Remembering How to Adapt to a Chronic Illness

Have you ever reached a point in your life’s journey when you think, “OK, God. You and I have figured this out. I’ve accepted this chronic illness. There’s absolutely no way I could handle what You’ve given me without You, but I think we have finally figured it out”?

And then God brings something new into your life that is so big and so surprising that you’re overwhelmed, and you feel like your life is spinning back out of control?

That happened to me recently. I was diagnosed with asthma on top of hemiplegic migraine. I wasn’t expecting it and was caught by surprise. I’ve been feeling like I’m drifting at sea in a rowboat with one oar.

So, I started thinking, “How should I respond?” I’ve done this before. I’ve come to terms with one chronic illness already, but it’s been a while. I needed a reminder.

Reminder 1: God Knows

I need to remember that God knows that I have not one but two chronic illnesses that seem to dictate my life. This did not catch Him by surprise.

He deliberately created me this way, so He intimately knows every detail of each of my illnesses.

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. — Psalm 139:13–16

God knows every inflamed and restricted airway, every overactive neurotransmitter in my brain, every defective gene. Yet He created each of them that way for a purpose.

Reminder 2: God Has a Plan

I may not know why God created me this way right now, and I may never know. But I can trust that He has a plan for this struggle.

When I was first struggling through accepting my HM, I didn’t like hearing people quote Romans 8:28 to me. It felt trite, like a band-aid being applied to the gaping hole in my life. It didn’t feel big enough.

Now, though, I’ve studied it in depth, and I’ve come to love it — combined with verse 29. I had to redefine my definition of good to match God’s definition of good, which He gives in verse 29.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. — Romans 8:28–29

The good is being conformed into the image of His Son. And that is His plan for my trial.

Reminder 3: God Will not Leave Me Hopeless

The most comforting verse to me this time around wasn’t one I thought of when I was learning to accept my first chronic illness. It’s 1 Corinthians 10:13.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Though we often think of the word tempt as meaning “to entice to do wrong by promise of pleasure or gain” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary), the word translated as temptation here is equally often translated as test. Looking at the context — which is the Israelites turning to idolatry in the wilderness because life wasn’t as easy as they had expected — either meaning works.

Whether it’s a temptation to sin or a testing by God, I am not alone. God is still faithful. He will not allow my circumstances to exceed what I can handle with His help. He will provide me the means to endure whatever He allows into my life, through a close relationship with Him and the encouragement of other believers.

Even when life feels like it’s out of control, God has it under control. He has a plan. He knows what is going on, and He will provide what I need to endure. My job is to trust Him.