Envelope of Hope
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The world can be an inaccessible place for those who live with daily pain or nausea, dysregulated blood sugar or body temperature, intractable migraine, bleeding disorders, GI issues, food allergies, environmental sensitivities, extreme fatigue, and more. (Chronic Joy)
Chronic means persisting for a long time. So then, chronic illness is illness that has persisted for a long time, and living with it isn't easy. You can feel hard-pressed on every side, perplexed, persecuted, struck down, weary, overwhelmed, and at the end of yourself – BUT you are still here!
Through every hard day, you persevered, stuck it out through each new symptom, endured appointments and pain, continued through countless frustrations, withstood tests and procedures, coping with loss, navigated medication changes, stuck with changing treatment plans, and persevered through exhaustion that felt like trudging through wet cement.
You have suffered and survived, persisting even when you didn’t think you could.
Perseverance is a powerful thing and something we don’t often celebrate.
Take a minute and think about this. What has it cost you to get to this day? Think about how many tests you have endured. How much pain have YOU suffered? How many times have you wanted to give up?
But you didn’t.
Pastor Greg Laurie writes, “I have seen Christians have the strongest faith in the hardest circumstances imaginable.”
Today, celebrate your tenacity.
You have persisted.
What if you don't feel peace today? What if you question whether you'll ever again taste joy?
Jesus answered that in John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
In this world, we will have trouble -- but suffering isn’t the end of the story. Jesus has overcome the world. He endured, he survived, and he persisted.
There's even more! In Ephesians 2:14, Paul writes that Jesus is our peace, right in the messy midst of it all – in the midst of illness, in the midst of suffering, and in the midst of pain and unimaginable challenges – Jesus is our peace.
AN INVITATION
Today, we invite you to step in, slip off your shoes, and stay awhile. Read, listen, explore, and discover.
Chronic Joy isn’t a place for quick fixes or savvy advice. We don’t offer pat answers or simple solutions. Instead, we invite you into connection as we learn, share, wrestle, pray, and lean into the precious truths of Scripture together.
Pause, rest, and care for your soul today. Nurture your heart and lean into the still small Voice that says, “You are my beloved and I delight in you” (Zephaniah 3:17).
Step through these doors and discover:
- easily accessible tools
- fantastic free printables
- encouraging images
- engaging books and publications
- inspiring posts, devotionals, and prayer guides
Come, explore -- and stay awhile.
We’re so glad you’re here. Welcome home!
How to Live Well with Chronic Illness
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)
Living well with chronic illness begins with understanding who we are in Christ: we are God’s beloved, His masterpiece, created in His image, and filled with His Spirit.
The first step is extending compassion to ourselves, recognizing that chronic illness is hard, but we are still here. We have endured. Persevered. Persisted.
Let that backpack full of shame slide off your shoulders. Set down the heavy stack of pain. Drop your suitcase full of suffering, shake free from expectation, and release the dragging guilt.
Instead, Jesus invites: “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.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
As we learn to release expectation and loosen our grip on control, we begin to sense God’s Presence in every heartbeat, His beauty woven through every atom of creation.
“Come,” invites the Prince of peace. Lean in, drink deep, and savor.
A PLACE TO BEGIN
Step in with our FREE printable: Story Matters - Writing the Story of Your Illness. Whether you see yourself as a writer or not, you have a story, and it matters.
Let the questions percolate. Remember where you’ve been, and trace the moments that have prepared you for such a time as this. (Esther 4:14)
Brainstorm and bullet point as you journey back across the years the locusts have eaten. (Joel 2:25)
Seek God’s Presence. Listen for the dreams He established in your soul, the calling He wove into your DNA.
You are an integral, vital, and necessary member of the Body of Christ. Without you, the Body is incomplete.
Come.
Lean in and learn to thrive in a life with chronic illness.
Express Your Story and Connect More Deeply with God
- What are you passionate about?
- Who can you pray for?
