Something About The Number 7

The number 7 is God’s special number of perfection.  We see it used throughout the Old and New Testaments hundreds of times.  I am not talking about Bible codes or any of that stuff!  I am talking about God’s order and the fact that He made the number 7 a number of divine completion.  God completed His work of Creation in 6 days and rested on the 7th day, we have the 7 lampstands and 7 stars in Revelation, 7 letters to 7 churches, forgive 70 times 7, debts were cancelled every 7 years, and the list goes on.  This has played out in my life as well, and I would like to share something deeply personal and special to me.

As many of you know, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease on January 6, 2012.  I weighed 128 pounds and I was dying.  I thought I had cancer.  The pain was maddening and my anguish was unbearable like my flesh being torn inside my body day after day with no end in sight!  Despite all the suffering, I can testify that God has been faithful to me!

I am coming up on my 7 year anniversary fighting this disease (1-6-19).  I am only a few months away from God’s perfect number 7!  I can feel it too!  It is not like years 1-6.  I was deep in the midst of the suffering during most of those years.

As the 7th approaches, there is a perfection and completeness that He is bringing to my suffering.  It is happening now even as I write this.  I hope and pray you can all see and feel the passion I have inside my heart for Jesus.  I have suffered greatly and the Lord has refined me over these many consecutive years of trial and testing.  I can feel Him moving and working as He orchestrates His final lesson of my 7 years of suffering, and brings completion to His healing process!  Amen!

Over these last almost 7 years, God has also used 7 verses that He brought to my attention over and over.  These verses represent struggles I have had and lessons the Lord wanted to teach me.  They represent painful pruning, but also victory that I have now.  They represent the way I had to trust God when my entire life was broken and I was laid bare in the dust of the earth.  They grounded me in times of great pain, anguish, and sorrow.  They helped me see clearly when my vision was blurred by anger and disillusionment.  Above all God let me know that He was always with me no matter how bad the storm, and He used these verses in a variety of ways to help teach me that.  See my post titled “Boomerang Blessing” for an encouraging story about how God works and reminds us He is there.

It got to the point that I just wrote them down and stuck them to the fridge.  God wanted me to see them all the time every day.  I have read and prayed these verses over myself and my family many times, and it has been very effective for living righteously and trusting God through my time of trial.  I would like to share these verses with you now.

“Be still and know that I am God.”

Psalm 46:10

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

Psalm 19:14

“But godliness with contentment is great gain.”

1 Timothy 6:6

“Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret–it leads only to evil.”

Psalm 37:8

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

Ephesians 4:29

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11

I could write a whole book about what I have learned from those 7 verses over almost 7 years of suffering!  I have written pieces on many of those verses already on this blog, and I will continue to do so as the Lord leads.  I just want you to know that the Lord has used these verses and years of trial to prune and shape my character and strengthen my faith!  In 1996 when I accepted Christ, part of that prayer was “come into my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be.”  He is still doing that even now!

In a few months on January 6, 2019, I am going to write a blog post regarding the 7th year anniversary of my diagnosis.  I am really looking forward to what the Lord will do on that day!  God is completing and perfecting the work of the pain I have lived through.  I trust Him, I know without a doubt that He has good plans for me, and I am really excited to see what He does on that day!

Never ever lose hope!  Jesus always wins in the end!  Jesus is Lord!

Grace and peace to you all!

Author: Ryan Callahan

Hello, and welcome to my site! I am an independent Christian author (One Man's Very Strange Supernatural Life), blogger, and evangelist for Jesus. My main goal with this blog is to help people come to know Jesus, help people understand the Bible, and to minister to a lost and hurting world. This site is about hope, new beginnings, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love! I'm glad you are here, God bless you! Copyright © 2023 Ryan Callahan. All rights reserved. View all posts by Ryan Callahan