Trusting God That Nothing Is Too Hard, Even Illness Challenges
04 Jun 2012 Leave a Comment
in Devotionals2 Tags: Bible, chronic, God, Jeremiah, Lord, Melbourne, prayer, Sunroom
“This is what the Lord says, ‘He who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar–the Lord Almighty is His name.’” (Jeremiah 31:35). . . . “Ah, Sovereign Lord, Yoy have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for You.” (Jeremiah 32:17)
There have been some times lately, when I have felt like giving up. Sometimes I just get sick of how hard life is with a chronic illness. Even when I think things may have settled down into something a little easier, there seems to be new challenges that come along.
I can allow my days to become weighed down by problems, worries, and fears. The meager efforts that take so much energy, yet seem to be fairly fruitless in their outcome. The worry that robs me of peace and rest.
These verses above, remind me that the Lord is so powerful. He speaks and the things that we sometimes take for granted, like day and night, continue to happen just at the right time. God demonstrates His power by what He created and continues to show us every day.
Jeremiah also reminds me that when life seems too hard for me–nothing is too hard for God. When the problem I see ahead of me, seems like there is no solution, I need to remember that this problem is not too hard for God. I don’t have to solve it in my own strength–God is there and He sees a solution.
Sometimes I try to do things on my own and I think that’s when I end up feeling I want to give up, because it’s just too hard. But I’m not meant to do it on my own. I need that outstretched arm of God to help me. I need to trust in Him.
Prayer: Father, when I seek to do things on my own, help me to trust in You and remember that nothing is too hard for You. Thank You that when we want to give up, You never give up on us. Amen.
About the Author:
Fiona Burrows lives in Melbourne, Australia. She is thankful for the difference God makes in her life, and the lessons He is teaching her, as she lives with chronic back pain. She enjoys finding time for reading, writing, and photography, and to travel when she is able. You can contact her in the Sunroom.
You can now read this on your Kindle. Find out more at http://TodaysDevotionOnKindle.com
What do you do when you feel you have reached the point where things are just too hard? Are there people, Bible passages that you turn to for help?
There Is More To The Picture–Especially When Ill
03 Jun 2012 Leave a Comment
in Devotionals2 Tags: anger, God, Karlton Douglas, Lord, Ohio, pain, Religion and Spirituality, suffering
“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)
“There is more to the picture than meets the eye.” I love that saying.
There is so much truth in it. We often see difficult circumstances through a narrow lens that doesn’t let in all the light or the complete image. We often have tunnel vision that robs us of the entire picture that surrounds us.
When I think of suffering, pain, tragedy and loss, I try to remind myself that what I can understand is entirely limited by the mere fact of my humanity. I’m not God, I don’t know all, cannot see all, cannot understand all that is involved in every situation, but must try to allow God to be God, and trust in His decisions and oversight.
We pass judgment so easily, we are too quick to think the worst.
Humility can be our friend by reminding us that we only see the beginning of the story, just the first few lines in the play, the end can bring us to a conclusion much different than the circumstances right now will allow. When we trust God to bring a good ending to the story, even while the portion we see looks very grim, when all is said and done we will better understand the temporary painful episodes in our lives.
Life can deliver us very painful blows, striking us so hard that we fall to our knees. Afflictions of all sorts and sizes can disable us, cripple us, and make us feel very small compared to our trying circumstances.
When the dark night of trials and tribulations surround us, when depression crushes us with its mountainous weight, it is then that we must look to God, perhaps even in anger and frustration, and ask for His intervention in our lives and in our terrible circumstances. Perhaps our frustration is with God, the answer is still to go to Him, tell Him how we feel, and pour the pain of our lives into His hands. Even that is an act of faith that I believe God will honor.
Our lives are very short on this earth, and sometimes God trusts us with pain and misery, with loss and separation of the things we love and cherish. The Lord may not give us good answers to the losses we feel deep in our hearts, but I think, if we will look up, if we will cling to a shred of hope, we can get through today, and perhaps tomorrow as well.
God gives us our daily bread, and it is day by day that we must carry our burdens and face our hardships trusting that each day His grace and mercy will pull us through.
You may be facing the challenge of your life right now, and despair may be knocking on your door, you may be so angry at God that you would rather curse, than bless His name. This is called “being human”, and our fellowship of suffering is what brings us together.
