How Has God Provided Hope Restored for You?

Has God ever give you hope restored after years filled with losses and griefs? Laura shares.

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible'” (Matthew: 19:26).

Have you ever accomplished something that logically you know shouldn’t have occurred?

There are many moments when I’ll stand still and lose my footing. If I twirl I instantly become dizzy and feel off balance. Roller coasters, elevators, escalators , and driving in a car through mountains all invoke dizziness.

This is common for someone with dysautonomia. So there is no logic to my ability to ride my bicycle again after a nearly two-year drought.

I had begun to joke that God would have a bike ready for me if I made it to heaven because I had missed it so much here on earth. But then remarkably–after resigning myself to riding a stationary model–God allowed me back on my road bike.

Stubbornness got the best of me and I tried out my bike before pacemaker surgery a year ago. To my surprise, I could ride a short distance before becoming symptomatic.

Since then, I slowly worked my mileage up and now I can comfortably go five miles before becoming symptomatic. While this is not the distance I was accustomed to before chronic illness, I marvel at the fact I can balance on my two-wheeler and feel this freedom once again.

But it is different this time. You see, this is the second time in my life I have lost the luxury of biking; the first was for a year in 2007 from a back herniation.

This time I take nothing for granted. When I strap my helmet on and let my legs direct my path, I marvel at this gift from God. I am well aware that each ride could be my last, but for now I take it one day at a time–smiling, pedaling and giving all the glory to God.

Prayer: Dear Lord, with You all things are possible, hope is restored. Without You our lives our empty. Thank you for Your never-ending support and love. Amen.

About the author:
Laura Seil Ruszczyk lives in New York with her husband and three kids. She retired from her job as an elementary school counselor in 2012. She is writing a book about her struggles with dysautonomia–a neurological condition in which the autonomic nervous system malfunctions, affected such things as blood pressure, heart rate, breathing and temperature regulation.

How has your hope been restored?

This is “All I Want” with Geoff Moore. This song is a praise to the Lord about how all we want is Him. Some people may think this sounds a little to simplistic–do we really only want Jesus? Yes, because we have lived with other “stuff” and have found that there is no meaning, no joy in it, unless we have the Lord in our life–fully. I hope it blesses you today. -Lisa