Chronic Illness Pain Devotionals

A Clearer View

"When I was a child, I talked like a child; I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me."  ~ 1 Corinthians 13:11 NIV

At age ten, I received Christ as my Savior and my whole life changed. Everything felt different and no matter what I did or where I went, I could sense someone was with me, looking out for me. There was a security in my soul I had not known up to that point. And so most everything I experienced during that time has become a sweet memory.

One of those things was reading my first paperback book from cover to cover.

Up until then, I was too busy throwing rocks at girls at recess to care much about books. This book was "The World's Greatest Athlete", a story written for Disney, which was also a 2-part TV movie for the Sunday evening Disney broadcast. 

While at the library last week, I saw it among the DVD collection and my heart skipped a beat with excitement! I felt like I had just won the lottery!  When I got home, I began to watch it through my 44 year-old eyes. As the movie progressed, I noticed it was rather- how do I say it? - Corny.  I felt cheated somehow, wishing I could regain that magical feeling of innocence.

I then began to understand the Apostle Paul's words when he described how he had to eventually grow up and set aside childhood things for more complete knowledge and understanding.

But if I look more closely at Paul's teaching, the opposite effect will take place for me in the future! Right now, I live in the non-glamorous reality of pain, depression, fatigue and stress, viewing it as corny and downright awful. But one day, I will see more clearly and completely, God's design and purpose and how He used me to attract others to Himself! Then, my lackluster childish view of my painful existence on earth will be replaced with mature, overwhelming awe and delight!

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About the Author:

Pastor Greg Harvey lives in Kansas City, Kansas and manages chronic degenerative disk disease with two unsuccessful fusion surgeries. His wife, Dee, deals with crippling Rheumatoid Arthritis. They enjoy volunteering as they are able, in their local church and community. Greg's book, "Finding God Faithful in Turbulent Times" is available and may be obtained by contacting him at gaharvey@sunfower.com

Bring Your Weariness to God

“For sighing comes to me instead of food; my groans pour out like water.” Job 3:24

Do you ever feel sometimes, like me, that your life is one big sigh? It should be enough to live with chronic illness. Sighing suggests sorrow, something that has become tiresome, or weariness. Groaning is defined as a sound made in grief or pain. Sorrow made even Job, a man who “was blameless and upright,“ sigh.

I have times of sighing when I am weary of illness. After, I take measures to better the situation:  practical solutions such as improving my posture or exercises for my neck;  spiritual solutions like singing a hymn or offering a prayer of praise.

Because He is our Designer, God knows exactly what to do for us. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…” says part of Jeremiah 1:5. Most of us know a few people extremely well. However, in our human state, it is not absolute or perfect, but is enough to give us a glimpse of the truth of how intimately God knows us.   God knows us so much more precisely than any person can! He knows about that new pain you haven’t mentioned to anyone. He knows a headache woke you up in the middle of the night. He knows how you really feel when you reply to someone, “I’m fine, thanks.”

It’s ok to sigh now and then! We have a lot to deal with. Even Jesus sighed. Mark 8:12 says He sighed deeply when the Pharisees wanted to ask a question to test Him. It must have felt tiresome for Him to continually deal with this. 

Take comfort in the truth of how well God knows you. Turn to Him and ask Him to turn your sighs into smiles, your groans into praises. He will do it.

Prayer:  Thank you Abba Father for knowing us to the last detail. Remind us to turn to You when we are sighing and groaning, so that we may smile instead.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Priscilla Ervin lives in Arlington, Texas with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Epstein Barr. She is always amazed at what God shows her about herself.

Chat Room Ministries This Week

SCHEDULED CHAT ROOM MINISTRIES THIS COMING WEEK

Please take advantage of these times of fellowship, encouragement and support.

SCHEDULE CHANGE:  Please note that the Thursday chat with Deborah as Host will be temporarily suspended for a few weeks until mid September until Deborah is able to be back with us.

