8 Years Of Sufficient Grace

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Photo by Ryan, Sunrise on 1-1-2020

Today is the anniversary of the day my life changed forever.  A day when I began the greatest battle of my life to conquer a genetic auto-immune disorder.  8 years ago on 1-6-2012 I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease.  It has been a very long and painful road of suffering, but I choose to give God praise and rejoice today!  There is breath in my lungs and I am alive and that is a precious gift I will never take for granted again!

Many of you may remember my 7 year anniversary post last year.  It did not go well.  Even though I was over a lot of the anger regarding the disease at that time, I was still hurting and it came out badly in that post.  The first few years of the disease I suffered torturous pain and anguish, and I was wrestling God over many things regarding the suffering and my faith.  I ended up deleting that post and it was a wake up call to finally let the anger go and give it to God.  I can say with great joy that the Lord has healed my heart from that anger and given me peace.  2019 ended up being a tremendous year of ministry and growth in the Lord, and I am excited to see how the Lord moves in power in 2020!

I started blogging on August 10th, 2018.  Five days later on the 15th, I wrote a post about the suffering I went through and the anger I had dealt with.  There were only a few people reading my blog back then.  If you are suffering and dealing with anger, please read my post Wrestling God.  I pray it is a blessing and encouragement to you!  I know what it’s like to suffer and shake my fist at God and I also know what it’s like for Him to heal and comfort my heart with His love!

If you would like to learn more about Celiac Disease, please read my post:

Celiac Disease Awareness Month

I still have rough days where I am in pain, but I am thankful for the healing the Lord has given me so far.  Thank you all for praying for me!  It can take up to 10 years for someone with Celiac to heal from the damage to the small intestine and gut, and even then the doctors say the patches of dead villi will never heal.  I know God can do all things and nothing is impossible for Him, so I continue to pray for healing.  God can do miracles in our lives whenever He wants to!  He can cast out demons like He did for me and my family in 1996, He can send angels to help you like he did for me in 1998, and He can put you back in your body and give you His breath of life back by the power of the Holy Spirit like He did for me after I stopped breathing on 4-28-2012!  Absolutely nothing is impossible for God!  Nothing is too hard for Him!

Remember that time when…

My Lazarus Moment

My published testimony on Amazon:

One Man’s Very Strange Supernatural Life

This disease almost killed me and I am only alive today because of Jesus Christ!  It is by my faith in Him that I am alive, and live, and have my being!  It is His Name I cried out to as my breath was leaving my lungs!  It is through a miracle of the Holy Spirit by the power of God that I live and breathe today!  Amen!

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I know God has a purpose for the thorn.  He has never left me and I want to testify to the world how loving and faithful the Lord has been to me!  After 8 years of suffering, I can say with a full heart that God’s grace is truly sufficient!  Through all the physical pain, through all the emotional anguish and anxiety from the pain and job loss, through all the financial struggles the disease caused and through all the worry about the future, His grace has been sufficient!  It is His love and strength that has sustained me through this great trial and I trust Him to see me through to the end!

“I will sing of the LORD’s great love

forever;

with my mouth I will make your

faithfulness known through all

generations.

I will declare that your love stands firm

forever,

that you established your faithfulness

in heaven itself.”

Psalm 89:1-2

I was up before the sun as usual today praying over my family for the day ahead.  I also prayed about Celiac and asked Him to heal me as I have every day since being diagnosed.  When I opened my Bible afterwards, I had turned to the Book of Matthew and my eyes focused on this verse:

“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Matthew 19:26

I just smiled and gave the Lord praise as I said, “Amen Lord!”  That is how the Lord speaks to us and encourages us through His Word and it is awesome!  Don’t ever give up hope!  God can do the impossible!

“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

“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

Romans 5:5

When you believe in Jesus, His love and faithfulness surrounds you!  He will never leave you and nothing can separate you from Him.  No matter what comes against us and no matter how bad the pain, we will stand victorious over our trials because His grace is sufficient.  8 years of suffering has proven that to me!  His great comfort and love has sustained me through the worst years of my life and in His mercy He let me live!

“But what can I say?

He has spoken to me, and he himself

has done this.

I will walk humbly all my years

because of this anguish of my soul.

Lord, by such things men live;

and my spirit finds life in them too.

You restored me to health

and let me live.

Surely it was for my benefit

that I suffered such anguish.

In your love you kept me

from the pit of destruction;

you have put all my sins

behind your back.”

Isaiah 38:15-17

The Lord has a purpose in the pain and we can trust Him.  His power within us by the Holy Spirit is greater than our weakness!  Thank You Lord for rescuing me and letting me live!  Thank You for loving me and helping me!  Thank You that You can do all things!  May Your will be done Lord Jesus!

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 © 2024 Ryan Callahan. All rights reserved.

