Encourage yourself during sickness
My dad recently said that we all struggle with our faith. He was reassuring me that having faith in an unseen God is harder when we are sick, it’s not just me who struggles.
But can we all agree that half the challenge of sickness is mental? The mind is a powerful thing and when we are sick it can start to work against us. Surely then it must also be able to be used to work for us?
When we are sick we can’t fix it, sure we can do what the doctor tells us to do and we should, but after that the only part we have power over is our mind.
Proverbs chapter 18, verse 14 says "The human spirit can endure in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?".
The question is what can we actually do to encourage ourselves?
Here are a few things that have helped me:
Remember that God loves you and cares about you.
I am not certain of many things, but this one thing I KNOW – God loves you, he cares about you and you matter to him so much. Remind yourself that you ARE loved and cared for regardless of how you feel.
Speak the truth out loud.
I put verses about healing up when I was sick. They provided a counter point to the negativity. Speaking them out loud helped too. If you are more comfortable with positive affirmations, try them, the important part is getting some positive truth around.
Try doing something nice for someone else.
Studies have shown that giving helps overcome negative thoughts. Is there something you can do to encourage or help someone else? Maybe just send a loving text message or an email. Find something you can do that will put a smile on someone’s face.
Listen to the bible
I really struggle to read when I am ill, it seems like a huge effort. I recommend getting the bible on CD or downloading from itunes (free) and listening to it while you are doing other things. Just have it in the background soaking into you and helping your perspective change. Or maybe find a positive book and get the audio version.
Most of all remember that your sickness is not your fault.
You don’t deserve to be sick. It’s not your fault you are not getting healed and it’s not your fault that you are struggling with your faith right now. It is normal. Just keep going, day by day and you will get through it. Keep going, keep trying and keep hoping for better days.
I hope that this has been helpful.
KG
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