Being a perfectly healthy 27-year-old and taking a crash into chronic illness was devastating for me. I lost most of the physical and mental abilities that I took for granted.
My weekend bike trips and quick-and-easy smarts became impossible.
I canât begin to count the times Iâve cried out to God in the years since and asked him to heal me.
And yet I remain sick. Bike trips and brains appear to be a part of my history instead of my future.
Has God abandoned me? Surely Iâm asking enough and in the right ways to receive his healing? What am I/did I do wrong to deserve this?
And the answer is, NO I havenât been abandoned. God is listening and loving me, even when Iâm at my lowest.
What kind of future do you have if God doesnât heal you?
Chronic illness is the hardest thing many people face.
There is no end date in sight for most of us. Some people, like me for the first 5 years, donât even have a diagnosis for why their bodies are malfunctioning.
Itâs easier to get through something when you have a belief that it will end. If youâve ever had the flu, the thing that kept you going is that you know you will become healthy or ânormalâ again. That hope allows you to see beyond your present misery.
With a chronic disease, you donât have that comfort and assuranceâŠat least, not on this side of eternity. Instead, youâre faced with the prospect that your suffering may last for years. Possibly the rest of your life.
And itâs not only the physical or emotional aspects of these illnesses that are hard.
Chronic illness tests your spiritual side. You may wonder if God has abandoned you. You might think youâre being punished or worry you brought this on yourself. You may begin to doubt your faith or try to bargain with God.
Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much MoreâŠ.
Where Is God Right Now?
All of these reactions are normal. What weâre experiencing is grief. Itâs the feeling of pain we encounter when we lose something.
Itâs not only the lost health that causes grief. Itâs the loss of experiences you could have/should have had. Itâs the time you wonât get to spend with friends and family because of your illness.
I donât know about you, but hereâs something I find comforting.
Grief is not unique to humanity. God knows it, too. Jesus also experienced it.
âHe was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.â (Isaiah 53:3)
One translation of this verse says He was âacquainted with the deepest griefâ. Since Jesus knew grief, He understands exactly what it is to experience loss. In his final moments of pain and suffering, His cry was: âMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?â (Matthew 27:46)
It doesnât make you weak or a failure to wonder where God is. It only means that you are human and your understanding is limited to the things of this world.
While itâs normal to feel alone, it doesnât mean that God has abandoned us. As a matter of fact, Psalms 34:18 says, âThe LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.â
He is actually closer to us when weâre brokenhearted and crushed!
Did I cause my chronic illness by sinning?
Iâm not going to beat around the bush, there is an example in the Bible of Jesus indicating sin can cause illness.
In John 5, Jesus heals a man at the pool of Bethesda. This man has been ill for 38 years but has continued to hope for healing.
Jesus grants the deepest longing of his heart. When He spots the man again a few verses later, he extends a warning to him: âSee, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to youâ (verse 18).
BUTâŠ
God let bad things happen to good people, too. Just take a read through Job and you can see tremendous suffering brought to the blown-down door of a faithful man.
Illness can be the same. Look at Jesusâ answer when His disciples wanted to know about a blind manâs sinâŠ
âNeither this man nor his parents sinned,â said Jesus, âbut this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.â (John 9:3)
Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much MoreâŠ.
God can and does use illness to showcase His glory and grace. It could be that God intends to cure you at some point in a miraculous way. But it could also be that God intends to show the world His strength through your weakness as Paul explained in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, concluding: âFor when I am weak, then I am strong.â
While sin can be the cause of illness, it is more likely the result of living in a world ravaged by sin and darkness.
Also, letâs not forget we can become ill as a result of someone elseâs sin. Perhaps, for example, a person with AIDS is given to them by their unfaithful spouse.
Even when an illness is caused by sin (whether your own or someone elseâs), it doesnât mean that God has forsaken us.
David had this to say after his sin with Bathsheba and her husband Uriah: âMy sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.â (Psalm 51:17)
When David sinned, God wasnât looking to crush him. He was looking to restore David. But that could only happen after David confessed his sin and sought to walk in true repentance.
Regardless of the cause of the disease or illness, you are fighting, God is always compassionate. He is not looking to punish but to restore. He longs to bring you into his presence and fellowship with you!
How Can I Stay Encouraged When I Feel So Bad?