- When have you felt most deeply connected to God?
- What skills, hobbies, gifts, or abilities do you have?
- Who can you encourage?
- Where did you find your greatest joy as a child? What brings you joy today?
- When do you sense God’s pleasure?
Use the questions in our Story Matters printable to step into story. Walk through the details, remember, and let pain do its work. Grieve. Celebrate. Smile. Laugh. Step into joy forged in the crucible of suffering.
Use the Creative Ways printable as a springboard. Brainstorm, dream, and open your heart to new possibilities. You are an indispensable member of the Body of Christ.
POSTS TO PONDER
Finding Hope for Every Member of the Family
Where can you find hope for every member of your family? We offer practical tools, biblical encouragement, and hundreds of free resources.
When OCD Steals Your Peace
A terrifying postpartum OCD episode left me questioning my thoughts, my identity, and my ability to care for my newborn. Yet God met me in the midst of fear with His truth, peace, and protection. Discover how scripture became my anchor and why intrusive thoughts do not define who you are.
21 God-Centered Ways to Cope with Pain
Pain can leave us feeling overwhelmed, isolated, and exhausted. Yet Scripture reminds us that God meets us with comfort, strength, and hope. Discover practical ways to care for your body, process your emotions, and draw closer to God as you navigate difficult seasons with faith and grace.
FREE PRINTABLES
Story Matters
Creatively Express Your Story
We can feel isolated and powerless when living with chronic illness, but what if your story begins to bridge the gaps? What if your story offers a glimmer of hope to someone standing at the edge of hopelessness?
16 Verses to Ignite Hope
In the midst of prolonged illness, it can seem like God doesn't see you. Weakness and stress can make it difficult to hold onto hope. However, God's strength never falters. Allow these scriptures to sink deep into your heart, igniting hope as He carries you.
Telling Your Medical Story
What is a Medical Story? For our healthcare teams to build the best possible treatment plans for us, we need to learn to keep well-maintained logs of symptoms (and their severity), medications, treatments, dates, and brief notes. Keep track with our Medical Story Log.
Prayers for the Journey
In the middle of illness, uncertainty, or pain, find a quiet invitation to pause and breathe. These Prayers for the Journey remind you that you are fully known and never alone. Draw near to God and find your strength.
26 Verses to Comfort and Encourage
When we’re lonely, anxious, afraid, or overwhelmed, the most significant thing we can do is turn to the one who knows us and loves us completely – the God of all comfort.
God Says I Am
Do you know how much God loves you, how valuable you are to Him? Do you feel seen, known, treasured, safe, and chosen? God cares about every detail of our lives. He is our shelter from the storm, our strength when we are weak, and the one who loves us beyond all imagining. Yet how often do we identify ourselves by the single most important detail about who we are—a child of God?
Accessible Hope: Gathering and Holding Hope Day-by-Day
Hope is often portrayed as strong and steady, yet for many of us, it can feel fragile, distant, or simply out of reach. Accessible hope, however, arrives quietly in a flicker, a whisper, or a still, small voice. It doesn’t demand that we feel hopeful; it invites us to lean into the one who helps us gather hope—to hold it, carry it, and return for it each day—not all at once, not perfectly, but (like manna from heaven) just enough for today.
Emotions Wheel
God created us with a complex range of emotions which can be difficult to identify and explain. The Emotions Wheel is a tool designed to grow our emotional intelligence, thus strengthening our relationship with God as well as our compassion and empathy for others.
DISCOVERING HOPE: Beginning the Journey Toward Hope in Chronic Illness
Cindee Snider Re
This 10-chapter study invites participants to experience radical hope and compassionate change in a life with chronic illness.
No matter how dark the days, how wild the storm, how deep the valley, or how long the winter, there is hope.
There is always hope.
FINDING PURPOSE: Rediscovering Meaning in a Life with Chronic Illness
Cindee Snider Re
What if purpose looks different from what we believe?
