The New Year can be a time of thrill, excitement, anticipation, and hope as we plan events, set goals, make changes, and look ahead to fresh adventures. But what about those of us whose daily lives won’t change, whose diagnoses and conditions will stay the same, whose struggles will be just as difficult on January […]
“A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices” John S. Dwight, “O Holy Night” When you’re weary, celebration feels overwhelming. Impossible, even. When you already feel poured out and drained dry, how can you muster up the energy to throw a party, much less decorate, dress up, find a gift, or even simply smile? And […]
Last week we talked about waiting for Christmas, waiting in chronic illness, and waiting in unanswered prayer. This week is about how to wait in a chronic illness. Waiting in Action We know God will answer our prayers eventually–if not here on Earth, at least in Heaven. So what do we do while we wait? […]
Waiting for Christmas “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4-5 This passage appears in many Christmas sermons and Scripture readings as we […]
In Fiction: A Type of Christ’s Sufferings I recently read one of my favorite series, a YA fantasy series by Megan Whalen Turner. In the second book, one of the main characters suffers a severe injury that leaves him permanently handicapped. He spends the rest of the book struggling through the physical and emotional aftermath […]
When you’re dealing with a chronic illness, it’s easy to focus on all the things we can’t do or don’t have. But God clearly communicates in Scripture His expectation that we give thanks “in everything” (I Thess 5:18). Including in chronic illness. So as we celebrate Thanksgiving, if you’re struggling to find things to be […]
Snip. “Ouch! Mr. Husbandman, why did you just cut one of my stems off? I especially liked that one. I loved admiring it and wanted to keep and treasure it always. Why did you take from me what I valued so much?” “Because, dear branch, that stem was hampering new growth. If I had left […]
“So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.” Job 2:13 The book of Job, while offering a study of human suffering, also presents a study of human emotion, particularly the emotions experienced […]
We study the life of Job with the gift of perspective: we know how his story ends. We know what goes on behind the scenes. We know, as readers, what he as the main character never learns in his lifetime, a biblical study of dramatic irony. We watch and learn from his life like […]
We’ve already looked at Job’s response when he lost his possessions, his family, and his health. He responded with humble worship not only because he had a right perspective of God, but also because he had placed his security in God. His security was not in this world. Not in his possessions, not in his […]
The Valley