Podcast Summary: "Diabetes, Sovereignty, and Sickness"

Podcast: With The Perrys
Hosts: Jackie Hill Perry & Preston Perry
Release Date: February 2, 2026

Episode Overview

In this deeply honest and insightful episode, Jackie Hill Perry and Preston Perry share Jackie’s recent life-changing diagnosis with type 1 diabetes, using it as a launching point for a broader conversation on Christian suffering, God’s sovereignty, and what it means to trust God in the midst of pain and uncertainty. With their trademark mix of humor, vulnerability, and theological depth, they explore common misconceptions around sickness, faith, and healing, and provide encouragement for those wrestling with suffering, especially when it intersects with faith.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Life Update & Introduction

• [03:59-07:22]
  • Lighthearted banter about house shoes, managing subscriptions, and surviving the holidays with four kids.
  • Jackie’s honest confession: the holiday season, though beautiful, is overwhelming, especially with her social anxiety and managing young children.
  • Preston notes Jackie’s more reserved attitude towards holidays, to which she responds, “It’s beautiful, but a lot.” [05:39]

2. Jackie's Diagnosis Journey

• [07:24-23:42]
  • Jackie recounts experiencing serious fatigue, strange thirst, and blurry vision while in Australia for ministry—a situation at first interpreted as a spiritual attack.
  • After a circuitous route through dismissive doctors and her mother’s warnings, Jackie ends up in the ER after a home glucose test reads 475+.
  • Hospital staff mistakenly treat her for type 2 diabetes and send her home, only for her health to worsen, eventually leading to a correct diagnosis of type 1 diabetes (an autoimmune disorder).
  • The importance of self-advocacy and the dangers of misdiagnosis, especially as medical staff often made assumptions based on Jackie’s lifestyle and demographics.

“I think if my vision didn’t go bad, I would have just tried to thug it out... That’s the assumption—because the assumption is that all forms of diabetes come by way of how you eat.” — Jackie [19:10]

• Jackie emphasizes the Lord’s providence: her symptoms and misadventures ultimately led to timely care and information.
• A nurse, providentially assigned to her, took it upon herself to educate Jackie thoroughly about diabetes management—“That is the Lord’s kindness,” Jackie says [25:49].

3. Sovereignty, Suffering, and the Christian Life

• [26:02–43:46]
  • Preston pivots: “What do you think God was trying to produce in you by allowing you to go through something like that?” [27:01]
  • Jackie unpacks the biblical reality of suffering, referencing Job, Paul’s thorn, and the necessity of thorns to drive us to dependence on God.
  • They discuss the conundrum of God’s sovereignty, the goodness of God, and the discomfort it causes when suffering happens without obvious reason.
  • Jackie: “If God does away with all evil, God has to do away with you... The way He manages the world is merciful.” [32:18]
  • The true test of faith is not mere deliverance but glorifying God in pain by trusting him, exemplified by Job seeing God more clearly because of suffering:

    “A part of what glorifies God is not always deliverance from pain. What glorifies God is that you know him, and therefore glorify him in the pain.” — Jackie [36:41]

  • Suffering increases Christ-likeness and empathy, enabling believers to participate in Christ’s sufferings and identify more deeply with him.

4. Spiritualizing Sickness & Faith-Based Criticism

• [40:02–47:56]
  • Preston asks about common Christian tropes: “If you had more faith, you’d be healed; God wants to heal you, it’s the devil!” and how Jackie responds to that rhetoric.
  • Jackie affirms God’s ability to heal but cautions against unbalanced theology:

    “The faith God is calling for is the faith that says He can... and if He doesn’t, I’m still gonna trust him.” [43:06]

  • True faith includes trust in God’s character and timing, not simply in the outcome.
  • Suffering sanctifies and increases empathy—“Because we think healing of the body is God’s greater concern, not the healing of the soul.” [43:34]

