Someday I’ll write more about what I’m learning while walking through my current health situation, but right now, I still feel so new to it all. There are some things, however, that I know without a question of a doubt. I hope that they might be an encouragement to anyone else who is going through any sort of struggle, especially one that leaves you feeling alone, weak, and like God isn’t answering.

You are not alone.

Any kind of suffering, even if it’s completely physical, affects so much more than our bodies. It starts to affect the way we think and feel about things. The devil sees us in a vulnerable place where we are worn down and more susceptible to believe his lies.

Walking through any kind of illness is also challenging because of the loneliness that often accompanies it. It can be hard for people to relate to what you’re going through. Having to stay home and rest most of the time means missing out on social activities and spending time with friends. I’ve been incredibly blessed by the people that have been there for me during the difficult times, but not everyone will care when you struggle. I was feeling sorry for myself one day because of something some other people had done but I felt like the Holy Spirit drew my mind to a verse so I looked it up.

“At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.” 2 Timothy 4:16-17

Even the Apostle Paul was deserted by his friends and fellow believers. He did more for the advance of the gospel than most other people ever have. Think about the impact he had on countless lives but he said no one stood to support him during this pivotal and probably frightening time in his life. And then I noticed what he said, “May it not be charged against them.” My heart attitude had been all wrong. Here was Paul, living out the love of Jesus even in his own hurts.

Paul wasn’t alone though. The Lord stood with him, in his situation and gave him all the strength he needed. If all the people in the world had come to defend Paul, it wouldn’t even have come close to comparing with Jesus standing with him and giving him His strength. Sometimes suffering gives us an opportunity to experience God’s presence in our lives in a very real way that we may have been too preoccupied to notice before.

You are not forgotten.

I also thought about how Jesus Himself suffered being forsaken on the Cross, so that He could be a substitution in our place. He completely and fully understands the feelings of being rejected and alone because He experienced them.

“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:15-16

Even when our feeble minds are tempted to think that God doesn’t hear our cries to Him when we’re walking through deep places (and the devil wants us to think that God has forgotten about us) we have to cling to God’s promises that never fail, despite how we feel. In the 22nd Psalm, David struggles with feeling like God is so far away and not hearing. (He was also prophesying, as this is a Messianic psalm that describes Jesus and that Jesus quoted from while He was on the cross.) It’s human to have questions, and even David who was described as a man after God’s heart had questions, but he knew where to take them.

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent. But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.” Psalm 22:1-5

David changes gears, so to speak, from his concerns to focusing on God’s character; He’s enthroned on (or inhabits) the praises of His people. He focused on what God had done in the past for the people of Israel and later on in the psalm, in David’s own life. Sometimes we’re so quick to forget. It’s a good thing for us to remember how God answered us in the past and then remember that He hasn’t changed. David moves to praise in the psalm and eventually makes this statement.

“For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard.” Psalm 22:24

Even when we’re in the darkest point and we pray but feel like God doesn’t hear a single word we say, we have to remember that’s just a feeling. Our feelings are like shifting sand and can change at a moment’s notice. The fact is that nothing can separate us from His love because His Word says so. He’s fighting for you. He’s watching over you and knows every hair on your head. Every trouble that His children face matters infinitely more to Him than it even does to us. You’re never, ever overlooked by God. You’ll come through every trial and see that God used it for good, and that in turn you can encourage someone else who is struggling.

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 ESV