Tag: faith

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Four Things Satan Uses Against the Chronically Ill: Conclusion

Satan’s ultimate goal is to separate us from God and he will use whatever he can to distract us, deceive us, divide us, and finally to destroy us, but there are a few things we can do to combat this. Knowing that this is his goal is only half the battle. We also need to know how to defeat his efforts in our lives.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11

  1. Be Aware: The first thing we need to do is to be aware that this is what is happening. Most of the time we are so busy fighting for our health and struggling with our daily issues to even notice that this is what he is doing. Chronic illness is the PERFECT target for Satan. It’s much easier to attack the weak and weary. But once we know that this is exactly what he does, we can be on the lookout and be proactive in thwarting his efforts to derail us.
  2. Be in the Word: Don’t let a day go by without reading and feeding your soul. Don’t let a day go by without going into your prayer closet and spending time with the Lord. If you can’t go to church, have church come to you. When I can’t make it out to church, we watch it on TV. I love Dr. Charles Stanley. I even record his sermons to watch later.
  3. Make an effort to connect: It’s easy to let ourselves drift from our support whether that’s family, friends, or church. Make an effort to get out if you can, invite others in, or reach out over the internet. Any time with others on the phone or over text is golden when you are alone with your thoughts on a regular basis.
  4. Find your calling: Find what feeds your soul and adapt it if need be to your health/financial issues. Make art, write those stories, take those pictures, blog about that topic that inspires you. See how many you can inspire, support, help, and feed with your talents. This makes for a productive and joyous heart.

God created each one of us with a purpose. Do you think that just because He has allowed chronic illness or financial struggles in our lives that He has taken that purpose away? No. That purpose may be handled differently or you may have a new purpose.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11

No matter what struggle we must endure this side of heaven, God has blessed us with the tools we need to fulfill our purpose. That starts by understanding how Satan works to derail us and taking steps to use God’s Word, God’s people, and your God-given talents to take back your joy. Who’s with me?

Next month, I’ll be sharing a new series that will go a bit more into depth on our purpose despite chronic illness/issues for a series I’m doing called Don’t Give Up! I hope you’ll join me!

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Four Things Satan Uses Against the Chronically Ill: Part 4

So Dr. Charles Stanley’s sermon on the four things Satan uses against us that I watched last month really touched me because I felt it applied in a specific way to those with chronic illness.

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” – John 10:10

Satan’s ultimate goal is to separate us from God. First, he uses our chronic illness to distract us from our joy and from our purpose. Next, he deceives us into thinking we don’t matter. Then, he divides us from our support (family and friends), our church, and God’s Word in the hope that we will be distracted from God. When he does that, he stands a better chance of succeeding in the destruction of our faith.

At our lowest, we may question if God still loves us. There may be times when we may think that, if God really did love us, He wouldn’t allow us to go through all of this. At that point, we may begin to pull away from our church, our church family, and even God.

Knowing that Satan is out to destroy us, we need to be on the lookout for situations we find ourselves in that are ripe for Satan to use for just this purpose. I don’t know about you, but there are times when I’m so tired I don’t have enough energy to sit up. I am so exhausted that all I want to do is go to sleep. I can’t prevent the times when I’m too tired to go out or in too much pain to do something for someone, but I can control how I react to that.

I’m pretty ornery by nature. If someone tells me I can’t do something, I’m bound and determined to try (unless it’s something I don’t agree with anyway). I’m not saying I always recognize Satan’s tricks at the time or that I can always keep a sunny attitude. I’m just saying that I can decide to do whatever it may take for me to control my attitude and turn it around.

There are still times I am down. I still have times when I get angry and don’t recognize that I have blessings I’m not concentrating on at the moment. But I do eventually notice and I do eventually turn myself around. And I challenge you to do it too. I challenge myself to help you.

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” – John 10:10

The way I look at it, if Satan’s desire is to turn me from my Lord and Savior and from my God-given purpose, then it’s my great pleasure to throw it back in his face as I cling even closer to Him and get creative to find a way to serve others according to His will however I can! Won’t you join me?

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Four Things Satan Uses Against the Chronically Ill: Part 3

So far we’ve talked about distraction and deception, two of the four things Satan uses to keep us from our joy, our purpose, and our Lord. The next tactic that Dr. Stanley talked about was division.

