Where do your thoughts lead you?
I went for a walk today. I don't get out very much as my pain and fatigue levels have been high. No sooner did I get outside then I saw one of my neighbours. I went over and we had a nice chat, but part way through I could feel my energy plummeting, my pain increasing, and I began to feel anxious. Afterward, I did force myself to go for my short walk, but as my energy slipped away my anxiety grew. At one point I didn't think I had the energy to make it home... and my anxiety grew.
I think we could all agree that my thoughts were not helping me in this situation. My biggest struggle since developing chronic pain and fatigue has been to not let anxiety overtake me. Yet it's hard not to feel fear or anxious when my body starts to shut down.
How then, do we overcome this?
Whose voice do you believe?
Deceit
The enemy will do his best to fill our heads with lies to keep us in bondage. In 1 Peter 5:8 we are warned to -
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
Do you ever feel like your life is being devoured? Your bank account is below zero, your health is slipping away, or you lost your job? It is so easy to stay focused on what we don't have or what we have lost. I know what it's like to be down this slippery slope and it ain't fun!
Truth
It is time to change our focus to the Truth instead of being held captive by lies! 1 Peter 5:9 continues on to say -
Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.
While we can take comfort that we are not in this alone, you might not be too excited about all of this suffering going on. But not to worry; we are given hope in verse 10 -
In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.
Have you ever really stopped to think about this? God has called us - you and me - to share in his eternal glory... WOW! Notice it then says, after we have suffered "a little while". We know that there will be suffering in this world. We live in a fallen world and unfortunately this is the result (oh if only Adam and Eve had been obedient).
I don't know what the heck happens after we turn 40 but it seems the older I get the faster my life zooms by all the while with me burning through my brake pads as I try to slow it down! Whether we experience our restoration next week, next year or the end of our lives, it will seem like the blink of an eye, as though it was just "a little while".
I don't know what the heck happens after we turn 40 but it seems the older I get the faster my life zooms by all the while with me burning through my brake pads as I try to slow it down! Whether we experience our restoration next week, next year or the end of our lives, it will seem like the blink of an eye, as though it was just "a little while".
How do you want to live?
Each one of us must make a decision right now, this very day!
Will you live by fear or by faith?
Don't waste another day living in fear and anxiety, wondering when or even if God will answer your prayers. He already has! God's timing is not our timing nor is our will necessarily His will. However, we need to live by faith, trusting God to work everything out for our good and His glory. And just as they did in verse 11, we will spend each and every day declaring -
All power to Him forever! Amen.
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I will be starting a 30 day devotional to help us stay focused on trusting and thanking God. Please email me if you would like to be notified once a date has been set.
God bless,
You made a great point Kristina: Don't FOCUS on the problem; focus on God's Word. God dependency versus 'My problems' dependency will both come with results. RELIEF vs. SELF-INDUCED results. One will last the other is TEMPORARY. It appears by your words that you are continually finding in the process a lasting KEY. Just don't get too sidetracked.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! We all have our mountains which we keep going around or our deserts in which we keep wandering until God feels we have learned what He wants us to learn. Let's all hope it doesn't take us 40 years as it did the Israelites!
DeleteHi Kristina, another great post from you and one that I definitely needed to hear/read right now!!! I totally understand what you mean about anxiety, I think it's hard for someone whose body has never been out of their control to understand the anxiety that can come over you at even the thought of just doing something that might stretch your resources or bring on an attack BUT you are right of course. Faith trumps fear every time, and walking in faith ie. carrying out faith behaviours builds trust and also strengthens you so that you are able to do what the enemy was telling you was impossible to achieve. Many of my faith behaviours concern coming into agreement with how God expects me to care for myself, when I am obedient in treating myself well I am blessed by how much I can actually do.
ReplyDeleteHi Florence, you are right when you say that no one can understand what it feels like to have their body be out of their control. I like how you talked about "carrying out faith behaviours". How does God expect us to care for ourselves? It's all in His Word. It's a matter of disciplining ourselves to live on purpose and not by how we feel. Easier said than done, I know. Thank goodness we can always come back to Jesus to refresh ourselves.
DeleteWhat I liked best was the picture of the upraised hand saying in effect "no". Perfect! That's what we need to do to our wrong thoughts.
ReplyDeleteAgreed Cheryl. I just had an idea of putting up this picture all over my house as a reminder to keep those wrong thoughts out of there!
DeleteKristina, I commented on your blog post and it disappeared. I'll try again. I loved this post! I too have chronic fatigue syndrome and chronic pain. I know what it is like to be in the back of a Home Depot and suddenly it hits, and I wonder if I can make it back to the car. I will feel so bad, I will begin to get anxious and the thoughts begin to come. Today I started a new Bible study by Angela Thomas called "Brave: Honest Questions Women Ask." The first lesson was about weariness. I did not know there were so many Scriptures addressing this issue. She wasn't specifically speaking to those of us with chronic illness, but at the end she said something and I recognized my heart had been prepared by the Holy Spirit. She said, "don't be afraid of weariness." I thought, "alright then!"
ReplyDeleteHi Linda, I'm sorry to hear that you struggle with pain and fatigue as well, and that your post disappeared (not sure what is happening there). I would love to learn more about the bible study you are doing. Also, you can visit my website (www.chronicpainheroes.org) and check out the links page. I have discovered a number of chronic pain organizations. Please let me know if you know of any others and I will add them as well.
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