Life has given you a diagnosis for your chronic illness. You are now realizing that fibromyalgia has seasons of flairs and heightened fatigue without a true cure. The reality of the facts of a lifetime of chronic pain brings hopelessness.When fibromylagia gives you the loss of the life that once was you can still find hope. A life full of hope is found when you give up what you think life should look like according to your plan and begin to live according to God’s plan for you. Living a life full of hope with fibromyalgia is possible.
Living a Life Full of Hope
With chronic pain it may seem more like an oxymoron that one can live a life full of hope. I belive that when we find our hope in Jesus then we can live a life full of hope even in the face of fibromylagia. When we daily surrender our aches and pains at His feet then we find that Christ will offer us joy and peace to face the day. It is not a prosperity gospel that I am sharing with you. (A life where if you do all of the right things then Jesus will give you wellness and a happy life.) Instead it is a life of hope build on the fact that He is the solid rock. He has already defeated death and the grave. Nothing that we face today can be worse that what He faced on the Cross. He overcame that cross through His ressurrection and gives us a life everlasting with Him.
On the days where my flairs and fatigue are greater, I find that when I cling to those truths then I am more filled with hope. I know that my Redeemer lives and that I can face tomorrow with whatever it brings my way. Living a life full of hope with fibromylgia is possible because I know that Jesus faced a lot worse pain in His death. He overcame it.
Practical Ways to Living a Life Full of Hope
On the worst of pain-filled days, you can surround yourself with truths that will remind you of Christ hope. There are three practical ways to remind yourself of this hope. The first practical way to live a life full of hope with fibromylagia is to listen to music that praises the Lord. When you are playing music that reminds you of the truths of what God has done for you then you are surrounded by the hope that He gives in His death and ressurrection. I have a playlist on Spotify of songs to remind me of the truths of who God is to me. It is a playlist that offers me practical reminders of living a life full of hope.
On the days were my pain and fatigue is so bad that I am in bed then I can turn on my music as a reminder of who God is. When I am mentally in a brain fog and not able to comphrend His Word, I have music as a reminder of the hope I find in Christ alone. The days where negative thoughts try to outweigh the good then a playlist is ready for listening.
Second Way to Hope with Fibromyalgia
A second way to living a life full of hope when you have fibromylagia is to dig into His Word. His Word is full of hope. There is the entire book of Job where the man Job faced unimaginable pain and loss, but still believed that God was His hope. No matter the circumstances that Job faced or the friends who tried to turn Job away from God, he remained steadfast in hope that God was who He said He was.
The woman who had experienced the issue of bleeding for over twelve years. She believed that if she touched the hem of His garment that she would be healed. She had hope that her actions and her belief in Jesus would heal her. The same is true of Jarius when his daughter had died. He had hope that if Jesus would come to their home and touch her she would be healed.
These Words from the Bible offer a way to living life full of hope in the face of fibromylgia. The truths of God’s Word tell us who He is to us. We learn that He is the same yesterday, today and forever. We see that His Word is alive and active. These truths are what offer us hope for our lives.
Living a Life Full of Hope Needs Community
So often we hear that misery loves company. I would like to offer up the opposite of that as the answer for living a life full of hope. We need community to find hope. When we surround ourselves with other believers, then we can bear one anothers burdens to find comfort and hope. In Matthew 11:28-30 we read,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Christ ask us to come to Him when we are weary and burdened and He will give us rest. Coming to Him can also mean to share our burden with friends who we know will pray for us. This space is a place where I am happy to pray with you over your needs. When we share similar burdens then crying out to God for the needs of our friends is easy and lighter.
Living a Life Full of Hope with Fibromyalgia is not something you can do under your own strength or willpower. You need to build your relationship with Christ by surrounding yourself with His truth through praise music, reading His Word and being in community with others. When you do these three things you will be living a life full of hope with fibromyalgia.