C.A.R.E. CONNECTION CHATS: (all in Daylight Savings Time)

Mondays 10:00 am Pacific/12:00 pm Central/1:00 pm Eastern

-  Chat Host is Mary

Mondays 5 pm Pacific/7 pm Central/8 pm Eastern

-  Chat Host is Liz

Tuesdays 5 pm Pacific/7 pm Central/8 pm Eastern

-  Chat Host is Donna

Wednesdays 5 pm Pacific/7 pm Central/8 pm Eastern

-  Chat Host is Carol

Fridays 2:00 pm Pacific/4:00 pm Central/5:00 pm Eastern

-  Chat Host is Kathy

Note:  Thursdays chat usually at 1 pm Pacific/3 pm Central/4 pm Eastern

with Chat Host Deborah is suspended until mid September

What is C.A.R.E. Connection?  C.A.R.E. stands for Comfort, Accept, Refresh, Encourage.  We want you to be able to connect with others who are going through similar problems or situations.  There will be a volunteer “Chat Host” at each of these times so you can be sure that someone will be there to make you feel welcome and lead the chat time in an hour of encouragement in God’s Word and fellowship and prayer together.

Other scheduled chat ministries:

Fellowship hour – Tuesdays at 1 pm Pacific/3 pm Central/4 pm Eastern

Hopekeepers Bible Study – Thursdays at 5 pm Pacific/7 pm Central/8 pm Eastern

TO GET TO THE CHAT ROOM:  Go to www.restministries.org/pro-chat.htm and type in your name in the box and click on “Connect”.  (It may take a few minutes to load the chat room window.) 

C.A.R.E. CHAT ROOM:  A special chat room has been created just for the CARE chats to meet together in if the CARE Host chooses to do so.  So when you want to join one of the scheduled C.A.R.E. Connection chat times, you just sign into the Rest Ministries chat room as usual, which takes you to the main room called the Lobby.  Check there to see if the CARE chat is taking place in the Lobby or in the CARE Connection chat room.  To move there, click on  "show rooms" above the user names and then double click the room you want to go to (CARE Connection).

If you are unsure about getting there at the correct time try going to www.timetemperature.com/tzus/time_zone.shtml and below the map you will see the time zone differences (i.e. Pacific, Mountain, Central, Eastern). 

Carolann Page

Rest Ministries

C.A.R.E. Chat Co-ordinator

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Obedience Is Better

“. . .To obey is better than sacrifice,” (1 Samuel 15:22 NIV)

One of the things that I have come to accept about my life is that fatigue is a very real part of my chronic illness. I now recognize the signs that mean, for me, STOP - lay down and do nothing for at least 15 minutes. It doesn’t mean sleep necessarily, it just means laying quietly and letting my body recharge, so to speak.

When I first became ill, I didn’t listen to my body. So what if I was a little tired? I would plow ahead with whatever. This usually resulted in a relapse so bad, I would spend between one day and two weeks in bed! After a few of these (okay, I’m a slow learner, I guess), I found that if I just stopped when my body gave the signal, why a mere 15 minutes or so later, I would be good to go and best of all, it wouldn’t cost me a week in bed!

I have to admit, it was little hard to take comments from healthy people like, “I wish I could just take a break ‘cause I’m tired!” or “I’m tired too. I went to the movies late last night and then spent all day gardening today!”  I wonder how many of our “excuses” sound like that to the Lord?

He’s teaching me, through my experiences with fatigue, that obedience is better than pushing through in my own way and then having to repent of it later.  If I obey Him in the first place, I won’t have the big regrets, or some of the other lasting effects of sin. How good of God to use something as ugly as fatigue to teach me such a great spiritual lesson !

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Christy Brewster and her husband live on the Oregon coast. She lives with MS and Diabetes. Her writing goal is found in Psalm 19:14, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

Battling Illness

“All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s,” (1 Samuel 17:47 NIV)

I have a wise friend who told me a while ago that this battle with illness, “isn’t your fight anymore, and hasn’t been your fight for awhile.” When I read the above passage from Samuel, it reminded me of her words. Illness is His battle, not mine and not yours.

I have always been someone who prepares for and anticipates everything. In business this is a fantastic trait. I always over anticipate what can go wrong with a presentation, a particular case, etc…I also always have a second line of defense in place so that even should something go wrong, I can fall back on plan B. This has served me well – at least until cancer came into my life.

I was young and healthy when cancer hit me from out of nowhere. I hadn’t anticipated it, and it was too late to prepare for it.  But something else hit me as well; this diagnosis did not take God by surprise. He saw it coming, and although I wish it had never come into my life and that He stopped it from touching me, He was prepared to battle it.

Even though some days it is hard for me to deal with the repercussions it has had in my life, He has equipped me with everything I need to fight physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. He has put others in my life and orchestrated their actions and words to help get me through.

I felt woefully unprepared to deal with cancer, but I know that I must trust in the preparation and plans He has made for my well-being. “It is His battle, not mine.”