“But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.” – Luke 11:17

It’s no surprise that one of the most important issues the chronically ill have is loneliness. We become isolated due to the lack of energy and the pain we deal with on a regular basis. That doesn’t allow us the ability to visit with friends and family or even hold a job. Isolation leads to a dividing us from our support system, our church family, our livelihood, and can eventually lead to losing our relationship with our Lord and Savior.

Little by little, we find ourselves alone much of the time questioning if our family and friends really love us. Busyness is a staple in modern life. Parents with young children are busy earning a living and running from activity to activity. People with lots of family around are busy with family events. Working people are busy working their way up the corporate ladder and business owners are busy wearing lots of hats. Very few take the time to reach out to people who they don’t see often.

Even people who aren’t busy don’t usually reach out to those they don’t see often. Top of mind is not just a sales technique, it’s a human rule of engagement. And, by the way, it isn’t just confined to the healthy.

That’s the reason nobody calls us, but there are reasons we don’t call anyone else either.

1. We’re afraid of seeming needy.
2. We are not comfortable asking for help.
3. We may not be able to keep a date to meet others elsewhere.
4. We don’t feel comfortable inviting people over because we may not have cleaned our house in a while.
5. We may not feel like entertaining, but we’d like someone to be with.
6. We don’t have an Any Time friends who we feel comfortable having over to just cry with us.

Once we have successfully, though unintentionally, isolated ourselves from others we begin to question if anyone really loves us. We may question if we are worthy of love.

So, how can we lift our isolation if we can’t get out and be with people? Fortunately, I have some ideas and technology plays a large roll.

1. We can become active in online groups and social media. Just because you can’t see someone’s face, doesn’t mean we can’t socialize! Online groups can help us feel connected. I run one of them on Facebook called, coincidentally, Life Beyond Surviving. Come join us!

2. We can start a blog, visit and comment on blogs that speak to us. Some blogs like this one are specifically for chronic illness, but others, like several others I write, are for fun. Have some fun! Be inspired. Be uplifted.

3. Start texting with friends you can’t get to see. I do that with my children, my family, friends in other states, and even with friends nearby that are not able to get away to be with me.

4. Call people on the phone. Use Skype. Keep in touch any way you can. It doesn’t take being in person to perk up your social life. Just talking to people will keep you from feeling isolated.

5. Ask anyway! Ask a friend to come over. It doesn’t have to be a formal thing that makes you feel you need to spend three days cleaning for. Just ask a friend. Talk to them. Be with them. Don’t worry about the dust. Don’t worry about being a burden. Most of the time, they will be happy to be asked in.

“But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.” – Luke 11:17

Next week, I’ll talk about the final part of Dr. Stanley’s message, but for today, promise me you’ll invite someone over, make a phone call, reach out online, or comment on some social media or blog posts. How about starting with this one? LOL

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Four Things Satan Uses Against the Chronically Ill: Part 2

Last week we saw how Satan distracts us from our joy, our family, our ministry or work and even God’s Word as we struggle with chronic illness or issues. The next tactic he uses is deception.

What is the one thing you long for? What is the one thing that helps you get through any trial? What was the one thing that helped you get through the excruciating pain of natural childbirth? What’s the one thing we all need to feel about living any life? Purpose!

“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” – Revelation 12:9

I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t have taken the pain of childbirth with no end in sight and no REASON for it. Sadly, that is what many of us live with on a daily basis inside chronic illness. The pain doesn’t end. The fatigue never abates. But worst of all, there is no reason for it and, even more devastating, we feel like we serve no purpose!

I can only speak with any detail about myself, but even though I love the Lord and I work daily to keep my joy and serve others as best I can, I have times when I feel useless. No time epitomizes this more than just recently when my son left for his second year at Purdue this past month.

I usually wake up in joy looking for funny videos and creating memes that poke fun at the weird things that happen. One day, I woke up to an empty house. I thought about how my daughter is married and living in a nearby state giving her all to the things she loves, the job she excels at, and the people in her life. I thought about how my son is working hard making the most of his college years living on campus, running a club on campus, and learning about leadership as he is one of the founding members of a fraternity recolonizing the campus this year. I thought about how my husband works so hard at his job and comes home to do things for me or our children.