Being children of God does not mean we are perfect, or always reasonable, or never weak, it merely means we are willing to look up, to call out to God in our circumstances, good or bad, and trust that in the end, when we finally see the entire picture, it will all make sense. Until then, let us lay our pain, frustration, anger, suffering and hardship in His capable hands.
About the Author:
Karlton Douglas lives in Ohio with his lovely wife. He has learned to pour his fears and frustrations out to God.
You can now read this on your Kindle. Find out more at http://TodaysDevotionOnKindle.com
Do you feel that you have been robbed, that your loss is greater than you can bear? Are you willing to consider that God sees the entire picture, and we see just a small part, and that we can and must trust God for a good outcome in the end?
The Highs and Lows of Living with Illness During Summertime
02 Jun 2012 2 Comments
in Devotionals2 Tags: chronic, God, heat and humidity, Lisa Copen, Psalms, rest ministries, rheumatoid arthritis, San Diego, season, summer
“For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah.” (Psalm 32:4)
Summer. As the temperatures rise, and kids get out of school, many people, are celebrating. Summer is a time of vacations, memories, barbequing with friends, going to the beach, camping, and so much more. For one who lives with a chronic illness, however, it can be bittersweet.
Last weekend my family was invited to a birthday party–about 4 hours before it began. I told the host we would come, but I was physically worn out from my rheumatoid arthritis, sore from falling the day before, and didn’t think I could sit outside, in any hard chair for six hours. I did not know anyone and I just didn’t feel up to making small talk all day. At first, I planned to just come later for the BBQ dinner, but as it started getting complicated with son’s anxiety about Daddy leaving to come back to get me, I backed out and told my husband and son to just go and have fun.
My husband called later from the children’s party and said it was beautiful at the host’s house, overlooking a lake. But he’d had to walk along a hillside to get to the party area and there was no shade. He said, “I wish you were here but it really is not conducive for you.”
I made the right choice. Still, I wandered around the house without purpose. If I was too ill to go, was I too ill to go somewhere else? Should I conserve my energy for when they came home since my son insisted he as just going for a couple of hours? (I did wait and then they stayed late to swim and eat dinner.)
If you live with illness, summer can create a whole new list of things you can’t do: sit in the sun, eat ice cream, walk in the sand, find a place just to sit down, survive humidity and heat, and the list goes on. . . And if you are a parent, you may be feeling overwhelmed at entertaining your children all summer on your limited energy. How do you explain to their friend’s moms that you just can’t hang out at the pool for six hours?
I am learning to pace. I am considering what is best for me–not just for others, because oftentimes, the expectations of others are all in my head. People are more understanding than I sometimes believe them to be.
Prayer: God, there are so many things my heart wants to do and be by one I feel like I just keep having to cancel. Help me learn to prioritize them and know when to pass–or when to just go for it, even if I am in pain. Guide me in making wise choices for my health and place people around me who understand.
About the author:
Lisa Copen is the founder of Rest Ministries and she lives in San Diego with her husband and son. She is gradually learning how to balance motherhood, family, illness, and ministry, but she still knows it will be a lifetime lesson. You can see the books she has written, including, Why Can’t I Make People Understand? at the Rest Ministries shop.
You can now read this on your Kindle. Find out more at http://TodaysDevotionOnKindle.com
What events are you hoping to do this summer that mean the most to you? How can you do everything in your power so that this may be able to occur? If you are unable to, what is your “back up plan” to get you through lonely times?
Are You Waiting Quietly On the Lord?
01 Jun 2012 1 Comment
in Devotionals2
This passage really hit me–how often do I try to do things in my own strength, instead of His? How often do I lean upon my own talents and gifting instead of upon God’s mighty power? Even as I write this, I’m exhausted from a bad headache and ready for bed, and yet God inspires me to write about this beautiful passage of Scripture (in the middle of verses about God’s discipline I might add). I am continually awed at how God works in my life. If I had tried to write in my own strength it probably wouldn’t have happened today! But that’s the exciting part– when we admit that we can’t do something, that’s when God shows us He can!
When we quietly rest in God’s hands, that’s when we see Him work. Friends may you be encouraged, renewed and at peace as you put your trust in God!