Prayer: Lord, Help us to not be afraid as we battle illness because it really is Your battle. We trust You to fight in and through us. Help us to remember that You are in control. We place our trust in You. Amen.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Denny Dowd lives in Pennsylvania with her two cats, Liam and Shamrock. Denny is a social worker and she enjoys writing, reading, and volunteering. Denny is the world's biggest Notre Dame football fan. Denny lives with Chronic Inflammatory Demylineating Polyneuropathy and cancer and has strong faith that God will see her through even the most difficult of days.

Looking For God

“You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek for Me with all your heart.”

Jeremiah 29:13 NIV

I could almost feel the sway of the big pines as I looked up into the sky. It was mesmerizing. The gentle swish of the pines and the rustle of the leaves had the most calming affect on me. It probably does everybody, but this was my first time in a forest like this. I went on this Mammoth trip with several goals in mind. One goal was to look for God. I wanted to see His glory all around me in His creation. I was not disappointed. He was everywhere.

We had to travel 5 hours through the Mojave Desert to get the Eastern Sierra Mountains. I have never liked traveling through the desert. To me it was dry, barren, ugly and oh, so very hot. Something happened on a trip two years ago. I looked for God as we went through the desert. What I found that trip, was one of my very favorite colors. I had never noticed it before then, probably because I was too busy grumbling. It was sage green. How could I have missed that before? How? I wasn't looking...

I was fearful leading up to this trip because I had been sick and have been having tests done. I was almost too tired to go. No, I was too tired to go. I was too weary to even get ready to go. But I wanted this time with my family.  Sometimes I feel like life is passing me by… In spite of my feelings, I saw God's faithfulness at every turn for me. I always thought my place of refuge was the ocean because it always soothed me. But as I sat in a chaise lounge looking up into the trees, I was being soothed and refreshed as I listened to the wind in the trees. I was refreshed, because I was looking for God.

I have been thinking the last three days since we have been home, what else could I be missing because I haven't been looking for God? Sure makes me wonder. I want to see Him everywhere I look. I don't want to miss anything.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, help us to look for you in all things and in all places.  Don’t let our illnesses cloud our vision or our desire to see You. 

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About the Author:  Patty Dahl lives in Southern California with her husband Bob. She lives with multiple chronic illnesses, two of them being fibromyalgia and peripheral neuropathy.  It is her desire to bring glory to God through her writings.

Crucified With Christ

“I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 NIV)

Over the past two years I have had many surgeries. When I read this passage from Galatians I thought about what a unique identification with Christ surgery is.  During surgery that I have had, my arms have been laid horizontally on a separate part of the surgical stretcher – like Jesus’ were on the cross.

Paul’s words in Galatians, “I am crucified with Christ” hit me when I thought of this part of readying for a surgery that is both painful and potentially lethal. In essence I am laying my desires, my thoughts about what is best, my physicality, my illness and my dreams at the cross. My life is no longer about me, but about my faithful, sovereign God.

It is easy for my selfish desires to creep in and get in the way of my complete surrender to God. Illness has a way of doing that doesn’t it? It is very easy to fall into the trap of becoming self-absorbed. But He doesn’t want a selfish child. He wants Christ living in us to the praise of His glory.  It isn’t all about us – it is all about Him.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity to be crucified with Christ. It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. We worship you as our loving Father who walks with us on this road. We worship You as the Sustainer and Provider who is concerned about our spiritual growth. Amen.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Denny Dowd lives in Pennsylvania with her two cats, Liam and Shamrock. Denny is a social worker and she enjoys writing, reading, and volunteering. Denny is the world's biggest Notre Dame football fan. Denny lives with Chronic Inflammatory Demylineating Polyneuropathy and cancer and has strong faith that God will see her through even the most difficult of days.

Practising the Three P's

“…Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58, NIV).

My husband and I recently watched a movie about the amazing life of Bill Porter.  It was based on a true story about a man with cerebral palsy who had a very remarkable spirit.  He genuinely cared about people and connected with them despite his disability.  Bill was also blessed with a wonderful mother who encouraged him to never give up and to always practice patience, persistence and perseverance (the three P’s).  Remarkably, Bill landed a sales job only when he offered to take the territory nobody wanted.  His sales career with Watkins lasted nearly fifty years and he was often at the top of his firm’s sales charts.  One year, he was even voted top salesman of the year.

