Yes, But Wait

It has been a few months since I received my diabetes diagnosis. Since then I have heard the word “No!” more often than I expected. Quite often I’ve heard it from my family who gently and lovingly remind me that my diet must change. At times it has also come from my church family, all of whom have my best interest at heart. I’ve also heard myself saying it. For example, I’ve had to tell myself “No!” when I feel the urge to eat seven or ten cookies. The most disappointing “No!” came from my health insurance provider who declined a request for a constant glucose monitor. Among the long list of reasons was something about me not demonstrating an understanding of the need to take glucose readings. (Why else would I want a constant glucose monitor?) But there is One who has not said “No.” Instead, He said “Yes, but you have to wait.”

I received this in answer to my first response after receiving my diagnosis. Okay, maybe it was my second response. My first response was asking myself how I could be so stupid. (For the record diabetes has nothing to do with intelligence.) My second response was to ask God for healing. I even wrote about my healing in my post “All Things Work for the Good: Even Diabetes.” I was ready for a quick turn around, looking forward to that day when I could brag about being healed. But then I “heard” God’s answer. It was not anything audible but God found a way to make His answer clear. As I said in the first paragraph, that answer was, “Yes, but you have to wait.”

In the meantime God wants me to learn to trust in Him as He helps me live in victory over the diagnosis. That’s a little different than being completely healed. It’s a recognition that I am a diabetic but I am not a slave to my condition. God’s grace is sufficient and by His grace I have access to His wisdom when it comes to how I should live. By His grace I am still enjoying life, just with fewer calories. In Christ I’ve been empowered to move my A1C from a 14 to under 7 in less than a year.

I still believe God will heal me of diabetes, if not while I am on this earth than later during the eternal life which He has promised me. Until then, God’s grace is sufficient. (2 Corinthians 12:9)