More from Kaitlin Potts

Being sick put a lot of things into perspective for me. Maybe a bad grade and a flopped social media post weren’t that important when the doctors were down the hall telling my parents to prepare for the worst. I was placed on a feeding tube and more medicines than I can recount. I didn’t realize at the time that the thirty-plus incurable diseases I was diagnosed with had focused me on what was most important: Jesus Christ.

That happened about eight years ago. I was healed of tumors, diseases, and most notably an incurable foot disease. Jesus saved my life physically, and more so, spiritually.

The last year has been filled with Bible college, church work, and the blessing of sharing Christ wherever I go as I prepare for my graduation in the spring.

In the process of writing this meditation, I realized the blessings God had given me had also tested me. Life wasn’t suddenly easy because I was healthy physically. Instead, as life got busy, it was easy for things like unforgiveness and sin to go unchecked in my heart. It still astounds me how easy it is for my heart to become impure when I’m not paying close attention. Complaining, bitterness, jealousy, and all kinds of sins creep in simply because I’m an imperfect person around imperfect people.

It wasn’t long ago that I realized I needed another adjustment to my heart when I was cut off in traffic. I know I need to pray for God to bless and protect the drivers who cut me off instead of praying for them to get a huge ticket!

When I became well enough to have strength, I had to remember that relying on my own strength was not sustainable. I couldn’t have a pure heart on my own. I needed God’s help to deal with the sins and problems that I was beginning to carry around with me.

As I continue to press toward where I feel God is calling me to go and get excited about my graduation, the difficulties that pop up in life still keep me focused on the only person who really matters: Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can do anything about what I face, and the only one who can give me all that I need to face it. He gives me the faith I need to be genuine with him so I can draw near to God in prayer and worship.

Life continues to be unstable as I am told by doctors that I’ll need another minor surgery. Yet God keeps reminding me of the incredible fact that life isn’t meant to become easier, but my dependence on Christ grows stronger. I know I am depending on the one who is more than able to heal, deliver, and be with me through it all. Despite all the wonderful gifts and blessings that having my health has afforded me, I have found the most wonderful gift of all is drawing near to the One who created me.