My Choice
As a believer in Christ, I know that nothing has come into my life by accident. Every trial is purposed by the Lord to help refine me and conform me to the image of Christ. Because I trust Jesus and His leading in my life, I know He is with me. I receive His promises to me. So I can look at things with new eyes.
I choose to be:
- Spirit-filled
- Joyful
- Thankful
- Peaceful
- Full of faith in God
- Full of praise to the Lord
- Available to God
- Dependent on Him
Verses that help me in any kind of difficulty:
- Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4
- We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4
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Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Cor. 12:7-10
Verses about God’s healing that is available to me in Christ:
- Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:14-16
And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. Matt. 4:23
How Can I Respond to My Family in a Godly Way When I Am Feeling Awful?
When I face health issues, I can seek to remember that:
- My exhaustion, pain, or illness does not justify me being grumpy, irritable, hateful, bitter, or entitled.
- God is with me and as I look to Him, He can give me supernatural strength to respond in His Spirit’s power, yes, even when my flesh is very weak.
- I can respectfully ask my family for what I need.
- I can know my limits and may have to say, “I’m so sorry, but I am just not able to do X right now,” at certain times. I have to admit I am human and I need help sometimes, too.
- I can be honest and vulnerable and share my problems with my husband when something gets worse or there is an issue. I usually only have to do that once. I don’t want to complain unnecessarily. Minor things, I try to keep to myself. But if something is a significant issue, I want to be sure Greg knows about it so he can adjust accordingly or help me if I need help.
- When God wants me to do something for Him, I trust that He will give me the power to do it, even when I don’t have the power on my own.
- I can lay all of these needs before Him and entrust them to Him.
- I can ask the Lord for healing, provision, and wisdom.
- I can surround myself with godly prayer warrior women and we can pray for one another.
- I can praise and thank Him for the trials and invite Him to use them for His glory.
- I can be open to anything He may desire for me to learn in times of difficulty.
- I need my alone time with the Lord more than ever in those moments.
- I can focus on my blessings and all of the good things God has provided for me.
- I can look for ways to encourage others who may be suffering in similar ways and anticipate how many doors God may open for me to minister to others in the future because of this experience I am going through.
- I can ask the Lord to show me if there is any sin in my life and if He may be chastising me for something specific so that I might repent and be healed.
- My weaknesses remind me of my total dependence on the Lord and how I can do nothing on my own – that is a good place to be.
- I can peacefully rest in God’s love for me and in His sovereignty over every aspect of my life.
- I can joyfully receive all that Jesus is, the abundant Life He offers, all that He has done for me, and all of His resources for me.
- I can meditate on God’s promises to me and hide His Word in my heart.
- In Christ, I get to have all of His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
- I can smile and speak words of Life to others, longing to be a blessing to them.
- I can savor my time with my family, in spite of my difficulties, and seek to be fully present as much as possible.
- I can ask God to love my family through me and to make me a blessing to them in the midst of my pain.
- I can try to get the rest, exercise, and nutrition my body needs as I also graciously seek to be aware of my family’s needs, as well.
- In Christ, I can love with His supernatural love no matter what my circumstances are at the moment.
- Jesus determines my character, motives, thoughts, and behaviors as I yield to His Lordship. My illness and health issues do not.
- I can ask the Lord for His wisdom and discernment about how to approach each trial in a way that honors Him.
SHARE:
How has God empowered you to live by His strength in the face of difficult health issues? Or, how would you like to approach your medical problems in a new way after reading this post? What is the Lord speaking to your heart?
Note – I’d like to keep the comments centered on our spiritual response to our medical issues, to God, and to our families as we face health challenges rather than people giving medical advice to others. Thanks for understanding. 🙂
FOLLOW UP:
Check out how the Lord has healed me this summer from a number of physical ailments in this post, A Summer of Healing.
RELATED:
Handling Adversity with Joy and without Complaining
Divine Healing – by Andrew Murray (Something I am studying in July of 2017 myself and it has opened my eyes and heart to a whole new level of faith in the Lord as Healer)
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TEACH ABOUT DISEASE?
Disease was not part of God’s original design for us or for creation. But after sin entered the world, disease is now part of life because we are in a fallen world. There are several causes of disease, according to the Bible:
1. Disease exists because sin is in the world in general.
2. Disease can be a result of a person’s individual sin (i.e.: STDs, gluttony, addictions, anorexia/bulemia, etc… 1 Cor. 6:18-20, Romans 1:27, or other sins James 5:14-15).
3. Disease can be a result of another person’s sin (i.e.: King David’s baby with Bathsheba got sick and died because of David’s sin 2 Sam. 11).
4. Disease can be a result of Satanic attack (i.e.: Job 1, Mark 9:14-29).
5. Disease can happen if we take the Lord’s Supper “in an unworthy manner” (1 Cor. 11:27-31).
6. Disease can be in our lives so that God might be glorified when He heals us (John 9:3, James 5:14-15).
7. Disease (and suffering in general) can be a training tool and a test that God uses in our lives to refine us, grow our faith, and bring about greater spiritual growth (James 1, 1 Peter, Romans 5:3-5, 2 Cor. 4:17, Heb. 12:4-12)
8. Disease can result from the way we think (Prov. 17:22) – if we believe lies about ourselves and reject God’s truth, that can make us sick. (You are welcome to read posts here by “Radiant” – she was almost an invalid because of spiritual oppression and lies she had believed about herself, God, and others. When she began to receive God’s truth and love and reject the lies she had been telling herself, God healed her very dramatically.)
9. Disease/plagues can be a judgment of God in some situations (Gen. 12:17, Ex. 15:26, 1 Sam. 6, Rev. 6:8 ).
10. Disease can be part of the consequences of our own choices, maybe choices that are not even sinful. For example, sometimes we are exposed to radiation, lead, or toxins through no fault or knowledge of our own.
I don’t know exactly why any particular person may be facing an awful disease or suffering. I don’t have access to all of God’s wisdom and knowledge.
What I do know is that our God is sovereign. And He loves each of us beyond our ability to fathom. Nothing that enters into our lives may come without His permission. God, whose motives toward His children can only be good, promises to use anything and everything in our lives – all of the good and bad – ultimately for our good and His glory because we belong to Him. That is a promise to all believers (Romans 8:28-29).
RESOURCES:
What Does the Bible Say about Suffering?
https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-suffering.html
Verses about suffering
https://www.openbible.info/topics/suffering
Verses about sickness
https://www.openbible.info/topics/sickness
Posts about disease and God’s will
https://www.desiringgod.org/search/results?utf8=✓&q=disease#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=disease&gsc.page=1
https://www.gotquestions.org/search.php?zoom_query=disease&search.x=0&search.y=0
Posts about God’s sovereignty
https://www.gotquestions.org/search.php?zoom_query=God%27s+sovereignty&search.x=0&search.y=0
https://www.desiringgod.org/search/results?utf8=✓&q=disease#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=sovereignty