Day 20
“If you abide in my word, you are my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
-John 8:32
“There is no cure,” said the doctor said when he diagnosed me with Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) 20 years ago.
I prayed for healing initially but gave up. If God wanted to heal me, wouldn’t He have done so already? Since God wasn’t healing me (so I thought), and because I didn’t believe I could grow stronger, I started intermittent fasting and reduced my carbohydrates in a bid to reduce my weight. I soon gave that up.
My wife then encouraged me to hit the gym. I told her: “I have FSHD – there is no cure. I can’t get stronger, it’s scientifically impossible. The very definition of FSHD is weakening, not strengthening!” Knowing that I wasn’t going to budge, she made an appointment for me to have a trial Pilates class. I went ahead just to get her off my back.
To my amazement, my muscles were “activated”. After a few months, I could carry Theodore, our youngest son weighing 14kg. I did not realise God’s miraculous strengthening until six months later when Abraham, our third boy (21kg) exclaimed excitedly, “Papa, you can carry me now!”
The truth sets us free. If we believe in lies (that we cannot grow stronger if we have FSHD, or that I have sinned so seriously that I am beyond redemption or I must be perfect to be a leader), we will be paralyzed.
One of the biggest lies peddled to us is that we do not need God. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14.1) The truth is, we need God; and we need Jesus to save us from the lie that we have no sin or can save ourselves. We simply cannot get enough of Jesus – he is the one who sets us free.
Victor Wu🙏