Hope in Health Struggles

Hope and health necessarily must go hand in hand. Health journeys are never straight; they wind and twist in ways that we don’t expect. Personally, I feel like I have been taking one step forward and two steps back for years now. But that is what life is, an ebb and flow. My goal is to always keep my gaze forward and up in the midst of chronic illness, actively choosing hope amid suffering. Chronic health issues can also be isolating. They often leave people feeling lonely and confused because they feel like no one else “understands.” This might be because there aren’t too many people who are willing to open up about the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual battles that take place every day. In my fight for wellness in my mind, body, and soul, I invite you along in my journey, dear friend. Let’s learn together how to live a life that is beautiful and rich in the midst of health struggles. Instead of waiting to live until our health is perfect, let’s thrive in the pain and trust God to carry us through every season with assured hope.
“How can you find out if you are living within the will of God? Here is the sign: If you are troubled about any thing, this means that you have not completely given yourself over to the will of God. A person who lives in the will of God is not concerned over anything. And if he needs anything, he gives both it and himself over to God. And if he does not receive the necessary thing, he remains calm nevertheless, as if he had it. The soul which has been given over to the will of God is afraid of nothing, not of thunder nor of thieves – nothing. But whatever happens, she says, ‘Thus it pleases God.’ If she is sick, she thinks: this means that I need to be sick, or else God would not have given it to me. Thus peace is preserved in both soul and body.”
– St. Silouan the Athonite