This Bible verse says, "Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young.."
But the word "young" can also be substituted for other things that people use to look down upon us. For example,
- don't let anyone look down on you because you have an illness
- don't let anyone look down on you because you have a lower income
- don't let anyone look down on you because of your background
- don't let anyone look down on you because you did not go to college
The substitutions are limitless. Regardless of however people may be looking down upon you, this verse does not tell us to turn around and look down on them for being so condescending instead.
Instead, this Bible verse encourages us to be an example in "speech, behavior, love, faithfulness, and purity" in whatever circumstance we are in.
This week, let us strive to be an example for others.
Personally for me, I don't think people "look down" on me necessarily because of my illness, but I do feel like they do end up treating me like I am very fragile. But like I said in my last post, if you never try to spread your wings, you'll never learn to fly. Instead, I use my life example to change how other people perceive my illness.
People may tell you often that something is "not possible" or that "it will never work out." These are earthly terms. With God's terms, anything is possible. Through God, you can do anything through Him who strengthens you (Philippians 4:13).
When I was 17 years old, and had just recovered from a coma, the doctors told my parents that I probably had some brain damage and I would probably only be able to speak five words a day. The doctors started scheduling appointments for a speech therapist to speak with me. When my parents told me that I was only going to speak five words a day, I said: "What do you mean I can only speak five words a day?"
God's Words is always the last Word. Nothing is done until God says it is finished.
If others look down upon you for any reasons - your health, your income, your education, etc. - prove them wrong.
Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard when he was young. People probably looked down upon him for that. But then he became the founder of Microsoft.
Walt Disney was fired as a newspaper cartoonist for "lack of imagination." He then brought in billions of dollars from merchandise, movies, and theme parks
around the world.
Helen Keller was blind and deaf. Against all odds, she became a highly intelligent woman who wrote and spoke with powerful words to encourage other people.
When she was 13 years old, a young girl wrote in a diary that inspired the world. In this diary, Anne Frank wrote: "I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I’ve never met. I want to go on living even after my death! And that’s why I’m so grateful to God for having given me this gift, which I can use to develop myself and to express all that’s inside me!"
And if you are sick with an illness - like me - dare to believe that you can be God's exception.
My husband recently told me that when I was in the hospital last September, the doctors were testing me to check if I had been misdiagnosed because they said my disease presented itself "so strangely."
Apparently, with CNS vasculitis, it is common for people to have chronic symptoms of some sort every day, such as headaches, memory problems, and other neurological issues.
As for me, I have had three flare ups with CNS vasculitis - but never had a single symptom in between hospital treatments. The doctors thought that I must have been misdiagnosed...but I choose to believe, that again, God continues to work miracles in me.
"There is no foot too small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world..."....and there is no issue too small to God, that He cannot turn it around into one of His miracles.
Believe, and continue to strengthen your faith. Because faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).
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