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I am a very spiritual person, and have been so all my life. My faith, God's mission for me in life is very important to me. It guides me in my work, with my family, all parts of my life. I am also a 25 year migraine sufferer with the last 5 years being horrific. To say i have not taken a deep look at my spirituality, my faith, questioned "why me God, what have i done or havent done to please you?," would be lying. It is hard to reconcile with, how we pray for the pain to go away, to have just a little break, to be forgiven for whatever sin we committed to deserve such a horrible disease. You pray for the pain to go away, you bargain, you promise, you beg sometimes, and you can feel God is not listening.Yet my faith is still there, the gift God gave me to help children and families in my work. He guides me to help others, and yet I can get lost in why He does not help me. This disease can rock your faith at times, not only because of what i just described, but because you then feel badly for questioning God, for doubting His love for you, and you can feel that doubt will then lead to more punishment for those sins that are making you have the pain to begin with. My faith is there, God is there, but in the depths of the ongoing pain a person can become lost, lost in the pain, lost in their faith, and hoping that one day if your faith is strong enough, you will overcome the pain and be set free from the doubts, the anger for the pain, and the searching for the "why's in the why me?" Migraine pain as some of us suffer, can challenge our faith, our beliefs as much as the loss of a special person or a traumatic event can do at times, but i also believe those of us who have endured migraine disease for so long, that we find a strength in our faith, in our God that some people may never find. We reach in , search our souls, pray deeper, pray harder, look for the answers in our faith that others may never have to confront. One day, when my time comes and i have the chance to ask God why me, I have to believe that He will explain and it will all make sense, but for now i will keep on fighting, keep on searching when i am lost in my pain, and i will continue to rely on my deeply held faith that God is here with me even in my darkest times and He will one day help me find the relief I need and this disease will be beaten. I have to believe that otherwise how would i continue on??
Dear Sister, I just wanted to say that I believe God does not send us pain. I think those things come from Satan. Try to say to Satan..."Satan I REBUKE You and this pain you are giving me"! Tell him you are Binding him and handing him over to Jesus to deal with. Satan puts us in Bondage of pain, drugs, etc. So instead, Bind him and hand him over to the Lord! With Love Sister, Sheri.
This sounds like what I must do. After years of devout atheism and a suicide attempt due to the relentless migraine pain, I turned my life over to God. God has made it easier for me to bear the pain, which fortunately is less frequent due to having the nerves in my neck ablated in six places. However, I wish I could be rid of the migraines and the insomnia that drives them forever. It is time to tell Satan I rebuke him and see how it works.
Hi Teri!
What a terrific topic!
I'm a Christian woman with a very strong belief in God. I have faith that God can handle all things and I often pray for His help when I'm struggling.
I am also a woman dealing with chronic, daily migraine. I've tried SO many different medications and even had an occipital nerve stimulator surgically implanted in an effort to manage my daily pain. Sometimes it's hard to keep my faith--especially when my pain is extremely high and I see my family being affected negatively by my illness.
I often think about faith and its relationship to healing. I guess if I had to raise just one question about this topic it would be: How do I continue to be a strong woman of faith while battling every day with illness? I have prayed for healing and for strength. I have prayed for my family to have happiness and love, despite my illness.
I have friends who tend to tell me to pray more, let go of the struggle, and attend more healing services at our church. Their implication, in my opinion, is that I would be feeling better if I just had stronger faith in God's ability to heal me. It's sometimes hard for me to explain to others that I do believe in God and his abilities; however, my health is just not improving yet!
I dealt with this question in the past when I lost a very close friend (a professor/priest at my university) who passed away from pancreatic cancer. When I visited him, I overheard some other priests saying, "He needs to turn this all over to God and pray for his healing." As if he hadn't done that already! And as if deeper faith would have stopped the cancer that was raging through his body!?!
My migraine disease certainly is NOT the same as my friend's cancer. But my question remains the same in both of these situations: How does one maintain strong faith in God's power when experiencing a debilitating illness?
