Over the past three weeks, we’ve studied Jeremiah’s personal lament over Jerusalem’s destruction and Israel’s captivity, his intentional journey from hopeless to hopeful, and his humble introspection and call to repentance. This week we look at the rest of Jeremiah’s lament and some general considerations for us in chronic illness. Note: I studied this section […]
After looking at Jeremiah’s personal lament and his journey from hopeless to hopeful, both of which provide great encouragement for those of us in chronic illness, we come to a part of the chapter that continues the God-focused, hope-giving theme while introducing a more somber note of introspection. Part 3: Verses 31-42 KAPH 31 For […]
Some of my friends have named Lamentations 3 as one of their go-to passages during tough times–or the regular tough days of chronic illness. I’ve always seen Lamentations as a beautiful (if not a little depressing) book, but it wasn’t until October when I read it in my devotions that this passage became that life-giving […]
New Year’s is the time when we set goals for a new life, a new “me,” new habits, new this and new that. We can even plan ways to grow spiritually and improve in our walk with God. But setting goals–and keeping them–can be really hard with a chronic illness, especially when it comes to […]
Can you believe it’s the end of 2021 already? I can’t. It seems like we started January yesterday, and here we are coming to another January in just a few days. It’s the time of year when we look back in reflection over the past twelve months and look ahead in anticipation to the next […]
I’m reading through C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, and several sections of The Horse and His Boy, the second book, deeply encouraged me. I’d love to share that encouragement with you. Note: these writings are not Scripture. Being a Christian himself, however, Lewis wove many Scriptural themes into the fiction of his books. […]
Last week I shared the first half(ish) of a sermon our pastor preached a couple of months ago, titled “Humbly Ministering for His Glory.” The text is II Corinthians 4:7-18 and offers so much encouragement to those of us in chronic illness. Here are the main points so far: God identifies you as precious vessels. […]
A couple of months ago, the pastor of my church preached a sermon from II Corinthians 4:7-18 that really encouraged me in my chronic illness struggles. With his permission, I’m sharing his outline and both our notes in hopes the message will encourage you too. The message was titled “Humbly Ministering for His Glory.” I. […]
About a year ago I wrote a series of posts called Lessons From Job, sharing things God taught me from my devotional reading of the book of Job. I’m following the same Bible reading schedule this year and recently came through Job again. This time God spoke some new truths to my soul that encouraged […]
Click here to read last week’s post. Recap: 1. You are not the main character, God is. 2. God has a plan, it’s for good, and it will be accomplished in your life. 3. God wants to use your suffering Another theme that shows up often on this blog is God’s redemption of our pain […]
The Valley