Danielle | Germany

My circumstances had not changed. But my perspective had.

For a long time, I thought the greatest battle was taking place in my body. But God showed me that it first began in the way I chose to look at my circumstances.

There are seasons in life
when it feels as though everything is falling apart.

The past few years have been such a season for me.

Since being diagnosed with ME/CFS,
one complication after another has followed.

Every new medical appointment
seemed to bring another change.

Little by little, I felt as though I was losing,
day after day,
another piece of my freedom.

At first,
I was still able to move around my apartment
with the help of a walker.

Then came the wheelchair.

And later,
the power wheelchair.

Little by little…

my world became smaller.

And without even realizing it,

my eyes became fixed on everything I was losing.

A little more strength.

A little more independence.

A little more of the life I had once known.

The hardest part wasn’t only the illness.

The hardest part was the battle taking place in my mind.

How could I keep hoping when everything my eyes saw
seemed to say the exact opposite?

How could I keep my illness from becoming the only reality
occupying my thoughts?

Every new limitation pulled my attention
a little more toward what I had lost.

Every new symptom seemed to remind me
of everything I could no longer do.

Without even noticing it,
I had almost stopped looking at anything else.

Then came another doctor’s appointment.

Another change.

This time…

a catheter.

That day,
Maggie (name changed to protect her privacy),

the young woman who helps me with my daily needs, had accompanied me to the appointment and driven me back home.

When the front door closed behind her…

silence filled the apartment.

And with that silence…

everything I had been holding together

finally gave way.

I lay down on my bed.

And I cried.

For a long time.

A very long time.

The pain ran deep.

Looking at that catheter made me realize once again
that the illness was still advancing.

It felt
as though it had taken something from me

once again.

A little more freedom.

A little more independence.

A little more of myself.

Thought after thought began to flood my mind.

One after another.

Growing darker with each passing moment.

Yet deep inside,

I knew one thing.

I did not want to feed those thoughts.

So, in the middle of my despair,

I cried out to God.

I poured out my heart before Him.

I told Him how deeply I was hurting.

How painful it was to watch my body
seem to fail me
a little more each day.

Then I prayed the only prayer
I could still find the strength to pray:

“Lord…
please help me.

Speak to me.

Give me a word.

Just one word.

Anything…

but please…

speak to me.”

In the middle of my tears…

I suddenly heard

that familiar voice.

Gentle.

Quiet.

Yet unmistakably clear.

“Job.”

…

I held my breath.

“Job.”

…

A third time.

“Job.”

Slowly,

I got up.

I picked up my Bible.

And I asked,

“Lord…
what do You want me to read in the book of Job?”

His answer came immediately.

“My answer to Job.”

I had already read the book of Job

several times before.

I knew his story.

I knew his suffering.

I knew everything he had lost.

And yet,
I found myself wondering:

Why read it again?

How is that going to change my situation?

But despite my questions…

I chose to obey.

I turned to Job chapter 38.

And I began to read.

As tears continued to stream down my face,

I kept reading…

while inwardly,

I wrestled with God.

I didn’t understand why He had led me
to this particular passage.

If I am honest, part of me almost wanted to protest.

It felt as though God was only talking about Himself.

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements? Surely you know!”
— Job 38:4–5 (KJV)

Still…

I kept reading.

Not because I understood.

But because this was the answer
God had chosen to give

to my desperate cry.

So I kept reading.

“Hath the rain a father?
Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?”
— Job 38:28 (KJV)

And I kept reading.

Then…

something began to happen.

At the time,

I didn’t even realize it.

The more I read…

the more my eyes drifted away

from my illness.

Without realizing it, I stopped staring

at my despair.

Instead, I found myself

looking at God.

His greatness.
His power.
His majesty.
His sovereignty.

Suddenly,

I stood in awe of the God
who was answering Job.

It was as though,

with every verse,

God was gently emptying me
of myself…
only to fill me with Himself.

The more I read,

the more He turned my eyes away
from everything they had been fixed on:

my illness…
my limitations…
my disabilities…

and fixed them entirely on Him.

The more I read,

the more my perspective changed.

My circumstances had not changed.

But my perspective

had.

Without even realizing it, I had reached the end
of God’s answer to Job.

And suddenly,

Job’s words became my own.

“I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear:
but now mine eye seeth thee.”
— Job 42:5 (KJV)

The tears continued to fall.

But they no longer meant the same thing.

Just moments earlier,

they had been tears of deep despair.

Now…

they had become tears of wonder.

The catheter was still there.

So was the illness.

And yet…

what had felt so unbearably heavy
only moments before had somehow

lost its weight.

My heart was now filled with the One

who is infinitely greater

than everything I was going through.

And so…

that night,
I fell asleep.

That evening,

God taught me something I will never forget.

Faith is not about denying what our eyes can see
— our reality.