Prayer: I praise You because Your never-ending mercies are wonderful and new every morning. Help me to put my hope and trust in You as I wait quietly for Your deliverance. I know You are good to those who wait on You and so I eagerly lean upon Your strength. Amen.
About the Author
Bridget Gazlay resides in beautiful West Michigan. She struggles with fibromyalgia, endometriosis, IBS, kidney stones, and migraines. She works full time but writes and designs fabric art on the side. Bridget’s prayer is that anyone who comes across her writing or artwork would see she allows, “God’s creation to be my inspiration.” Find out more about Bridget at, www.pfccreations.com.
You can now read this on your Kindle. Find out more at http://TodaysDevotionOnKindle.com
Are you waiting quietly before the Lord?
How Illness Reminds Us Daily, His Plans Are Not Our Plans
31 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Devotionals2 Tags: Arizona, God, Jeremiah, Kindle, Lord, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Tracey Brown
“‘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 28:11)
Some may not believe this, but my father once owned a dog with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD. Lady, a lovable Australian shepherd, firmly believed everything had a place. In her mind, it had better stay there. With a steady supply of farm equipment in our yard, this was no easy task. If the car was parked in the driveway instead of under the carport, she would bark. If a feed sack fell off the back of the truck, she would bark. A bucket left in the yard would bring a barking alert.
The pleading in her eyes revealed the world would end if things were not put back in their original intended order. Lady never received treatment for her illness, but left us with funny memories of a dog that worried too much.
As this year’s upcoming graduates embark on a journey into adulthood, plans and dreams become forged into reality. Yet, even the best plans can be either changed or lost due to life’s situations and circumstances. Throughout the Bible, God brought interesting or heartbreaking twists into the lives of His children, each throwing man-made plans off course, forcing them to look to their Creator, the First and the Last, as their only hope for reassurance and restoration.
Just like our Bible heroes, our plans and expectations have been unfairly attacked, not due to our supposed guilt, but our supposed innocence. Illness has seemingly chosen us as a random target, erasing our hopes, dreams, and finances. The only one with any answers is God himself.
The reality is that our plans are not God’s plans. He has a greater cause, a greater mission, a greater hope than any of us can ever imagine.
Though it does not please Him when we suffer, our pain can place us where we need to be to draw strength and wisdom from Him. When we are weak, He is truly strong. We may be powerless, but He is powerful. We can rejoice in that, someday, somehow God will use our physical limitations as a glorious testimony of His tender grace and mercy.
Prayer: Thank you God that you can give me peace in the midst of chaos, and a future where there is no hope. Amen.
About the author:
Tracey Brown is grateful that God strengthened her faith through her experiences with kidney failure and dialysis. She celebrates the gift of life from an anonymous donor thirteen years ago.
You can now read this on your Kindle. Find out more at http://TodaysDevotionOnKindle.com
God’s plans for our life sometimes involve risk. How can we trust His plans versus our own?
Are You a Rebel? When We Rebel Against Our illness
30 May 2012 1 Comment
in Devotionals2 Tags: avoiding treatment, chronic, God, illness, Kindle, Lisa Copen, pain, procrastinating on medical tests, rest ministries, San Diego
“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13)
Have you ever done something–or not done something you should have–as a little power trip that you are playing with yourself and your illness? Let me explain. I confess, there have been times I have remembered that I needed to take a certain medication, and yet, I have just not gone and done it and then it has slipped my mind. Though I I have known that a certain action, like using a heating pad or an ice bag, may very well alleviate some of the pain and yet I have resisted. Sometimes I am in so much pain that the day seems like it is wasted already, so a part of me figures, “why bother?” I have procrastinated on preventative test, I have put off others.
I have heard from diabetics who have not taken a needed dose of insulin, to those who have digestive problems who have eaten something they knew would likely make them sick, so I know I am not alone.
Why do we do that? My theory is that our illness constantly controls us. It controls what we do each day, what we eat, how we feel, how far we walk, who we may even talk to. It threatens to control our entire life. And not doing what we should be doing, is, in some ways, like a growing teenager who is testing the limits of separating himself from his family and gaining his own independence. Some people call this “rebellion,” and others simply see it as a natural state of becoming an adult.
Our illness can feel like a hovering parent who never lets us out of the house without doing all our chores first. Did you take your medication? Did you find comfortable shoes? Did you pack the cane just in case? Don’t stay out late . . . you know you need your sleep.
