Yes, my diabetes is getting a little better. But only a little. And, yes, I’m a Southern Baptist so I shouldn’t be asking this. But is He really there? It seems like He has left me because of my diabetes and I need anwers from someone. Please help!
Amanda, please don’t let your suffering get in the way of your faith in God. He loves you like he always did, cares about you, and wants you to walk with Him as always. The apostles taught that suffering is useful to our spiritual growth. For example, 1 Peter 4:1, Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. Or 2Cor 4:17, For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. Maybe digging into the Scriptures and studying the verses on suffering will bring some light. And, believe me, being diabetic involves some suffering in the difficulty of managing it and in the devilish effects it has on our bodies and our mental acuity. You talk like a relative newbie at being diabetic. If so, we get more used to it over time, learning to take it all in stride. I’ve had it now for 61 years and I feel fortunate to still be walking on the earth.
God bless you in your life, Amanda.
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Thank you so much. And I’ve acctually had diabetes for 7 years. I just didn’t know who to turn to about this.
Two things help me get back into a honestly biblical frame of mind. One is to exercise my body. I prefer walking in areas that showcase creation, often just a park near my house. The second is to exercise my faith by following Jesus through serving others. Maybe your church or a nearby charitable organization has an opportunity for you.
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and you are about 13? YOu were my age when I got it, but i have a few years on you now. BTW, the tools you have today, including much faster acting insulin, pumps, and soon to have closed loop pumps with CGMs. I had urine sticks, no glucose strips–very inaccurate. Reusable thick steel needles and glass syringe, and much slower acting insulin. They didn’t even have the A1c measurement until the 1980s. We are now on the verge of great breakthroughs, if the FDA gets off their butts and approves what’s in the pipeline.
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Thanks everyone. You all are helping a lot. 
I’ve struggled with this in the past. I asked God to show me that He was out there. I asked him to let me find a 4-leaf clover within the next 2 weeks. (I figured if He was out there he might need time since he has the whole universe to run) It was something I had searched for all my life and never found. I found 2 within the next couple days. One was AFTER I mowed the lawn!
God is out there and knows your pain.
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I am not a believer, but I’ve always liked this story:
There was a man that lived by the river. He heard a radio report that the river was going to rush up and flood the town. And that all the residents should evacuate their homes. But the man said, ‘I’m religious. I pray. God loves me. God will save me.’ The waters rose up. A guy in a row boat came along and he shouted, ‘Hey, hey you! You in there. The town is flooding. Let me take you to safety.’ But the man shouted back, ‘I’m religious. I pray. God loves me. God will save me.’ A helicopter was hovering overhead. And a guy with a megaphone shouted, ‘Hey you, you down there. The town is flooding. Let me drop this ladder and I’ll take you to safety.’ But the man shouted back that he was religious, that he prayed, that God loved him and that God will take him to safety. Well… the man drowned. And standing at the gates of St. Peter, he demanded an audience with God. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘I’m a religious man, I pray. I thought you loved me. Why did this happen?’ God said, ‘I sent you a radio report, a helicopter, and a guy in a rowboat. What the hell are you doing here?’
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I’ve heard that too. It reminds us that He helps us in ways we don’t think of. I needed that reminder. Thanks!
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I was diagnosed 2.4 years ago. Seven months before I was given a ring by my aunt that said “If He brings you to it He will bring you through it.” I have never taken it off. Three months after being diagnosed a child with leukemia was placed in my kindergarten class. The parents didn’t want anyone to know about their child. I opened up about being a T1D and it opened the doors for that father for the first time to share about his daughter. I honestly feel this is why I was ment to have this disease. I continue to volunteer and advocate for T1D organizations. Keep an open mind and you to will find your calling/purpose. God does love you!
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Hi Amanda, thanks for being honest! And thanks to everyone for supportive, great answers. I figured I’d throw my experience in! Yes, diabetes can be so hard. When I was first diagnosed I was making a list of good things that came from it. That helps me on hard days. But most importantly, knowing that God knows exactly what is going on and is right there with me is incredible! Diabetes was not a surprise to Him and He is constantly providing for me. Having diabetes has caused me to depend on Him. He promises to be our strength when we are weak and I have never believed that more than this year with diabetes! Some days it is too much for ME to handle but it’s never too much for Him. Having it has caused me to surrender my life to Him and trust Him. Having it has caused me to take really good care of myself, which we are supposed to do since our bodies are temples for the Holy Spirit! Lastly, having diabetes reminds me we were not made for this earth, but heaven. When I have frustrating days I remember that we have eternal life coming where our bodies and pancreas’ will be PERFECT! Continue taking your struggles (and joys) to Him. He is right there with you and will be your provider and strength.
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Hi Amanda!
You are not alone-- when I first diagnosed I felt like God let me down. Though I never said it out loud I saw it in my actions. I was so angry with God. Until one day, when my actions to turn away from God gave me so much stress and I realized I found so much relief giving all my pain to God.