One of the challenges of being chronically ill is staying spiritually and emotionally strong when you feel terrible each day.
It was described by one sufferer like this: âItâs like I start my day with an empty gas tank. I donât wake up feeling refreshed or energized. I feel like I have the flu every morning.â
Some Christians believe they should âpush past itâ or âsmile through it allâ or âtough it outâ when theyâre dealing with a chronic illness. Iâm sure weâve all encountered proponents of the âpick yourself up by your bootstrapsâ method to getting over an illness.
Maybe youâve even had a loved one to tell you this. Iâm sorry if you have!
Because we Christians donât have to paint a smiley face over those feelings! We have been blessed with the ability to go into Godâs presence and share these deep emotions.
Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much MoreâŠ.
In Psalm 62:8, David tells Godâs people to be honest about what theyâre feeling: âTrust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.â
The emotions youâre going through may not always be pretty. Itâs OK to say, âGod, today Iâm missing out on another milestone in my childâs life because of my illness and itâs breaking my heart.â
Or even, âGod, Iâm angry today. Iâm sick and none of this feels fair and I donât understand why You havenât healed me.â
Our emotions are not sinful. God gave us emotions so we could enjoy our lives and experience love, affection, and intimacy. But the flip side of living in a sinful world is that we also experience emotions that are painfulâsadness, guilt, fear, or shame.
Channel Your Emotions
Besides talking to God, some people with chronic illness find it helpful to deal with their emotions through artistic activities. Often the act of creating will give you space to express your feelings so you finish feeling uplifted.
You donât have to be an âartistâ to take up a creative hobby. Because when we create, we honor our Creator. Your âartâ may take many forms â it could be knitting, drawing, painting, embroidery, rubber stamping, coloring, writing fiction, crocheting, scrapbooking, pottery, gardening, taking photographs, or hand lettering.
These are just a few examples. If you donât have one, consider a hobby that appeals to you and your strengths. Donât be afraid to experiment. It makes take a few tries for you to find one that suits your emotions, needs, and soul.
When youâre dealing with a chronic illness, it can also be helpful to look for a way to minister to others. You donât have to do anything huge. When George suffered a stroke, he lost the ability to speak but he could still knit.
After hearing a local hospital needed blankets in the neonatal unit, George began knitting as a way to give back. It comforted him to know that even though his ability to communicate was gone, he could still show others the love of Jesus.
Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much MoreâŠ.
You donât have to take up knitting to be a blessing. You can do something simple like: write a note to a hurting friend, call an elderly neighbor, take a meal to someone in need, give a book that spoke to you during a dark time to someone from church, or leave flowers on a strangerâs car along with a Bible verse.
I donât know about you, but I find it easier to cope with chronic illness when I can do something constructive and bring happiness to someone else. As we lift up those around us, we will begin to feel encouraged, too.
What Can I Do to Keep Bitterness at Bay?
Recently, I read the story of Kyle, who was injured in a shooting.
He had been a police officer who was shot in the line of duty and suffered a traumatic brain injury that made everyday tasks difficult. He wasnât able to keep working and his wife became the main earner for the family. She worked long hours at a difficult job that didnât pay enough.
As time went on, Kyle became resentful. He wasnât just angry over what had happened. He was frustrated at how his wife was mistreated at work, at how she had to struggle to keep their bills paid, and at how his children suffered because of the stress and chaos at home.
I speak from painful experience when I say one of the hardest parts of living with a chronic illness is watching how it affects those you love most.
For some, that may mean your children donât get as much of your time or your spouse is overworked and exhausted all of the time.
These are understandable frustrations! But the problem arises when they are left unchecked and become bitter.
When Kyle reached out to a friend, he suggested that Kyleâs bitterness was rooted in a lack of forgiveness. He realized he needed to forgive his shooter all over again.
Paul encouraged the church in Ephesus to do the same: âGet rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.â (Ephesians: 4:31-31)
We can get up in thinking of forgiveness as an activity that we do once. But many times, forgiveness is a choice we must make again and again. Although it wasnât easy, Kyle made it a habit to say âI forgive youâ every time he or his family suffered as a result of that shooter.
Maybe your âshooterâ isnât an actual person but a circumstance. You may have to extend forgiveness to something that doesnât deserve it or canât physically hear you say it. But that is 1000% better than living a life of bitterness!