There are a variety of studies done about how patients do and do not follow “doctors’ orders” but this has nothing to do with our physician’s expectations. We simply are making an independent, rebellious, and sometime dangerous decision to choose to assert ourselves. I control this illness! It doesn’t control me! we want to shout from the mountaintops.
Despite the fact that I understand this, and am guilty of it myself at times, it’s not a healthy choice. Sometimes our pain level may just be on a higher level, but for some people their actions can be life-threatening. We all need to find another way of being rebellious about living with a chronic illness. And so, as Proverbs 28:13 reminds us, we must confess this sinful desire to be in control of our body. Instead, give it over to God. Your body is His and He has provided tools to assist you in coping with your disease. Don’t try to be stubborn (“I don’t need that pain pill!”) or the martyr (“You all go have fun while I just sit here and moan now. No, really, I am joking–sort of.”)
Although those actions and that attitude may be human it is not Godly, and that is what we need to strive to be in this lifetime. One step at a time.
Prayer: God, there are times when I am in enough pain that I just feel like giving into it. Other times, I get so mad I have to take 20+ pills a day! I just want to skip a few and see what happens! But I confess these human desires to You and ask that You provide me with wisdom to take care of myself and common-sense to use that wisdom. Amen.
About the Author:
Lisa Copen is an author, speaker, and the founder of Rest Ministries which serves the chronically ill. She lives in San Diego with her husband and 9-year-old son. She has been cleaning her office and trying to work on ministry-related things, but her body keeps slowing her down!
You can now read this on your Kindle. Find out more at http://TodaysDevotionOnKindle.com
Have you ever not taken care of yourself as well as you should have? Have you skipped a dose of medicine, or procrastinated on getting a medical test done that was recommended for you? Want to confess? You are in good company here and no one will judge!
Related articles
- How Does God Provide for Your Practical Needs When You Are Ill? (chronicillnesspaindevotionals.wordpress.com)
When Loneliness Kicks In, God Will Sustain You
29 May 2012 5 Comments
in Devotionals2 Tags: God, prayer, Psalms
“I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me” (Psalm 3:5).
As a single person who’s chronically ill, I’ve gone through many medical tests and procedures by myself. Occasionally, my friend or my sister goes with me, but many visits I go in alone and I come out alone. Experiencing such loneliness at a time of unknown is disheartening to say the least.
Recently, I underwent a new treatment and as I was heading in to the doctor’s office, I received two text messages and an email on my phone letting me know I was prayed for and thought of (BIG thank you to my two friends Karen, Kim, and sister Gretchen). That meant the world to me. But more importantly, they reminded me that I wasn’t alone because God was with me!
I knew going in to this procedure that I was a little nervous about it. I tend to feel lonely at these times so prior to this appointment I had done a few things to remind myself God was right there. First, I found several verses in the Psalms that encouraged me. I took a picture of those passages with my cell phone so I would always have them with me. (You got to love technology these days.)
Second, I made it a point to tell others where I was going and asked for prayers. If you don’t share your struggles and burdens then how can others help you? Thirdly, I meditated on Scripture before, during, and after my procedure. Scripture always calms my heart. Lastly, I prayed and thanked God for being with me. The best thing about prayer is you can pray anytime, anywhere–even in a waiting room–and no one even knows your praying!
Going to this appointment by myself wasn’t fun, but I left there renewed and at peace because I really wasn’t alone at all. God sustained me and brought me through it. God helps me through each and every day–even those days where it’s hard to get out of bed–He still sustains me.
I hope you are reminded that you are never alone. May you feel God’s presence wherever you are!
Prayer: Dear God, I do feel so alone sometimes. Knowing You are right there with me encourages me greatly. Thank you for helping me through every part of my day. Amen.
About the Author:
Bridget Gazlay resides in beautiful West Michigan. She struggles with fibromyalgia, endometriosis, IBS, kidney stones, and migraines. She works full time but writes and designs fabric art on the side. Bridget’s prayer is that anyone who comes across her writing or artwork would see she allows, “God’s creation to be my inspiration.” Find out more about Bridget at, www.pfccreations.com.
You can now read this on your Kindle. Find out more at http://TodaysDevotionOnKindle.com
What things do you do to help make it through your doctor appointments?
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