Chronic Love: Trusting God While Suffering with A Chronic Illness

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The Father's answer is in Isaiah 53: 10, "it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief.

He was helping to complete the full story of Christ's afflictions still to be endured for Christ's church. Brooke Bartz is a stay-at-home wife and mom who lives daily with a chronic disease, knowing firsthand the daunting, gnawing physical and spiritual pain it causes. I am not well versed in scripture and the reading was not only easy reading but at each section it gave relevant scripture to reach out to you and let you know just how much Christ cares for you and loves you. For true and lasting comfort we must dig deeper into God's Word and the context in which those much-used passages were written. For women dealing with chronic illness, most books offer quick-fix counseling or devotional verses taken out of context, helpful only for momentary encouragement.As Bartz reminds us, “[t]o have physical health but no salvation is the most fatal and terminal disease of all. This book taught me so much more about my battle with my chronic illnesses and that god put me through this for a reason. We hope that these conversations can offer a needed counterpoint to the often sterile portrayals of illness and treatment in the service of helping those living with illness to feel less alone; to offer supportive others a lens through which they may more sensitively meet the needs of their fellow humans with illness; and to raise awareness, curiosity, critical thought, and contemplations of change as we lean into issues that impose further hardship on humans living with illness.

God had a plan to put me here to help others for the chronic pain and save any lives I can for those that almost ended theirs.It has really shown me how strong those like me are and as CHRIST continued to trust in God knowing there will be an eternal ever after in a body that is not ill ridden but healthy and free. It is a mystery, but one that will never be discovered without accepting it from God, as from His hand. As one who has suffered a chronic illness for over a decade I wanted to like this book, and I tried, I really tried. In stark contrast to one of the reviewers who said, "to think God “ordained” such makes me feel angry and rebellious against such a God," there is this quote by Charles Spurgeon who spent his whole life battling severe depression and gout. Like Job, we may never know why we have chronic illnesses, but we can trust that our Savior knows and that He helps us to endure.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12 it was the Lord that afflicted His servant with this thorn in the flesh, to remind him of his fallenness, his weakness, and his utter dependence upon divine mercy. I so needed this book as I suffer from chronic illness and my faith has waned and my walk with Christ diminished as I wallow in my despair. Chronic Love” overflows with Scripture verses and an abundance of encouragement and affirmation for women in all stages of illness. I picked this book up primarily thinking of one of my relatives, but also because of a few others that I know who live with chronic illnesses.Many of us would do as well for ourselves to handle the perplexities of chronic illness the way this author has. God’s love is chronic; it always is and it never goes away no matter the actions of people, His love just is. It is as if she is walking with her readers through their journeys with chronic illnesses or caring for those with chronic illnesses. Ambassador International's mission is to impact lives by publishing books that magnify Christ and share the Gospel. I am not sure I would place this is my k-12 Christian school library unless it came to my attention that we had a secondary female student who suffered from a chronic illness.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.It will be so helpful to me to have the personal stories and all of the many wonderful scripture to refer back to when I am feeling so down. This book was fully saturated with scripture and was a huge encouragement to those who suffer daily. This year I have endeavored to stop waiting for my conditions to improve and really persist in glorifying God more than ever in spite of the pain and symptoms, so this book was a very timely read.