What struck me that day was not as much the loneliness which I’ve felt for quite some time on and off, but the pointlessness of my life…or at least what struck me as a total lack of purpose. I used to work full time. At one point, I had three jobs! I stopped working an online business not too long ago due to my growing fatigue.

After watching Dr. Stanley’s sermon that day, I realized that this is one of the Enemy’s tricks he uses to deceive us. He wants us to believe we have no purpose to take away our joy so we give up our dreams without a fight. Even though I had come to accept that I could no longer work outside the house and even though I knew I was contributing with this blog and the Life Beyond Surviving Facebook group, he got me to feel I no longer had a purpose.

I had begun feeling sad, crying during the day, reminiscing about all the things I did, and all the things I thought I’d do when I had more time. Life after 17 years of homeschooling wasn’t supposed to be like this. What I realized is that life may take twists and turns, but no matter what happens I have a purpose in Christ. It may not be grandiose with me appearing on TV or as a YouTube sensation, but it is a purpose none the less.

There are things I know that can help someone else struggling through their trails. And if I can help just one person, that is reason enough not to lose hope and to move forward in joy to reach any and all who need to be lifted up out of their own despair the devil has devised for them.

What is your purpose? Not what did you want it to be. Not what did you think it could be. Not what you spent years training for it to be. What is something you can do right NOW that will make a difference for someone else?

Close your eyes. Find even one thing you can focus on right now that will give you a purpose, allow you to feel joy, and bring something positive to others. Now, open your eyes. What is it?

“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” – Revelation 12:9

Take that, Satan!

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Four Things Satan Uses Against the Chronically Ill: Part 1

I was listening to Charles Stanley a little while back. He was discussing four things Satan uses against us: distraction, deception, division, and destruction. Dr. Stanley was speaking in general, but as I listened to him, I began thinking about how he specifically uses those very same things against those with chronic illness and it moved me to write this series.

I’ve said it many times before, but it’s worth repeating. The chronic part of chronic illness is what makes it so different from any other trails I’ve struggled with in my life. My Bradley childbirth instructor told me that “people can stand just about anything for a short time. so when you feel like you can’t stand the pain anymore, that’s usually when the baby is born. ” She was spot on for both of my children’s births.

The fact that you know the pain will end and that you will get a beautiful baby at the end of it gives you hope. There is no such hope in chronic illness because there is no cure and often there isn’t much relief either. That hopelessness that exists for many chronic illness sufferers is the reason Satan targets us the way he does to distract, deceive, divide, and destroy not only our strength but our faith.

“and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” – Mark 4:19

The first thing that Satan does is to distract us: from our jobs, from our family and friends, and from our purpose in the Kingdom. It’s hard to follow the Lord’s leading for our lives when we are so consumed with pain, fatigue, or overwhelmed by the money problems that are so common with chronic illness.

It usually happens so gradually that we don’t realize we’ve been distracted until we look back one day. We remember how we’ve been too tired to participate in church events like we used to. We notice how we’ve been so overwhelmed that we forgot that we used to love to listen to praise and worship music. We suddenly realize that we haven’t read our Bibles in a few days…or a few months.

Fatigue, pain, overwhelm, and financial struggles are all things Satan uses to distract us from the things we love, from God’s Word, and from feeling God’s love as well as from the work we were designed to do for the Kingdom.

I have noticed this several times in my life and in my walk with God. I don’t think it happens only once. It can happen with each new diagnosis. It can happen with each new difficulty. It can happen with each new flare or an unexpected bill that now requires time and focus to figure out how to pay it.

Now that I know this is how Satan works, I’m ready. I have my Bible reading on my To-Do List for each day so I’m less likely to miss a day. I catch myself being overwhelmed and I turn myself around if I’m feeling distracted by pain or fatigue as soon as I notice myself being distracted from the things I feel I was put here to do. I’m not saying it’s easy and I’m not saying I don’t get distracted. I’m just saying I’m a lot more conscious of it and I take measures to focus more on my purpose than my problem.

“and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” – Mark 4:19

I’ll be talking more about this in the weeks to come as distraction relates directly to deception, division, and destruction. For now, I’ll leave you with this thought: in what ways are you distracted and what are you going to do to make sure you get back on track of living a joyous and productive life no matter what life throws at you?