Today’s blog post comes straight from day 2 in the book “Devotions on Diabetes: A 30-Day Journey to Anchor Your Soul” which can be found on Amazon. More information HERE.
A quick glance at my continuous glucose monitor (CGM) can ultimately help me see how to look at life with diabetes differently. Here’s what I mean…
IF LIFE WERE A CGM
If daily life were a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) graph, this graph on the left is what I expect my average day to look like. I’m a planner by default, a scheduler of all things. I can look ahead and know what we will have for dinner later in the week, when I have appointments of any kind, days our daughter has softball games, and so much more. I generally go to bed at night having a pretty sure feeling of what the next day will hold.
What’s more interesting is the graph I would show you that represents my day when it’s over. It would look much more like the graph on the right.
Not all that close, is it? Even though I prepare for the day, life has a way of finding its own course. An unexpected meeting is scheduled at work. A disagreement happens with a close friend. The fridge quits working. A child gets sick. The car tire goes flat. The stuff of life can derail your day.
And of course we all deal with the diabetes stuff on top of daily life as well. You run into an issue at the pharmacy. Your blood sugar isn’t cooperating and you aren’t sure why. You spend what seems like hours on hold for a doctor’s office or insurance representative. You experience a blood sugar low while exercising and have to stop to treat it. It’s all the things. Life with diabetes can be hard.
IT’S THE SAME WITH GOD
It’s the same concept in our walk with the Lord. We expect the line of what will happen in our spiritual life to be pretty straight and even. People tend to think the moment they are lifted out of the waters of baptism that the angels will sing (they do), our troubles will fade away (they don’t), and life as a follower of Jesus will just be…easy (it’s not).
Why do we expect that? There’s nothing in the Bible that promises anything close to an easy life with no troubles. In fact, scripture tells us the opposite.
Consider it joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…
James 1:2
James, the brother of Jesus, tells us to find joy in our trials. Not if you face trials, but when you face trials. So if we are bound to face challenges, how do we find joy in them? His direction seems counterintuitive at first. But the answer for us is in the very next verses:
…because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:3-4
Times of trial help us grow. James is encouraging us to embrace those moments and look to God to help us grow through them.
Life doesn’t always go as we plan, does it? Over time the tides can change. You can’t stop the waves from coming, but you can learn to look at them through a different lens. Those waves are opportunities for you to trust and follow God, and for Him to work in your heart and mind.
Remember today what Jesus told us in the gospel of John.
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
John 16:33
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
What expectations do you have with diabetes? What expectations do you have of God?
How would looking at challenges through James’ lens be helpful?
God, thank You for Your ability to see things I can’t see. Thank You for the big picture of Your grand story. And thank You for using the struggles in life to shape and mold me, to bring good out of the challenge. Help me to have a big-picture perspective more often. And thank You, Jesus, that You teach me and give me this wisdom I can carry in my daily life. Thank You that You have overcome the world! Amen.
Further Reading: Proverbs 4:25-26, Romans 5:3-5
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