Faith is choosing to believe that what our eyes see
is not the ultimate truth.

The Truth is God.

The Truth is what God says.

The Truth is what He reveals about Himself
in the midst of our circumstances.

Every single day,

I have to choose where I will fix my eyes.

On my circumstances…

or on God.

In His goodness,

the Lord did not change my circumstances
that evening.

But He changed my perspective.

Because when our eyes are fixed on the One
who is above all things…

even if our circumstances
do not change immediately…

our hearts can already begin

to find rest.

And that is exactly what God did for me that evening.

To Him alone be all the glory.

“Looking unto Jesus the author
and finisher of our faith…“
— Hebrews 12:2 (KJV)

✦ Danielle | Germany ✦

Lydie | Germany

Fear, tears and an unexpected miracle.

The doctors had no more hope.
But God had the final say.

I give all the glory to God
for what He did during my pregnancy
and childbirth.

Everything began on December 1st.

I was 31 weeks pregnant
when a simple medical checkup
turned our world upside down.

From that moment on,
the news became more and more alarming.

The doctors gave us diagnosis
after diagnosis.

A concerning difference
between the baby’s head and abdomen.

Abnormal pressure in the brain.

Fluid in the stomach.

A suspicion of toxoplasmosis.

Anemia.

And then the words I feared most:

premature cesarean section.

Every day
felt heavier.

Every day
brought a new fear.

My husband and I…

we were broken.

Exhausted.
Overwhelmed.
In tears.

Every day seemed to bring another reason to fear.

There were Tears.

Emotional exhaustion.

Uncertainty.

And there was this silent fear
that never seemed to leave us.

From a human point of view…
everything seemed lost.

But in the middle of that storm…

God was there.

Silent.
But present.

He sustained me.

While everything around me
seemed to be falling apart,
He gave me a peace
I cannot explain it in human terms.

So I held on.

To His Word.

Especially to this verse:

“Be still,
and know that I am God.”
— Psalm 46:10 (KJV)

I decided to pray.

To worship.

To trust.

Even when
everything said otherwise.

And little by little…

things began to change.

Not all at once.

But slowly.

The blood pressure decreased.

The fluid in the baby’s stomach disappeared.

The results stabilized.

Where the doctors saw danger…

God was already at work.

While a premature cesarean
was being considered,

God completely turned the situation around.

And then…

I was even able to leave the hospital
and continue the monitoring from home.

And at every step…

God confirmed His faithfulness.

Then came the day
God had already placed on my heart:

37 weeks.

Exactly
as He had shown me.

Labor began.

Fast.

Intense.

At 8 centimeters dilated,
everything accelerated.

The pain was there.
But so was God.

He strengthened me.

And I gave birth.

Naturally.

Without complications.

Today…

my daughter is 2 years old.

And she is perfectly healthy.

What the doctors had called risky—
even impossible…

God transformed it.

Into a testimony.

Of His power.

Yes…

God is faithful.

He heals.
He restores.
He turns things around.

Through this trial…

He taught me
to depend completely on Him.

He taught me
to trust Him.

Even when
everything seemed lost.

Even when
everything said otherwise.

To Him alone be all the glory.

“Be still,
and know that I am God.”
— Psalm 46,10 (KJV)

✦ Lydie | Germany ✦

Danielle | Germany

My body broke. But not my identity.

A few years ago, my life changed — 
in a single moment.

Without warning.

It started with Long COVID —
a condition that completely changed my life.

Then came the diagnosis: ME/CFS.
A condition I had never even heard of before.

And suddenly, it became my reality.

My body stopped cooperating.

Things that once felt ordinary became impossible

Work?
No longer possible.

Daily life?
Severely limited.

My world kept getting smaller…
until all that remained was isolation.

And suddenly,
I found myself living a life I had never chosen.

There were moments when I asked myself:

“What is left of me…
when so much is taken away?”

But right in that season,
God began to show me something —
something that changed my life.

Not about my circumstances.

But about my identity.

Because even though everything had changed…
one thing remained the same:

God.

His presence.
His faithfulness.
His love.

And slowly,
I began to understand:

I am not what has happened to me.

I am not my illness.
I am not my limitations.

I am who my Heavenly Father says I am.

His beloved daughter.

Precious in His sight.
And someone in Whom He delights.

Even though I am still waiting for my miracle,
I know that His love for me never changes.

Because every single day, I already experience:

His presence.
His strength.
His grace.

He gives me the strength to keep going — 
even on the days when I have none left.

And that is why I see myself differently today.

Not as a victim of my circumstances.

But as His daughter.

Because I know:

The battle does not define me.

But the One beside me does.

And even though I am still waiting on my healing…

I have already found something
that illness can never take away from me:

My identity in God.

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,
that we should be called the sons of God.”
— 1 John 3:1 (KJV)

✦ Danielle | Germany ✦