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My Health Struggle

I have had Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) for 30 years and have been having migraines for the past 15 years. Since the migraines started, they tend to occur together with the gut flare-ups. My IBS has gotten much worse in the past three years. I think this is partly due to several ongoing stressful situations in my life. 

Despite seeing many doctors over the past several years, my IBS continued getting worse so that I had stomach upset, fatigue and a headache nearly every day regardless of what I ate. I went to a gastroenterologist who found that I had gallstones. He referred me to a surgeon. The surgeon said that my symptoms did not really match the diagnosis of a gallstone problem but that he was willing to do the surgery to see if it would help. It did not. 

A friend then recommended a doctor who used Eastern/natural medicine. He diagnosed me with Dysbiosis which means the bad bacteria in your gut have pretty much taken over. This is caused by antibiotics killing off the healthy bacteria in your gut. 

The natural medicine doctor gave me 6 different supplements and specific instructions on how to take them. He told me to expect to feel worse before I felt better. I definitely felt worse for several weeks. In about three months (which of course seemed like forever) my IBS was much better. 

Verses That Have Helped Me Through My Suffering

I know there are so many others of you who struggle with similar chronic illnesses. If you are like me you have probably asked God “Why?” many times. It is very difficult for me to have peace and trust that God knows what He is doing when I am unable to do anything for several hours or for a whole day.

I have four verses that have helped me get through these very trying years. I will include them here and briefly explain how they have helped me to release my situation into God’s hands and hopefully can help you as well. They are all from the New International Version of the Bible.

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.” Proverbs 3:7

I often feel that my time is wasted when I need to lay down. I realize that when I feel that way I am thinking that I know better than God how my life should go. 

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Jeremiah 29:11 has helped me remember that God has a good plan for me and plans to prosper me and give me a good future. Knowing this doesn’t make it easy to wait on God’s timing but it makes it a little less hard. 

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” Deuteronomy 29:29

Deuteronomy 29:29 tells us that there are things that God is doing in our lives and in the world that we know nothing about so we should stop trying to figure out what God is doing and instead focus on the things He has revealed to us.  

“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 

Psalm 46:10 helps me to not fret about all of the things that I cannot do and instead to just have peace with God as I listen to sermons and Christian music, pray and meditate on scripture or simply take a nap. Fretting about all of the things I cannot do does not help anything.

Understanding Why We Suffer

In thinking about why God has allowed me to go through this particular suffering, I think it is partly because I like to be in control of my schedule. I like to have a plan for my day and I like to be able to check things off of my to-do list.  I believe that God has allowed me to go through this suffering so that I will realize that He is in control, not me.

God has a plan for my life that is different from my plan. I have all sorts of things that I want to accomplish - both on a daily basis and in my life overall. But I am working toward being content with His plan for me and realizing that he knows everything and sees the various moving parts that I can’t see and knows the best way to make them all work together. 

If you are suffering with illness and are a doer like me God may be trying to teach you to release control of your plans and allow Him to guide you through your struggles like He is teaching me.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.