CH-BOLC: Rising Above

Well I went back to the hospital on post for my breathing test today. Officially, the results concluded that I do not have asthma. Strangely enough, I wasn't sure whether to receive this as good news or bad news. When the doctor began to suggest (however tactfully) that perhaps my symptoms were psychosomatic and just a result of anxiety, or that they might disappear when I continue to exercise more, I felt my defenses revving up. To suggest this was all in my head or just because I wasn't in good shape felt insulting. I actually found myself wishing the results had been different for no other reason than to legitimize what I've been experiencing physically.

{*insert sound of record screeching*}

Hold on. Time out. What?? I was actually wishing I had asthma? What is that!??!

I'll tell you what that is: that is the enemy trying to psych me out ... again. How in the world is being diagnosed with asthma the desired result here? The truth is, maybe the medicines my doctor has had me on are doing what they're supposed to. Or maybe, just maybe, the God who created these lungs may just have healed me. How about that?

¹ Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

² Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-

³ who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,

⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,

⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Psalm 103:1-5

I must not forget all His benefits. I will not allow the enemy to convince me this good news is somehow bad. Today, God kept me from being labeled. He kept me from having the option of blaming some disease or illness for my performance. He showed me YET AGAIN that He is bigger than anything I may come up against.

Forget that I have not done much PT in the last two weeks. I'm going to take the diagnostic PT test this Friday confident that my Creator provides every breath, He empowers every step, He strengthens every muscle. He will renew my youth like the eagle's. (My platoon, interestingly enough, is "the screaming eagles".) So come Friday I will soar above discouragement, fatigue, doubt, and anything else the enemy wants to throw at me.

And the only label I will allow to be placed on me is this one:

God's.