5. Theology of Healing, Heaven, and the Bigger Picture

• [48:05–58:56]
  • The hosts discuss how pain and chronic illness recalibrate one’s love for neighbor, increase empathy, and foster ministry opportunities.
  • There’s a candid examination of our instinct to demand ease and control, versus a biblical call to anticipate ultimate healing in eternity.
  • “A lot of us just want heaven now... but it’s not how it’s set up. There’s pain today... but we do have God with us.” — Jackie [54:45]
  • Preston encourages eternal perspective: “Sometimes we’re just not heavenly minded... I think God just wants us to look to heaven more.” [55:27]

6. Addressing Evil, Injustice, and God’s Justice

• [59:21–67:21]
  • Jackie and Preston field hard questions: “So, when I was molested, was that good for me? When I got a disease from being sinned against, is God just trying to humble me?”
  • They assert that while God is sovereign over all, he grieves evil and injustice and will bring ultimate justice (“vengeance is mine, saith the Lord”).
  • “We don’t want to live in a world where we believe in purposeless evil.” — Preston [61:05]
  • The doctrine of hell is explored as necessary justice, not simply theological cruelty.

7. Forgiveness, Empathy, and Leaning on God

• [73:13–77:41]
  • On forgiving those actively causing suffering: Jackie advises meditation on the cross, relying on the Holy Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit to do the “unnatural” work of forgiving grievous wrongs.
  • “God is not calling us to grit and bear it. He’s calling us to rely on Him to produce in us all that’s required to obey Him.” — Jackie [75:25]

8. Conclusion: The Hope of Glory

• [77:41–79:00]
  • The episode concludes with an encouragement to look forward to glory—finding joy and hiding in Christ now, with the comfort that ultimate healing, justice, and restoration await believers in eternity.
  • “Everything that we go through, He’s doing it because He’s trying to reveal more of him to you, because he knows that’s the best thing for you.” — Preston [58:57]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I can make fun of my diabetes, because why not?” — Jackie, bringing levity to her diagnosis [08:21]
• “My pancreas said, ‘Girl, we don’t like you.’” — Jackie [07:24]
• “I might prefer diabetes over that [miraculous pregnancy].” — Jackie [12:41]
• Preston, in awe at Jackie’s calm: “You were like, ‘I feel like the Lord is trying to strengthen my dependency in Him.’ ... you were really walking by faith, not by sight.” [30:12]
• “God does not waste anything... when things happen to you... you don’t go into grumbling and complaining.” — Preston [30:12]
• “The world is organized the way it is because I’m over it... why don’t you think I know what I’m doing with you?” — Jackie, reflecting God’s answer in Job [33:26]
• “Sickness is inconvenient... but it’s in that place where you need me that you depend on me in a particular way that not only sanctifies you but clarifies your vision of me.” — Jackie [45:43]
• “There is nothing that you will give up for Christ that he will not reward you in eternity.” — Jackie [47:12]
• “If we look at Christian suffering... when we share in Christ’s sufferings... now you can identify with your Lord in a way you couldn’t before.” — Preston [38:39]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Holiday/Humor & House Shoes: [00:48–06:44]
• Jackie’s Diagnosis (Story): [07:24–23:42]
• Spiritual Lessons from Suffering: [26:02–43:46]
• Faith, Healing, and False Theology: [40:02–47:56]
• Heavenly Mindedness & Looking Forward: [54:57–58:56]
• Evil, Justice, and God’s Grief Over Sin: [59:21–67:21]
• Practical Forgiveness: [73:13–75:29]
• Final Thoughts on Suffering and Glory: [77:41–79:00]

Tone & Style

The Perrys keep their conversation both honest and accessible, combining humor (even about serious subjects like Jackie's diagnosis), deep biblical reflection, and a deliberate lack of easy answers—mirroring the messiness of real-life faith. Jackie’s dry wit and Preston’s warmth offer space for both laughter and lament, modeling how Christians can process suffering openly, with both grit and grace.

This episode is essential listening for anyone facing chronic illness, suffering, or confusion about how faith and hardship intersect—and for those seeking a biblically anchored, hope-filled perspective on God’s presence and purpose in seasons of pain.