Thanks for sharing this question with the other bloggers! I look forward to their input!
jenny
Hi Jenny! This has been a great topic! I just wanted to say that I believe God does not send us pain. I think those things come from Satan. Try to say to Satan..."Satan I REBUKE You and this pain you are giving me"! Tell him you are Binding him and handing him over to Jesus to deal with. Satan puts us in Bondage of pain, drugs, etc. So instead, Bind him and hand him over to the Lord! With Love Sister, Sheri.
I have a question about the Biblical passage that talks about having the elders of the church pray over you and anoint your head with oil. My grandma, who died in June, told me she had that done to her back in the day. I keep thinking of asking my church's pastor about doing this for me (I have migraine disease, fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety disorder and interstitial cystitis.) I am worried though that God will thinking I'm using people for healing and not waiting on Him. And yet, I will be in church and the pastor is praying generally for those who have illnesses and the thought pops into my head, "Why don't I ask them to pray over me and anoint my head with oil." Your thoughts will be most welcome. Thanks!
I truly believe that Jesus in the ONLY Healer of every pain or disease!
My problem is trusting him. Sometimes it seems to take too long. All good things are in God's timing...not ours. We want things to happen immediately. God's timing is different...it may take alittle longer, but He keeps his promises to those that believe in Him, Trust Him, and have REAL Faith! Amen! He has healed me in other ways, so I know He will heal me with this pain, once I get my trust issue in order.
God Bless You All. God CAN do it! He made us...He has the capability!
I want to say thank you so much for this topic. In this time we are living in many people shy away from God conversations. You are welcoming that, and for that I pray the Lord will Bless you > My info on my share post is Hope...I have hope only in God. He can move the mountains. He is the reason I can live with this horrible disease. I know He is in control. The Bible doesn't say when we believe we will not suffer pain..It says we will have times of tribulation and pain..We must let go and let God. If He wants us healed He will heal. We can learn many things and move closer to Him during these times. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths." Proverbs 3 verse 5-6
God, Jesus, Satan, have absolutely nothing to do with migraines.
From the outside looking in, your posts make as much sense as if you were imploring Santa Claus to help you with your migraines.
I went for years living with daily chronic migraines. I searched and searched for a solution. I've been in many many different meds, tried chiropractic, acupuncture, you name it. When I finally turned to God, I found some peace in my life. I am feeling much better than I was two years ago and the only explanation is that I've found a deeper faiith in God and I know he is watching over me. I know that He has helped. I still have bad days, bad streaks, like this past week. I think that God wants us to learn from our situations and grow from them. I think once we "get it" then maybe the pain will go away, or be at least manageable. I learned that I have put boundaries on how others treat me, that I am responsible for telling persons that I love that I won't accept bad behavior. This is still a learning process.
I also learned to look outside myself and saw that there is always someone else in a worse situation, making me realize I have it good. I try to help others as much as I can, to focus on them, not me. I try to use my God-given talents to help others.
I read a book called "Facing Pain, Finding Hope" by Daniel Hurley. This may help some of you out there. Give it a try. The book is written by a doctor who deals with chronic pain patients. Here is an excerpt from the book:
"Finally, there is prayer. Reflect on the sacred stories and the works of God. Give yourself time to quiet down and listen. Risk hearing what you don't want to hear. Risk hearing what seems to be nothing for awhile. God may want you to just sit within his power and grace. It is like sitting on the beach to rest an aching, tired body. The sand supports you. The sun warms you. The tan just happens. God supports you ans warms you. The healing can happen if you are open to God's way of helping you, and dnot just the way you are demanding that healing can occur."
God Bless.
I don't believe that a person's intrinsic belief system makes them immune from harm or conversely puts them in harm's way. Illness stalks the world and strikes tiny babies, old people, rich people, poor people, bad people, good people, religious people, and persons who do not practice any religion. There is no morality in sickness or lack thereof.
I feel that faith is a healthy adjunct to keeping a positive outlook when faced with chronic and debilitating illness. It is a comfort for me, a way to see outside of myself and think of a larger world than me and my specific worries. I know that there is a time and place for everything even if I wish it wasn't my time or my place for sickness.
