How to Overcome “There’s Nothing Normal About You”
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
-Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV
As we finished my appointment, I asked, “So everything’s normal?” (hoping to ease my anxious heart).
The older doctor who had walked with me through my auditory loss commented, “There’s nothing normal about your case. I cannot figure out why you suffered hearing loss.”
Stifling my tears, I remembered that night in the Mexican Restaurant when the clinking glasses faded. I had just left a job, and my life was about to change again.
Isn’t that what life is? A constant barrage and ebb and flow, this way, that way, and over here now. Some say two steps ahead, two steps back.
My miraculous salvation conversion was only the beginning of this stark reality that somehow, before committing my life to Jesus, I could go along with the nonstop changes by numbing myself in the world and believing I enjoyed being on a nonstop rollercoaster.
As followers of Jesus, we sometimes think, “Well, goodness, that’s over; life will be pleasant now.”
Then a significant change comes: a betrayal we didn’t see, the big repair, or, like me, a shift in health. When life throws curveballs, I often forget the One who never changes and mistakenly suppose I can fix the situation.
But my hearing loss changed that. I knew I couldn’t fix this, yet God’s loving kindness overflowed. I shook in my husband’s caress, weeping, and the Lord’s voice, like mighty waters, cascaded with Jeremiah 29:11: the Lord had good thoughts and peace for me.
Gratitude Changed My Life
When my hearing lessened, my eyes took in more. As I looked out the kitchen window, dazzling sunrises mesmerized me. I observed glimpses of heaven everywhere—God’s love notes to me. For the first time, I noticed the dogwoods in my yard and the cherry blossoms blooming at the library, filling me with wonder and gratitude.
During this season, I read Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. I, too, needed to be thankful right where I was, so I started a God’s Faithfulness Journal. My miracle was coming, I just didn’t know it. So I kept listing evidence of God’s faithfulness. This practice helped me stop examining my circumstances and start looking for God’s blessings.
As I recovered from my hearing escapade, the pandemic began. During this transformative period, God directed me to share my faith. I launched the Behold-Her Beauty Blog and Podcast, a platform where women express their experiences and find their worth as God’s beautiful daughters, fashioned in Imago Dei’s image. This led to many unexpected blessings: the book Unexpected Blessings: 40 Days of Discovering God’s Best, a poetry collection, Prodigal Daughter: Poems of Light for the Lost Ones (The Way Back Books, 2025), and signing with a literary agent for my beauty and faith book.
When the doctor, the neighbor, and the critic say, “There’s nothing normal about you,” this daughter of God says something beautiful arises out of the ash. My miracle has come. God stripped away who I was to allow me to be who I am, refining not only these ears of mine but also my faith, strength, and resilience.
How We Overcome Devastating News
Today, whenever I doubt, I open my God’s Faithfulness Journal. Gratitude is how we remember what God did for us yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
What does it mean for us that God is faithful, consistent, and kind?
It means we weather the storms of life with our anchor and compass, God. Jesus promises,
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
-John 16:33 NKJV
It means God meets us in our fervent prayer, giving us peace.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
– Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV
It also means that our hearts are filled with His joy when we rejoice, pray, and give thanks!
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
– 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV
God used radical changes in my life, from conversion to hearing loss to a pandemic, to grow this woman into His beautiful daughter. Whether our troubles are puddles or storms, God is our comforter, protector, and anchor. What joy that He loves us so much.
Meet Deborah Rutherford
Deborah Rutherford, a writer poet, explores themes of faith and beauty. Her published works are in Unexpected Blessings: 40 Days of Discovering God’s Best and Prodigal Daughter: Poems of Light for Lost Ones, (coming 2025, The Way Back Books), The Way Back to Ourselves Journal, Vessels of Light Journal, Calla Press Literary Journal Spring, Austur Magazine, Aletheia Today Magazine, The Truly Co. Magazine, and Prosetrics Literary Magazine. At heart, Deborah is an encourager who loves sharing her many stories, singing old hymns, and taking long walks in the woods, where she finds inspiration and peace. You can find her at DeborahRutherford.com, Substack, and Instagram.
Pick up her new free resource: 20 Tips for the Natural Beauty: Embracing Your God-Given Beauty!
Where to find her . . .
- Website
- Books
- Substack
- Free Resource: 20 Tips for the Natural Beauty: Embracing Your God-Given Beauty
Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.
If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.
