We all laughed when Chris said this at our bible study recently. We laughed because of the truth in her statement and because of the irony of it.

Denial is something we all have to deal with at some time in our lives, whether due to an illness as in our cases or any other loss that turns our lives upside down. It is denial that helps us cope when something devastating happens to us. I believe it gives us the chance to slowly let things penetrate to the degree that we are able to cope and then regroup our thoughts and emotions.

When we are grieving, denial is a normal, healthy emotion. It is also one emotion that many of us struggle with when dealing with chronic illness. When denial itself becomes "chronic" (lasting for years) and causes us to regularly push ourselves beyond our abilities to the point of exhaustion, it can be as harmful as the illness itself.

I believe at the heart of "chronic denial" is our pride. Pride that we are still able to do such-and-such or pride in the sense that we worry what others will think of us. Even the fear of facing what we can no longer do is cloaked in pride. It is only when we grasp who we are in Christ that we are able to see our worth through different eyes, not through what we can achieve or what we have lost. It is when we are humbled through the stripping away of our self-sufficiency to total dependence on Him that he works in us, strengthens us and gives us the grace to face each day with renewed hope.

This is His promise to us. We can believe that as we are humbled, he will begin a mighty work in us and lift us above our situation to his purpose for our lives!