30 Days of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-six

For Day Twenty-six, I am thankful for good health.

I have been in relatively good health for most of my life, but I have learned from my experiences and from seeing others suffer, that it is not something to take for granted. Only God knows why some people have to go through difficult medical circumstances and I won't begin to try to understand that part about God's sovereignty. I do believe that God is our Healer and our Great Physician and for that I am thankful.

I am also thankful that while I once had something malignant in my body (for those who don't know, I had thyroid cancer almost 12 years ago), my experience was relatively minor in the big scheme of things. I did not have to undergo chemotherapy or radiation. I had surgeries to remove the cancer and then the rest of my thyroid (long story), and then had the standard radioactive idodine treatment (yes, I was so radioactive for three days that I had to be in isolatation). God spared me from anything worse than those things and has allowed me to enjoy good health ever since.

The other day, after spending some time trying to encourage a friend who was dealing with a similar health issue, I was suddenly humbled and overwhelmed with the thought that God was using my difficult situation in the past to give me compassion and empathy for someone else. If I had not gone through that experience in 1999, I would not have been as equipped to give words of comfort and wisdom (I hope) to my friend.

So I choose to thank God for my good health now, but also for allowing me to experience a health scare, if for no reason that He could bring me through it in order to use me to encourage someone else twelve years later. To God be the glory!