. He’ll never ignore us because He’s with other friends. Sometimes when it seems like He’s not responding right away, it’s because He wants us to slow down and think things through. And when He provides solutions, you can take them to the bank because He has the power to do anything.

There may be times when we struggle in our faith. We don’t understand why God would allow us to get MG or experience any other kinds of struggles in our life. We may never completely understand why; we just need to know that God has a plan and whatever that plan might be, He’s going to be right there with us.

There’s a family that goes to our church where the husband/father has what appears to be ALS. He’s in a wheelchair and completely unable to move or take care of himself. He’s brought to church by his wife and two young kids. His mother and father are always waiting for them in the pew when they arrive. When I see him, I’m reminded how lucky I am. I often think how much I would hate being in his shoes and not being able to control my body. I don’t know how aware he is mentally, but I like to think that he is well aware of everything going on around him. At the same time, I realize how terrible it would be to be trapped in a lifeless body with a vibrant mind.

When the family goes to communion, that’s when it really hits me. They leave him in his wheelchair parked in the aisle as each of the family members proceed to the altar for communion. As they return, each of them stops and gives him a kiss on the forehead to let him know how much they love him. If his mind is as active as I hope it is, he has to relish these moments and all the other moments with his family. He may be a prisoner to his disease and cut off from life, but each and every day he gets to feel the love of his family. His family members show him God’s plan is working. This family seems closer and more loving than any family I’ve ever seen. That’s their gift from God.

I would bet this man has had a lot of conversations with God and although God has yet to command him to “Rise up and walk”, he hasn’t lost his faith and neither has his family. Think for a moment how difficult this would be, yet with God’s help, they are making it work.

I’ve always believed that when you think your life is rough, look at those around you. What you typically discover is there are people with problems everywhere and some of those problems are greater than yours.

Sometimes it’s easy to get down when you have MG. You find yourself thinking “Why me?”. You start seeing yourself as a victim. You start believing God isn’t listening because He hasn’t lifted this burden; He hasn’t delivered a cure.

When you see someone like the man in my church with ALS or any other kind of debilitating disease, you realize MG isn’t the worst thing that can happen. When you see people stricken with cancer, you realize you may be battling a disease, but at least you’re not fighting for your life. Even if you’re already in a wheelchair, you still probably have it better off than most of these people.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s no fun having Myasthenia Gravis, but it’s not the end of the world, at least until God says so. Let’s not treat it like it is. Text God through your prayers and keep praying to Him. Ask Him for strength and determination. Ask Him to show you the path He wants you to take and then follow the path He has given you. And if the path still isn’t clear, then just keep praying because one day it will become clear. You have MG for a reason. It’s not a punishment. It’s not because you’ve done something wrong. It’s because it’s God’s plan. Maybe it’s to bring your family and friends closer together. Maybe it’s to help others. Maybe it’s to bring you closer to Him. Whatever it is, He’ll make it happen.

Pray and stay strong in your faith. There’s so much strength in prayer.