Chronic Illness vs. Will If you’re like me, you’ve had loving friends gently challenge you not to use your health as an excuse, a crutch, or a cop-out for not doing certain things. While you want to accept any truth from their words, you also know, deeply and painfully, that your chronic illness is a […]
Christmas: Our Celebration Hark! the herald angels sing,“Glory to the new-born King;Peace on earth, and mercy mild;God and sinners reconciled.”Joyful, all ye nations, rise,Join the triumph of the skies;With angelic hosts proclaim,“Christ is born in Bethlehem.” So begins one of the most well-known Christmas carols, a song of jubilant praise for the miracle of the […]
I recently read through Isaiah, and this passage stuck out to me: Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but could not prevail against it. And […]
Every time I read the book of Job, I see something else and learn something new that relates to my situation of chronic illness. When I read Job this year, I was in a few weeks of level, (relatively) easy terrain in between valleys–an unusual experience that, if I’m honest, I didn’t know how to […]
Wildfires: A Force of Destruction A couple months ago, my friend and I drove through Rocky Mountain National Park, up to the Alpine Visitor Center at 11,796 feet, down to the Continental Divide at 10,759 feet, and on to the trails, landscapes, and vistas beyond. I’d never been on the western side of the park, […]
Our last two devotional posts (Why Doesn’t God Heal My Chronic Illness? and God’s Providence in Chronic Illness) have been about embracing chronic illness, accepting what God gives us, and thanking God for the ways He uses our suffering for His glory. Does this mean we don’t ask God for change, that we throw up […]
A few Sundays ago, the pastor of my church preached from Acts 23 in a sermon that spoke to my heart and encouraged me during the difficulties of chronic illness. With his permission, I’m sharing part of his sermon with you in the hope that you too can be encouraged by the reminder of God’s […]
If you’ve seen the show The Chosen, you may know the fictional backstory given to one of the disciples, James the son of Alphaeus (fondly called “Little James” in the show). Little James has a physical condition that limits his movements and affects his appearance. Throughout the episodes we see Little James tired, sore, self-conscious, […]
For the Diamonds Summer Event at the end of June, I gave a presentation titled “The Master’s Call to Rest.” Here’s the short, written version of my 45-minute session. (You can watch the entire session, and the other speakers’, with the all-access pass.) From the Creation account in Genesis to the descriptions of Heaven in […]
Two weeks ago we looked at Jesus’ example as the Suffering Servant, a discussion drawn from Dr. Tim Little’s commentary on Isaiah 50 in Episode 106 of The Thinklings Podcast. As we saw from many passages of Scripture, Jesus suffered physically, He suffered unjustly, and He suffered willingly–offering Himself as the sacrificial lamb who would […]
The Valley