63 thoughts on “8 Years Of Sufficient Grace”

      1. Ryan, I search the web for an answer to my question for at least 2 hours tonight. I didn’t find the answer I was seeking but I did find you. So I would like to give you a prayer that may help in your healing process.” By the power vested in me by the Creator of the universe, the Son of the Living God, I command all infirmity to be gone for my body in the name of Yeshua’s precious blood, by whose stripes we’ve been healed and by whose blood we’ve been ransomed.”
        Ryan, if you have faith, you can move a mountain, so heal yourself! I’m with you.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Your testimony of faith in God with all you have been through gives me strength, Ryan, and hope because i know you have suffered beyond belief even though I can not know the depth of it…as your mother I continue to pray for complete healing. As your mother, I can tell you now my heart is healing that you are where you are today. Praise God. Your deep faith, abundant gratitude, trust in Him, and thankfulness to Jesus for your life is a testimony I take to heart. God bless you, Ryan. I do believe God is healing you, and I thank our Father in my prayers everyday. Love you, Mom

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  4. That’s wonderful, Ryan. The Lord’s plan for you is unfolding perfectly as expected, we are the ones that only understand (some of) it looking retrospectively! Amen!

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  7. I just finished reading your book today, Ryan. That’s some testimony! I’ll do a review for you on Amazon tomorrow. It’ll be on Amazon u.k. I enjoyed it … I was in on my own last night when I read the scary bits ! 😱

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  8. It was about 11 years ago when I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. It was actually longer than that but the first doctor I saw didn’t believe my primary doctor and told me I was fine, taking me off the medication. Since then I have cried a lot, gained a lot of weight, struggled to eat right, been in pain, felt dizzy and weak, had panic attacks and been judged by a lot of people who felt I was faking it all. I have asked God to take it away and, so far, he hasn’t, but he has taught me a lot through it. It has required me to lean on him, to trust him and to recognize there are times I simply can’t do what others can do and it’s okay to admit that. Thank you for being open and honest with your journey because although I do not have celiac, I do have issues with wheat and gluten, and I do have days I am so tired and in pain (stomach, etc.) and when I read your posts I don’t feel as alone in my struggles.

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  9. So thankful the Lord had other plans for you! You do an amazing job at sharing the Word with others. Your honesty about everything, even when you’re angry, is very helpful! 🙏🙏

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  10. Today is my youngest son’s birthday, the day of the epiphany. I am super grateful for this day. My doctor had told me that I could never have another child. I wanted another child, so I prayed — and, just as it says in the scripture you quote above, with man it is impossible, but nothing is impossible with our God.

    I am believing with you for your healing, Ryan. God bless!

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  11. Praise God for His great mercy to you throughout your life! You have an amazing testimony, and living with Celiac is part of that. Testifying to His great grace in the midst of weaknesses is such a gift. Thank you for the ways that you share so honestly with all of us here. I so appreciate reading your encouraging words filled with Scriptures.

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  13. What a wonder testimony. Please pray for Grandaughter, age 21 as she has been diagnosed with anti-immue disease. They do not know at the moment, which one. I continue to pray for you and family constantly. Thank you for living in God’s will. May I use your testimony to her? Love in Christ.

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  14. What an inspiring post, and what a show of how steady and determined faith in God the almighty can bring about. God Bless you Ryan. I will pray for your continued healing because what he has done for you is a true testimony of the power of God. Thank you for sharing it.

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      2. I’m sorry to hear that Vivian. I will be praying for you guys. I pray the Lord pours out the Spirit on your family and pours out blessing and healing on you all!

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  21. I have gluten enteropathy, which God inspired me to detect by using an elimination diet when I couldn’t get a medical professional to listen to me about how sick I was. God’s grace has made ten years of being gluten-free easy to do, and I expect to continue that way indefinitely. Now, I just have to find God’s strength in the debilitating weakness and terrible pain of the newest of the other four auto-immune diseases I’ve been diagnosed with (polymyalgia rheumatica), while I endure the side effects of the dangerous drugs I’ll have to take to get that disease under control. He has helped me learn to manage auto-immune thyroid disease, pernicious anemia, and auto-immune inner ear disease, so I’ve just got to start again seeking the faith that there is a reason for this suffering, and that God won’t let it get so far out of hand that his purposes could be frustrated.

    Thank you for the witness you have borne here, and providing the space for us to comment. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20).

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  23. GLORY TO THE PRECIOUS LAMB OF GOD!!! 😀 Thank you Jesus! What a wonderful God He is! Truly His grace is sufficient!! ❤ I recalled where I didn't see my monthlys for 2 years; due to my hormones being imbalanced. My mom alongside other believers and myself joined in prayer in faith and continued to believe God for my healing. We didn't give up. I know He was going to heal me before I was even healed I knew I was healed in Jesus name. I continued to declare His Word over my life and I would have laid hands on my stomach and declare my healing. Now it has been regulated! All praises unto God! He's IS a miracle working God! Trust and believe that He can and He will. May He continue to heal you brother in Jesus name! Blessings! 😀

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