In this 10-chapter study, author Cindee Snider Re invites participants to release cultural and traditional definitions of purpose and, instead, embrace God's timeless definition. Rooted in His Word, His definition is as refreshing as a gentle spring rain.
EMBRACING WORTH: Understanding Your Value in a Life with Chronic Illness
Cindee Snider Re
This 10-chapter study powerfully reminds us that our value isn’t found in what we can or cannot do but in Christ alone. Regardless of what we’ve lost through chronic illness, this isn’t the end of our story. Despite our circumstances, in the midst of the hard when we’re not sure we can take even one more breath, God is still good.
I TAKE YOU IN SICKNESS & IN HEALTH: Marriage with Chronic Illness
Cindee Snider Re
Rejuvenate, revitalize, rekindle, and reconnect by using this insightful and enriching 10-chapter study (designed just for couples) that offers you and your spouse a safe place to grieve, heal, grow, dream together, and thrive as one—in sickness and in health.
A Book of Comfort for Those in Sickness
P.B. Power
Suffering need not be a dark experience. While illness brings time to think, the natural tendency of our thoughts may not be comforting. Sickness may end activities we once enjoyed and might make us dependent upon others. Feelings of pain, uselessness, or anxiety about the future may be very real. This book offers comfort for just those times.
Broken Body, Healing Spirit
Mary C. Earle
For centuries, Christians have turned to the Benedictine practice of Lectio Divina (sacred reading) to pray the Scripture and deepen their experience of God’s presence in their lives. In this gentle book, Mary Earle (who has suffered from serious illness of her own) explores how this ancient practice can be used to “read the text of our illnesses,” and, in doing so, discover God’s presence and guidance even amid pain and suffering.
The Scars that have Shaped Me
Vaneetha Rendall Risner
Twenty-one surgeries by age thirteen. Years in the hospital. Verbal and physical bullying from schoolmates. Multiple miscarriages as a young wife. The death of a child. A debilitating progressive disease. Riveting pain. Abandonment. Unwanted divorce. Vaneetha begged God for the grace that would deliver her, but God offered something better: His sustaining grace.
Hurting Yet Whole: Reconciling Body and Spirit in Chronic Pain and Illness
Liuan Huska
What do we do when our bodies don't work the way they should? What is healing when one has a chronic illness? Can we still be whole when our bodies suffer? Liuan helps us redefine what it means to find healing and wholeness even amid ongoing pain.
When There Is No Cure: How to Thrive While Living with the Pain and Suffering of Chronic Illness
Craig K. Svensson
How do you live well when the physical foundation of your life is crumbling? This is the challenge for millions who live with constant pain and other debilitating symptoms. Can you thrive with the persistent suffering that sickness provokes? Drawing on his expertise as a pharmacist-scientist and fellow sufferer of several incurable diseases, Svensson steers readers through the twists and turns of life with chronic illness.
Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain and Illness
Maureen Pratt
Using a combination of Bible passages, her own observations and insights, and prayer, Pratt provides help on issues that include dealing with isolation, coping with medical expenses, and learning to say "No." Written with unstinting honesty and humor, Peace in the Storm will help readers identify their own spiritual and physical needs.
Chronic Illness: Walking by Faith
Esther Smith
Physical symptoms and limitations change all aspects of life, leading to losses and to unique challenges that are difficult to navigate. Discover encouragement and practical applications showing you how to release guilt and shame, ask for help, balance work and rest, and get through days of difficult symptoms.
Walking Through Fire: A Memoir of Loss and Redemption
Vaneetha Rendall Risner
The astonishing, Job-like story of how an existence filled with loss, suffering, questioning, and anger became a life filled with shocking and incomprehensible peace and joy. Vaneetha contracted polio as an infant, was misdiagnosed, and lived with widespread paralysis. She lived in and out of the hospital for ten years. When she became a Christian, though, she thought things would get easier, and they did, but life unraveled. Again.
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