I recently went through an illness known as, “Hand Foot Mouth Disease.” Internet sources will tell you that it is only common among children, and that if adults get it, it is usually a mild form of it. I just want you to know that that is horse radish (pardon my dressing). Let’s just say, it was the worse illness I have ever experienced.

I will be posting a blog next week about my experience with it, as no official medical website is any help in how to deal with it.

What I want to hit today is the importance of pressing on. The disease couldn’t have come at a worse time. I was stressed out about school work, I was having trouble hearing from God, and I was exhausted from a combination of all of them. I kept saying during the week leading up to it that all I wanted to do was hibernate in my dorm room for a day or so and just sleep and relax. God’s kind of funny in how he works, as I must not have made the “sleeping” and “relaxing” part as a crucial point to the hibernation.

I barely got any sleep the first two nights, which only meant I was even more exhausted. On top of that, it was mid terms week, and studying and school work were the last things on my mind as I was trying to get comfortable.

Leading up to getting the disease, I felt like I was at the edge of my rope. I was praying for the weekend to get there sooner, just so that I could have a chance at rest. As soon as the disease hit, I had no idea how I would make it through the next week.

There was a point though that I can remember thinking back on what I was experiencing pre-disease and post-disease where I was comparing the two. I can remember thinking how emotionally and spiritually tired I was pre-disease, but yet I still made it through post-disease without breaking down.

I can remember actually feeling that I was coasting through the days no longer on my own strength. My own strength and will had been exhausted and dried up. I had nothing left. But somehow I was still moving forward and getting my work done so that I wouldn’t fall behind.

Now this all may seem irrelevant to you. Maybe you are going through something much worse than what I did. But to me at the time, I almost felt defeated. But I was trusting in God knowing that he had my back. I knew that Satan was trying to get me down and steal my joy, and he was trying to throw in the final KO punch with the disease. But just like with everything else, God was able to use it for his glory. Instead of allowing defeat to creep in, I saw the steadfast love of God and how He won’t leave me when I need Him most. I saw my need for His strength and how my own strength is not enough to face everything.

So that is my encouragement for you. Whatever you are going through, just know that you can’t make it through all by yourself, and at some point, you need to rely on God, or you will fail. The best part is, He is always ready to give you a little extra strength. He has no problem doing so. Otherwise, it’s like having Batman’s utility belt and never looking down to see what you have.

God’s got your back.

God bless!