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There is hope with a hep C diagnosis for patients to find great help and strength for the journey. Receiving a hep C diagnosis and learning about treatment can rock your world and shake you to your core.  It catapults you out of your comfort zone into new territory.

After being diagnosed with hep C, I remember praying, “Lord, this is not how my life is supposed to be going, I don’t know where this is heading, I need you close, please help me get through this dark valley.” I remember feeling shock, fear and uncertainty about what was before me. Ever had those feelings with hep C?

I had to rely on God in every aspect of my life. I chose to lift up my hep C  journey to Him and all my torn up emotions, my brokenness. My best course of action was to focus on God’s truth and steadfastness. I needed a rock to hold onto and He was it. I clung to this verse, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”  Psalm 18:2 NIV

Everything else was fragile in my life, but not Him. Christ is our solid rock and fortress and He is bigger than anything we could ever face. Even the brokenness I felt with this hep C diagnosis, I knew God could take this and make beauty out of the ashes. I was NOT alone with Christ by my side.

As I lifted up my hep C diagnosis and my battle with hep C, I received great comfort in God’s word, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”  Isaiah 43:1-2 NIV

As I moved from my hep C diagnosis into treatment, there were good, bad and sometimes ugly days, but God never let go of me and brought me through the dark valley just as He promised. God took hold of me, right where I was at and walked me through the valley to a new life beyond hepatitis C.

“Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help and he will say; Here am I.”  Isaiah 58:9 NIV

“If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God.”  Isaiah 50:10 NLT

"(for the Lord will be called, . . . Repairer of Broken Walls, . . . ) Isaiah 58:12 NIV 

Have you struggled with a hep C diagnosis and treatment?  

This entry was originally published on Life Beyond Hepatitis C September 22 2014. It is reprinted with permission.