Through the Fog: 6 Days of God's Goodness Amidst Physical Suffering, Chronic Pain, and Chronic Illnessமாதிரி

HEALING TRUTH

Pain teaches you to walk in your God-given identity as an overcomer.

DEVOTIONAL

While I was recovering from my second surgery, I taped a picture of Jackie Robinson to my front door. I wanted it to be the last thing I saw every morning as I headed out to take on the day. Jackie Robinson was the first African-American baseball player to compete in the MLB. He set a precedent for athletics based on ability, not skin color, and helped change the trajectory of our nation.

Robinson had to work ten, twenty, maybe 100 times harder than everyone else, just to be treated with an ounce of the respect that his white teammates garnered simply because they were born with a different skin shade than he was. Robinson didn’t complain, he didn’t have a pity party, and he didn’t retaliate against the naysayers, hate mail, and threats he received. He just bit his tongue, pulled on his uniform, and went to work.

We don’t get to choose the hands we get dealt in life, but we do get to choose how they’re played. Robinson didn’t choose his skin color and I’ll bet he didn’t ask to have to work harder than others, but he didn’t let that determine his fate. I didn’t choose to have my shoulder ripped from the bone at twelve years old or for doctors to not find my torn biceps until it was degenerating inside of me, but I didn’t let my story end there.

Jackie Robinson’s photo was the last thing I saw as I walked out of my apartment each day and headed to the athletic training room to complete my physical rehab. Just to even have a chance at swimming again through my fog, I had to heat my shoulder before practice, I had to ice it after practice, and I had to complete 2-3 hours of treatment and physical therapy each day.

Oh, what I wouldn’t have given to just show up for practice and be able to swim and give it my all like my teammates did! But comparing myself to my healthy teammates wasn’t going to change my reality. All I could do was buckle down, do what I needed to do to be able to compete and become an overcomer.

Most of the time, we don’t choose the circumstances life throws at us. We don’t get to choose whether or not the fog of physical suffering surrounds us. But we do get to choose how we respond to those circumstances. Overcomers in life do not change the status quo by excelling in favorable circumstances; they have figured out the art of flourishing amidst unfavorable circumstances, trials, and tribulations.

Maybe you’ve never seen yourself as much of an overcomer. But if you are a child of God, then your identity is exactly that. Romans 8:37 says that we are more than conquerors through Christ. There are a lot of people who try to overcome the fog of their suffering by sheer willpower. When we accept the work of Christ on the cross on our behalf, we don’t just get a ticket to heaven; we get the indwelling power and relationship of the Holy Spirit, who enables us to walk more and more in our God-given identities as we surrender to Him.

It doesn’t matter if we have more to overcome than others around us. It doesn’t matter if it takes us two hours to let our caretakers get us out of bed and ready for the day. It doesn’t matter if we have to turn to God fifty times a day in our desperate need for Him to force the darkness of our depression to flee. In our need, in our weakness, in our fog, God’s strength is made perfect (2 Corinthians 12:9). The very essence of who He is as an overcomer flows through our veins due to his sacrifice at Calvary.

Jackie Robinson’s jersey number was 42. Sometimes I’ll write 42 on a piece of paper, on the corner of my mirror, or as a reminder in a prayer when I feel like I’m facing unfavorable odds or the sin of comparison. Then I ask God to help me remain faithful to tapping into His overcoming power, no matter how much harder I have to work than everyone else. Will you join Team 42 with me?

PRAYER

God, I acknowledge that things might seem harder for me right now than they seem for other people. Please help me stop comparing my journey through the fog or my pain to someone else’s, and show me how I can overcome it through you. I pray against the spirit of pride, self-pity, and comparison in my heart and proclaim they have no place in your mighty presence. Give me the discipline to work at my daily tasks as unto you, not for other people. Please use this extra effort and time to turn me into the person you created me to be. In Jesus’ name, Amen.