The Best Way to Keep Walking with God Through Chronic Illness
Need encouragement for walking with God through chronic illness? It’s a tough subject to navigate between diagnosis and healing, but Tiffany Montgomery shares what to do. From Day 2 of our #GodlyAdventure.
Walking with God sounds so simple, easy in fact. And it is when life is good and everything is going well. But Trusting God and continuing to walk with Him when life is hard – or when you are diagnosed with an incurable disease – is anything but easy. Walking with God through sickness requires a level of trust I had not expected.
Hi, my name is Tiffany Montgomery and I have an autoimmune disease. There’s no cure for it, the best doctors can do is treat the symptoms and monitor the body systems it attacks.
I am now dealing with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis or Chronic Illness
My prayers range from “God please heal me” to “What is your plan with this illness in my life God?” “’Why did you let this illness into my life? You could have stopped it – said not this one – but You didn’t.” I even whine at Him a bit with “Why are there incurable diseases in this world at all?”
There is fear in my heart about the unknown in my future now. My children are so small and I want to enjoy raising them– watching them start their own family. I worry I will miss important parts of it now because I am sick and in pain so often.
RELATED: Learn how to pray for healing with God’s Healing Power Toolkit
How can I trust God? Can I continue walking with God through Chronic Illness?
I feel the temptation to walk away from Him whisper in my ear. After all, He could have healed me and yet He chose not to. Then I am reminded of Paul and Job and Moses – even Jesus Christ Himself.
These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world. John 16:33 NASB
The life of a Christian is not free of pain and suffering. In fact, we are repeatedly told it will be hard and then given example after example of how God can use the hard parts to be glorified and win the lost world to Himself.
Moving from Questioning God to Trusting God
Have you been walking with God long?
I met Him when I was 5 years old and immediately fell in love with His unconditional love. That supernatural love that loved me first, made a way for our relationship, then sought me out to purchase me with His blood… it is an extravagant love.
God’s love has been wrapped around the good, bad and the ugly parts of my life.
- Through abuse and neglect.
- PTSD as a youth.
- Bad relationship after bad relationship – leading to tremendous loss.
- In the darkest hours – when I thought the world would be better off without me.
- Years of depression and anxiety.
He caught me time after time.
Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6 NASB
Trusting God has been a slow process. It started with a child’s prayer and has matured as I’ve seen He won’t let me go or let me fall.
Trusting God has been a slow process. It started with a child's prayer and has matured as I've seen He won't let me go or let me fall.Have you experienced that kind of extravagant love?
About 15 years ago God began to teach me what it meant to surrender my life fully to Him. I was saved, but I had been keeping parts of my life apart from Him. You see I was not fully trusting Him.
I was angry at Him for allowing the abuse and pain that seemed to plague my life. He could have stopped it, said no Satan – not today – not this child. But He allowed it and I feared He would allow more to come. So I justified compartmentalizing our relationship.
Do you trust God with every part of your life?
Now I start the day thanking Him for the blessing of a new day and handing my life over – freshly surrendered – to Him to do whatever He wants. “Your Will be Done in my life Lord.”
Surrender and Trust go hand in hand when Walking with God
What I’ve learned over a decade of surrender to God… When I hold onto parts of my life -not surrendered to God – I miss blessings from Him. Blessings come in unexpected packages when you surrender everything to God.
- Surprising friendships
- Healed and restored relationships
- A strengthened Marriage
- Freedom from the resentment and bitterness that held me captive from years of refusing to Forgive
- The ability to give and bless others
- Wisdom to mentor others
- A ministry orchestrated by God to encourage women
Walking with God through Chronic Illness is not easy
I wish there was a handbook to surviving and thriving in life with a Chronic Illness. Expect this. Avoid that. Embrace this. Move here. Try that. But there are so many illnesses in our world and they affect us all differently.
There are days I don’t have the energy to get out of bed. Some days start well and by midday, I am in tears from the pain. My ability to focus has changed. There are limits on what I can accomplish now that were never there before.
Even my quiet time has had to change.
But I feel like God was preparing me for it all along. Every hardship added a piece to my Spiritual Armor. Each pain – that God never left me through – built my faith and ability to Trust Him.
I can continue walking with God through Chronic illness because He has walked with me through everything.
Has God been faithful in your life? I am reminded of that old hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” As He has been, He forever will be.
We can trust Him – even through Chronic Illness. He’ll be there with us even on the worst days. He won’t let go of our hand when we are crying out in pain.
Do you struggle to Trust God when life gets hard? Do you have a Chronic Illness as well? I would love to pray for you as you continue walking with God. Would you drop a comment below so I can add you to my prayer list?
Jesus Girl | Wife of Bud | Homeschooling Mom | Owner & Writer at HopeJoyInChrist.com | Rising Entrepreneur | Louisville KY
Tiffany is a Jesus Girl with a passion to Encourage and Equip Wives and Moms through practical Biblical Discipleship. She loves to unite with biblically minded women to grow their Christian Marriages inside her growing Facebook Community!
Head over and receive some encouragement for walking with God and see this bundle of giveaways!
Did you enter the giveaway yet?
- Week 1 – Walking with God in Christian Living Giveaway: one grand prize of the Thrive Journaling Devotional Bible for Women, the 30 Days of Joy Bible Journaling Tool Kit, a Watercolor Bible Verse Printable, The Gift of Prophetic Encouragement book, and Organic Love novel; four secondary winners of the 30 Days of Joy Bible Journaling Tool Kit and a Watercolor Bible Verse Printable.
- Week 1 – Special Blogger Giveaway: one winner receives Grow Your Email List Like A Pro with MailChimp.
Get the Event Devotional eBook!
Dear Jesus Girl,
“Through abuse and neglect.
PTSD as a youth.
Bad relationship after bad relationship – leading to tremendous loss.
In the darkest hours – when I thought the world would be better off without me.
Years of depression and anxiety.”
The above words you wrote reflect my life one on one. I suffer from a psychosomatic chronic pain syndrome. I would be grateful if you could pray for me, especially for me to hold on to the promise in John 16:33 you also quoted in the piece.
Thank you in advance and may God grant you the blessings you grant others in your prayers.
I was diagnosed with multiple Sclerosis, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, and trigeminal neuralgia 4 years ago. It has been the hardest, longest 4 years of my life. I’m a wife and mother of 5. One of my children was born with a chromosome disorder. I have struggled a lot the past few years trusting that God has a purpose for all this pain.
Hi Tiffany!
I too have Hashimoto’s and can so relate! I’ve had hypothyroidism for ages but just recently diagnosed with Hashimoto’s.
The fatigue is unexplainable and I can’t adequately describe it to my family. I feel lazy but I just have no energy. Thankfully I do not have any pain other than what you’d expect a middle aged woman to have. How do you deal with the fatigue?
I have had Fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis for years and 5 months ago I got diagnosed with Lupus. I am in so much pain .. And I am also my mother’s caretaker she has Demintia .. I feel sometimes like iam literally losing my mind … Please keep me in your prayers