Conquer The Storm

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Photo by Ryan, Winter Storm Kade coming in Monday morning 2-3-20

It was a beautiful weekend here in Colorado with temperatures in the 70s that felt like spring.  The kids had fun riding their bikes, and it was awesome soaking up the sun on the back deck.  We also had fun Saturday night watching our daughter perform in the County Middle School Honor Band as the first chair horn player.  It is very rare for a 6th grader to make the Honor Band and even more rare for that 6th grader to earn first chair!  You did great sweetheart and we are so proud of you!  It was definitely a great weekend and a very nice break from winter.  Living next to the Rockies can bring rapid changes in weather though, and on Monday we had Winter Storm Kade coming down from the high country.  Not too bad of a storm with only 6 inches of snow, but we had a 50 degree drop in temperature, which can be shocking to people new to Colorado.  For those of us who have lived here for many years, the storms are a normal part of our lives and we know how to get through them victoriously.

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Monday afternoon 2-3-20

The life I live with Celiac is a lot like the extreme weather changes from living next to the Rockies.  Some weeks are fine and everything seems stable.  The sun is shining and the pain is managed.  The next week is a storm that brings violent drops in blood sugar, nausea, pain, loss of appetite, and fatigue.  Sometimes it is a struggle to press on.  I hear people complain about being sick for a couple weeks.  Can you imagine being chronically ill for 8 years with no end in sight?  I know some of you can and my heart and prayers are with you.

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Photo by Ryan, Snow from last night, 8:17 this morning 2-4-20

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Photo from our daughter’s room on the top floor. Can’t even see the mountains today.

I have been struggling lately with the physical and emotional pain that this disease causes.  I have questions that I want answered that are not being answered.  I have questions about life and suffering that I need God to bring peace to.  Jesus alone is my victory, so I give it all to Him.

I am dying, very slowly, little by little every day as I fight a disease that is trying to starve me to death.  We are all dying and there is nothing any of us can do about it.  You are going to die someday.  I am going to die someday.  This is an inescapable fact.  We are trapped here in these earthly bodies and there is only one Way out.  I don’t understand why it has to be the way it is or why God chose to do it the way He did or why He did any of it at all when He knew how much suffering there would be, but I know His Word is Truth, Jesus Christ is Lord, and Jesus is the only Way to be saved and escape sin and death.  I know this because of the terrifying and wonderful supernatural events and miracles I have lived through, and I know it by the power of God inside of me by the Holy Spirit He gave me.

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus speaking in John 3:16

Even in all my suffering and questions, I keep believing because the Lord is faithful and good and I know I can trust Him.  I don’t need to worry about storms from the Rockies or storms from Celiac Disease.  I am use to both, I’ve been through worse, and I know the Lord will see me through it.  Take some advice from a middle aged mountain man who has been through great suffering, you must set your face like flint against the storm and keep going!  God will use the storms to toughen you up and help you rely on Him by faith.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

Jesus speaking in Matthew 6:25-27

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If you are suffering today, please don’t give up.  Our questions will be answered and every tear will be wiped away.  Keep fighting and give it all to Jesus!  He will lift you up and sustain you!  Give the storm to the One who loves your soul and you will be amazed at what He can do in your life!  His strength is all the toughness you need to conquer the storm!

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.

46 thoughts on “Conquer The Storm”

  1. Thank you so very much for your encouraging words Ryan. I do know what it is like to be ill every day and have for decades…..there are days I have no idea how I can continue to be strong……….prayers sent up for you today. God bless you and yours.

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  6. I pray the Lord gives you rest and joy always, Ryan. The Lord must be carving a beautiful spirit out of this painful, yet temporary, circumstance. Everything passes. Sometimes I catch myself anxious as if a moment is taking an eternity. But these moments here do pass, we always find ourselves looking back and acknowledging them as of they were distant memories. So I pray the Lord gives you His joy to help transcend these struggles as they come. And bless you as well as others to find ways to ease the pain.

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  9. Amen, Ryan, you are so right. God is our strength, hope, and faith! With God’s love and grace, our loving relationship with Jesus, and with the people who love us and who we love and cherish, we go through our hard days and good days together, and get through them, a blessing we have each other…for eternity. And, when God calls us home, there will no longer be tears, only pure joy and happiness. Your devotional reminds us where we should look for strength and faith, Ryan, to look to Jesus for all things, and to always walk and talk to him. Praise God! Love you! Mom

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  10. Thank you for the encouraging words, dear brother! He truly has become my only strength. There are weeks and months that I look back and wonder how I made it through? And the only answer is God’s Faithfulness. I know you understand that too. You are in my prayers tonight–may Jesus still the storm and bring you His rest. Blessings!

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  11. Congratulations to your daughter Ryan.
    My prayers are with you . We keep our eyes on Jesus and keep moving forward . In our pain and suffering we always see God’s faithfulness .
    We can trust Him although we don’t understand why He allows certain things in the lives of His children. But we know by faith that the Lord of Heaven and earth can do no wrong .
    Joy and peace

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  12. You have a true gift in compiling and expressing thoughts and feelings that I can so clearly identify with. So often your writings hit home with me and comfort me in knowing that I am not the only one dealing with issues both good and troublesome. Thank you for brightening my day over and over again. Your message could not have been more timely. I am drying my tears and rereading your words. Thank you. Blessings to you always

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