What is it about Bill’s life that inspired so many people?    His life definitely wasn’t easy.  At the beginning of his sales career, people often shut the door in his face and kids called him “the scary man” because he walked and talked funny.  However, three things stood out to me about Bill’s character:  he never complained about his circumstances; never showed self pity and he was a hard worker who refused to give up.  Over time, his daily practice of the three P’s reaped great rewards.  Although Bill is not a Christian, his story inspires me to persevere in the daily battle with CFIDS, especially when I feel like giving up.

Just like Bill, we face many tough obstacles daily in our pursuit to get well and we can also make a big impact on others by how we live.  Do we complain and sit around feeling sorry for ourselves, or do we smile often, despite the pain?  Do we strive to be a bright light that glorifies God even when it hurts?  Do we tell others where our source of hope comes from?  When others see the fruits of the Spirit in us, they will be encouraged to draw closer to Christ (Galatians 5:22-23). 

Dear Jesus, help us to persevere and be bright lights shining for You even when it’s very difficult!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tammi  and her husband, Todd, recently adopted a new member to their family, a miniature dachsund named Mini, who is almost ten months old.  Tammi really enjoys the company that Mini provides during the day and laughing at her playful antics.  Take a minute to visit her website at www.lordhelpmyhusband.com.   

God's Transforming Power

"Do no conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind," (Romans 12:2 NIV)

I went to a funeral today for my friend Gary.  Gary was a constant source of inspiration to me as we have gone through cancer together. Doctors found and removed a rapidly growing form of brain cancer in his skull. But within a year, the cancer had returned and was beyond the reaches of chemotherapy and radiation. Gary left behind a wife, four children, and many, many friends.

Amazingly, he always had a smile on his face and was filled with tremendous joy. When we were undergoing chemotherapy at the same time, we would talk about life and God. His selflessness blew me away. He could have very easily said, "This is unfair, God!" But he never did. He was committed to serving God, encouraging others and doing His will despite what the cancer was doing to his body and mind.

God has brought people into my life during this journey of cancer that have all shown me how to live, even in the darkest moments, but Gary had a profound impact on my life. He showed me what it is to truly reflect God to others.

Prayer: Lord, I am so grateful for people you place in my life who show me how to live each day, other patients who mentor and minister to me. Thank you for helping me be a light to others going through difficult circumstances. Thank you for all the ways You show Your goodness and mercy to us. Amen.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Denny Dowd lives in Pennsylvania with her two cats, Liam and Shamrock.  Denny is a social worker and she enjoys writing, reading, and volunteering.  Denny is the world's biggest Notre Dame football fan. Denny lives with Chronic Inflammatory Demylineating Polyneuropathy and cancer and has strong faith that God will see her through even the most difficult of days.

Working God's Plan

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."  Ephesians 2:10  (NIV)

Often those of us with chronic illnesses have a problem feeling useful.  I know that for a long time I was a Doer, busy all of the time.  My identity was tied to what I did.  Pastor's wife, Mother, Teacher, writer. It is a normal part of our society I guess; when you meet someone new the first question often is this; "What do you do?"

When chronic illness puts us in bed, this often makes us wonder; "What can I DO now?"  I used to measure my days by what I could check off my to do list.  I wanted to have a list of accomplishments!  Now sometimes it is a big day if I can do a load of laundry and make a meal.

But dear friends, we ARE God's workmanship.  He created us, just as we are.  We are His children! We are created by Him to do good works.  And do you know what else?  He already knows and has planned our good works.  Our scripture says that there are good works "which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Even with our illnesses we are useful to Him.  Even if we feel weak, we can still know and believe that God created us just as we are.  To do "good works."  So we need to grow closer to God, to get to know Him, and see what it is that He wants us to do.  He has a plan for us!

We can pray.  This world needs prayer warriors!  Our Pastor families face heavy loads daily.  Our Military definitely need our prayers, Missionaries, shut in's, those who are in the hospital all would appreciate our prayers, and perhaps a note to tell them that they are prayed for.

If we think about it, there is a lot we can do!  But first we must draw close to God and find what it is that He has planned for us!  Isn't this exciting?

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About the Author: Sandra Platt is a Pastors wife and mother of two almost grown kids. She lives in Southern Indiana.  She enjoys cross stitching, writing for her Lord, and be involved with all of the friendships she has made through this ministry.  She has had Fibromyalgia for 18 years, along with other multiple chronic illness.