What If I Blame God?
Illness can come into our lives with seemingly no cause. In these situations, itâs tempting to blame God. As humans, we want to understand the âwhyâ behind our suffering and without a clear answer, we turn on the One who created us.
But letâs go back to Job. When he heard that he lost everything, his response was to worship (Job 1:20-22). Worship is the one activity that can drive away bitterness, soften a hard heart, and remind you of the Holiness, Grace, and Mercy of God.
That doesnât mean that you canât express your feelings in worship. God longs for us to worship in Spirit and in truth. That means being honest about our feelings but also meditating on the truth.
Some Biblical truths that can be helpful include:
- God is working this for your good (Romans 8:28).
- God has a plan for your life (Jeremiah 29:11).
- Godâs ways are perfect (Isaiah 55:9).
- Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33).
- You will receive an eternal reward for your present suffering (James 1:12).
Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much MoreâŠ.
How Do I Show Love, Grace, and Mercy to Those Who Are Unsupportive?
Living with a chronic illness is hard. But when you lack a loving support system, itâs even harder. Maybe your parents donât believe youâre really sick or your spouse doubts that you could be âin that much painâ.
In these moments, itâs tempting to lash out. Youâve been hurt and you want to respond with the same carelessness or malice.
But consider this: youâre standing at a beautiful crossroads. Itâs the one between âthey deserve thisâ and âthis person is precious to my Heavenly Fatherâ.
The natural, human response is to choose the first path. But the response that honors God? The one that makes Him cheer? Itâs to see you extend the very same grace that you are being denied.
When those around you are cruel, when theyâre thoughtless, when they fail to comfort you in your pain, or even openly mock your suffering, this is grace: to look at them through Godâs eyes of love.
You cannot do this on your own. To see another human being through Godâs eyes requires supernatural vision. It starts with humble prayer and a genuine desire for more of Christ in you.
Let this prayer be your plea: Dear God, Iâm hurt. My spirit is heavy. I long for human comfort and I receive none. Be my Comforter! Be the Source of my joy! Give me the grace to see this person through Your eyes. Remind me again that they are beautiful and precious and cherished by You! Give me the compassion to love them the way You love them. In Jesusâ name, Amen.
You canât make someone believe that youâre sick or bully them into being nice to you. But you can show up and grant them grace. You can be supportive, kind, and lovingâŠbecause thatâs who Jesus is to you!
âFor I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.â â Romans 8:38-39
Bringing It All Together
Chronic illness is trying on your body, mind, and soul.
There is no denying that.
And our prayers for healing may not be answered quickly or at all.
But that does not mean that God is not with us and loving us. Our faith in Him as our loving heavenly Father will be tested and strengthened through our pain and suffering.
I hope you found hope and encouragement in this post. That you can better understand why God may choose to not heal you. And what to do while you continue to pray.
Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much MoreâŠ.
I would love to join you in your prayers. Leave a comment below and I will add it to my prayer list.
God bless!
References:
Fibro Women Blogs
Click here to Get the latest Fibro Women Updates
Click here to Get the latest Fibromyalgia Caring Updates
Click here to Get the latest Women with Fibromyalgia Updates
Click here to Get the latest Chronically Ill Updates
Chronic Woman Blogs
Click here to Get the latest Chronic Woman Updates
Click here to Get the latest Fibromyalgia Home Updates
Click here to Get the latest Fibro Mom Blog Updates
Click here to Get the latest Fibromyalgia Journey Updates
Click here to Get the latest Fibromyalgia Resources Updates
Chronic Illness Blogs
Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates
Click here to Get the latest Chronic Cure Updates
Click here to Get the latest Chronic Health Updates
Click here to Get the latest Fibro Warrior Updates
Click here to Get the latest Fibromyalgia Awareness Updates
Official Fibromyalgia Blogs
Click here to Get the latest Healthizes Updates
Click here to Get the latest Fibromyalgia Center Updates
Click here to Get the latest Fibromyalgia Updates
Click here to Get the latest Chronic Illness updates
Fibromyalgia Stores
Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store
Click here to Visit Disability Store
Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Shop
Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Showroom
Fibromyalgia Social
Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Facebook Page
Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Facebook Group
Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Instagram Page
Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Youtube Channel
Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Tiktok Page
Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Twitter Page