I don't pray for healing. I pray for endurance. I don't pray for miracles. I pray for strength. I don't castigate God with questions of "why?", I ask for inner peace.
My faith is hard won, an integral part of my being, and I would find it impossible to face each day without it in sickness or in health. Because faith encompasses so much meaning to me and sustains me in the darkest times, I don't know how I would function without it. It is my meditation and communion with a higher power that gives purpose even when life is not cooperating with my wishes.
Do I think my faith makes my illness "better"? No, but it makes me a healthier person inside.
Thanks for this topic Teri - it's an important one.
I'm coming into this conversation late, but I wanted to say that I've struggled with the spiritual questions surrounding pain as well.
As an ordained minister, I've prayed with people in pain for eleven years. I've lived with my own severe pain for four years. My prayers have generally been for strength, comfort and a sense of God's presence with the person who is requesting prayer. I do not prayer for miracles unless a person specifically asks me to.
Even before my own pain began, I rarely asked for God's healing as if it were some kind of magic trick. I just don't believe it works like that, regardless of the number of miracle stories in the Bible. (I take the Bible seriously, not literally)
Rather, I see God as the one who sits with you in the dark when any slight movement will cause more pain. I see God as the one who wraps her arms around us when we feel alone, abandoned and frightened that the hurting will never stop. It's not a perfect theology of suffering, but it works for me.
Part of the reason that I cannot live with miraculous healing stories is that if they work for some, what kind of God wouldn't make those same miracles work for everyone? That isn't any God I could live for or believe in.
Just my two cents...
I just joined shareposts and was excited about seeing the topic of faith raised in how it relates to our suffering. I've had chronic, daily migraines for over 30 years and have tried just about everything available medically to find relief. I'm currently at the best I've been in at least 5 years, thanks to Foreverwell's Gut Brain Therapy (check it out - it's worth it!).
I was an atheist up until 10 years ago and when I finally sought out the God that reigns in my life (and yours, whether you believe or not!), I found fulfillment that I could never have imagined. However, I did not get a miracle healing of my pain. I have battled over these few years with believing that I just didn't have enough faith (the story of the woman healed of her bleeding because of her faith can still bring me to tears), or that God wants me to suffer for some reason. I've had people tell me that He means for my pain to give me special empathy to others who suffer, though I find that isn't always the case - I function and work every day though sometimes I can't think or speak coherently, because there has never been a choice for me, so I find it hard to be sympathetic with people who don't push thru the pain.
Then I was at a church conference and one of the messages addressed suffering. In 2 Corinthians, Paul asked God 3 times to remove his thorn of suffering and God answered him, "My grace is sufficient". I can't explain exactly why but that really struck a chord with me but I've stopped asking God why and though I still beg for death when the pain reaches the suicidal level, I trust my God enough now to be able to face each day with perseverance and hope that there is a purpose for my life and if pain is part of that, then God will give me what I need each moment of each day to accomplish what ever that purpose is. One day, whether in this life or the next, I will understand the why.
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I have spent many a tearful time with my Lord regarding the continuance of my migraines, and the seeming lack of a preventive (still trying, not giving up). Sometimes I spend angry times with my Lord about the same subject, lol. My God is my ultimate father figure...he is big enough to handle my childish anger, and soft enough to hold me when I cry. I'm on as many church prayer lists as possible (besides my own). I have many people petitioning God on my behalf, both for healing and for a favorable result from my Disability appeal. I would have so much more access to the newer drugs and remedies if we had extra money, plus we could start paying on the doctors' bills (a huge source of stress for both of us, as neither of us are used to not being able to meet our obligations).
My question for the bloggers? Will you please pray for me?
Dear MaryAnn! God Bless You Sister! I will definitely pray for you. Hang in there. I think Satan is really hitting us all hard in these times. On that Great Day, we will no longer have tears, pain or suffer! AMEN! With Love, Sheri.