I've often wondered what God wants to teach me through the unexplainable physical health problems I've been having. I don't really understand how or why I have Degenerative Disk Disease (DDD) at such a young age, but this week, God did give me a new level of acceptance.

DDD only has the power to take so much. It may take my comfort, some of my range of motion, and some of my physical abilities, but it cannot take my reaction - it cannot take away my smile, gratitude, or praise. For a while, I focused so much on what I can't do. I can't run or hike or squat or deadlift. I can't snowboard or surf or climb or jump.

Because of my focus, I allowed this trial to take more than it had to and more than it had the power to take. DDD cannot take my smile, it cannot take my gratitude, and it cannot instill self-pity. By switching my focus to what I can do, DDD has such limited power over my life and my choices. I may not be able to run, but I can walk. I may not be able to do many things I love, but I can still smile, and I can still praise.

Don't let trials take more from you than they have to.

Ecclesiastes 2:10 says, "...I took pleasure in all my struggles. This was my reward for all my struggles."

Even though I may be in pain or going through a trial, why make it worse on myself by focusing on what I can't do? Why water seeds of bitterness and self-pity when I have the choice to sow seeds of gratitude and thanksgiving?

I have the choice to do that. There is a list of things I cannot do, and I'm going to be in pain for many days, but I will choose to reward myself by praising the Lord and focusing on what He has graciously given me the ability to do. I will water and cultivate seeds of gratitude and thanksgiving instead.

Who in their right mind after pulling a muscle in their back would deem themselves paralyzed and request a wheelchair? That is essentially what I do when I let DDD take not just my physical abilities but my spiritual ones as well.

Even in the midst of pain and hardship, we are able to choose reward. How amazing is God? He owes us nothing. But in any trial, we have the choice to look outside of ourselves and our pain and to look to our reward.

We have not only eternal reward but also instantaneous reward. We get to spend eternity praising the Creator, but we also get to right now! I don't want to allow anything to rob me of that, and I have the power to make that choice. No disease, injury, illness, emotion, or circumstance has power or control. I do, and so do you.