I cried and after many moments of re-connecting with God, I realized that though our disease is a nuisance to manage, it has added some new value to me. It taught me to be more organized, it helps me connect with people I haven’t connected with before and as a medical student I can relate to patients in ways no other student can. Everyone is different but hopefully you can find strength in your Diabetes and also realize that faith can help you get there.
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Oh, Amanda,
God made you in His image to be just as you are and just like Him. His purpose in life for you is to help others come to know Christ. I understand your questions about God; I had the same questions 68 years ago when I was diagnosed with T1D at age 13. God never abandons us, we should always remember to never abandon Him. The advances in the diagnosis and treatment of T1D in my lifetime give me tremendous hope for the future of what He has in store for me and for you as more new and more better ways to treat us will be revealed. God put you on this earth to serve Him just as you are. Thank you for allowing us to serve you.
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Hi Amanda. I’ve read all the great responses here and just wanted to add mine. I was diagnosed when I slipped into a coma 2 days after my 16th birthday. That was 43 years ago! No one in my family had diabetes so it was a complete shocker to everyone. This happened not quite 2 years after my mom died suddenly at the age of 53. Talk about feeling abandoned by God! I can honestly say God wasn’t really a part of my life back then.
I’m a cradle Catholic and those seeds were sown pretty deep! I started attending mass again after I got married. To give you words of encouragement, I can happily report that I suffered no complications from two pregnancies, gave birth naturally to 2 beautiful, healthy daughters and neither have developed the disease!
Back to your question. The one big thing I learned is that while God is there for you, you have to invite him in! Quietly pray to Jesus, open your Heart to Him and surrender this disease! Ask Him for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, understanding, knowledge & courage. Ask Him for strength in dealing with this. I’ve also learned that He is always beside me but not necessarily in the way I expect.
I thank God for all the research and technological advances available. I think back to doing multiple injections per day on a sliding scale of regular and time-released insulin. Yeesh. I’ve been on an insulin pump for 20 yrs. and a continuous glucose meter for ~10. My husband calls me the bionic woman! Hah! I like to think God has a guiding hand in all this advancement. Maybe it’s His way of answering all our prayers.
I promise this will get easier for you. Hang in there. I’ll say an extra prayer for you, Amanda!
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On October 4th 2018 I received a phone call from my wife. She was crying and could barely get out the words CHKD, Emergency Room, and Felicity. I arrived at the emergency room shortly after to find my wife keeping it together but my youngest daughter in frantic tears. She would later be diagnosed with Types 1 Diabetes. The diagnoses wasn’t what got me. It was Felicity’s stare. It was the look that didn’t understand why her dad wasn’t keeping these people from hurting her. I have been through a lot. I been through deployments, seen the effects of combat, and lost loved ones. Nothing compared to that feeling. I lost it, hard. The kind of emotion you only talk about in a prayer closet in the middle of the woods. The kind of emotion that leaves you at your most vulnerable point. Then I did it, I blamed God. I was angry at him for doing this to her. She was only 3, she didn’t deserve this.
For about a month afterwards I was seething. No communication, no prayer, nothing but anger. I was on the couch watching Moana with my oldest daughter when God called me. Not the big booming thunderous roar in the movies, or the burning bush in the bible, this one came from a child whose quiet words were a philosophical 2x4 to the forehead. She asked me what “wayfinding” is? If you don’t know Moana is a cartoon movie about a girl who learns a primitive form of navigation that determines where you’re going by understanding where you’ve been. Booom! Gods calling isn’t like a rubber band pulling you back harder and harder the more you resist, it’s like gravity. It’s about to get nerdy brace yourselves. Gravity is a force of attraction between two objects that have mass. The larger the object, the greater the pull. The greater distance between the two the objects the less the pull is felt. I was always being called closer to God, I just hadn’t always been able to feel it. Furthermore, in celestial navigation you need markers to determine your location. This is done frequently by looking at stars. Looking back at my life I can see these markers clearly. Marriage, Deployments, Births, Deaths, Confirmation. Each event teaching me something new. Each event preparing me for something. God didn’t give Felicity Type 1 Diabetes, he was preparing me to be her Dad.
I realize now that the closer I get to God, the more I feel the calling. The calling was the thirst for an understanding of the Church, it was the joy I felt when I got married or the birth of my daughters, it was the unity I felt when I received communion the first time. My question for you is this, how do you feel the calling? What is God preparing you for? Do you have the courage to look back and see where you’ve been to understand where you’re going?
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He is there. Throughout my 30 years of living with diabetes there are too many times to count the miracles of survival. He promised never to leave. Sometimes it is hard to see Him though but I also know plenty of people who are in perfect health that also wonder. The more you wonder where He is just trust more and hold on tighter.
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