Giving Our Worries To God

As you may have heard, our worries are always better in than out. Sure, talking to a friend may help, but talking to God about it will help much more! Unlike most friends, God can do something about your problem!

Sometimes it seems like our problems are too small for God to care about, but he always cares! However small your problem is, give it to God. He can make you feel better, plus he already knows what you are worrying about!

It isn’t always God’s wish to make your problem disappear, but he will always give you his peace about the situation. Pour out your heart to your loving father, and you will feel all the better for it!

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

I am so excited to tell you that I am going back to school next week! I will start off with one lesson a week, then slowly build up from there. It’s all happened very quickly and I thank God that he has helped us to sort it all out!

For those of you that are still stuck at home, in bed or even in hospital – don’t give up! God has a perfect timing for everything and if it is his will to heal you, he will do it when he knows it is the right time! In the mean time, keep praying, and use your time at home to build up a close relationship with your loving father.

I have learnt so much over the time I have been ill and I know that i will come out the other side a much stronger person. I am so glad that God is using this little blog to inspire other people, and I pray that he will keep doing that as I continue to write it!

I hope you are all as well as possible, and if not, don’t despair. Keep hoping in the Lord and take every opportunity that he gives you. Good things come to those who wait, as I have discovered!

Praising God

It’s so important to remember to praise God everyday! After all; he truly deserves it! The bible instructs us to ‘…continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God’ (Hebrews 13:15) and to ‘rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks'' (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). God loves to hear us praise him and it is what he asks of us!

Worshiping God can be hard when we are feeling sad or ill, but we shouldn’t just worship when we feel like it! Try praising God for who he is, rather than just what he has done for you. Your conditions and mood may change, but God is everlasting and unchangeable.

There are so many benefits of praising. It gives us indescribable peace and joy, and all our troubles become so small! God also promises to bless all who worship him.

If all those reasons aren't good enough…this one will be. We are so, so small and unholy. Our God is so, so big and amazingly holy! But he loves us and he always will! Now, I don’t know about you but that is a good enough reason as any to make me praise the Lord!!!

Building Up A Resistance

Although I would love to be at school – there are a few advantages of being at home! One of them is that it is easier not to get caught up in worldly things, as I don’t talk to people who may be bad influences and I don’t see my friends as often.

However, I will be back to school one day soon and I want to be prepared! I am using my time at home to build up a deep relationship with God, and I am praying that he will show me lies from the truth. When I go back, I want to be able to resist temptations, even if everyone else around me are sinning!

Obviously, we can’t avoid people of this world, and we shouldn’t be unfriendly to them. Rather, we should ask God to keep us holy and show us how to resist the temptation to do what they are doing.

With God’s help, I am building up a resistance! I want to be prepared!

God Is Everything We Need

It’s so wonderful to know that ALL we need is God! It’s important to remember this and to allow God to meet our every need. Some people may think of God as their Encourager, but not their Deliverer. Others may think of Him as Love, but not their Rock. I have asked God to show me every part of his character, so that I can let him be all that I need in every situation!

Changing The Way We Think

Today God spoke to me through an episode of “Enjoying Everyday Life” by Joyce Meyer. It was all about changing the way we think. It’s encouraging to know that we don’t have to think the thoughts that come into our head! For example, if we start to get thoughts about how awful life is with M.E - we can dwell on those thoughts and become upset. Or, we can diminish the thoughts and give them to God. We can change the way we think.

Our mood can change dramatically by the things that we are thinking. We can make ourselves happy by thinking encourage thoughts, and we can make ourselves sad by thinking discouraging thoughts. If we make the decision to change the way we think, we can improve our mood and attitude dramatically! Our mind is constantly in battle, but I have made the decision today to control the things that I am thinking and let God take away my discouraging thoughts.

Our Future Is In God's Hands.

It's so easy for everyone to worry about the future, but it's even easier when you have an illness. I often have worried about when I will be able to go back to school, if and how I will be able to do my GSCE's, if I will get better all worse - but it's very important that we leave this in God's hands and trust him.

 It's comforting to know that God already has a plan for our lives. Jerimiah 29:11 says: "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." We can worry all we want but no amount of worrying will change the plans that God has for us!

I have decided to trust God with my future. Whenever a worrying thought comes into my head about the future, I will give it to God and leave it with him! He has great plans for my life, whatever they may be, so for my sake it's best just to leave my future with him! :)

God always forgives.

No matter what we do and how many times we do it, God will always forgive us. I find this really encouraging, as it is so easy on a good day to ignore God and not spend time with him. This results in me being snappy towards my family. I love that every time I do something wrong, he will never condem me and he is waiting for me to tell him how sorry I am, and then give me a big hug!

After we have sinned, we often put off praying and spending time with God because we are embarrased or ashamed, but God will always forgive us and will wipe our slates clean! That is such an amazing promise! :)

We Don't Need To Be Strong For God To Use Us

I recently read the story of Gideon in the bible and was encouraged by how he was the smallest and the weakest in his family but God still used him for his glory. Although I may be weak, God can still use me in little and big ways for his good.

God knows how much we are able to do, and would never ask us to do something that we are not able/not well enough to do. God told Gideon to go with the strength he had, and he would supply him with any more strength that he needed. Sure enough, Gideon defeated the Mideonites, which is what God asked him to do.

It is so encouraging to know that even people suffering with very severe disabilities can be used by God, and that he will help us to do the things that he asks us to do.

God Does Help Us In Times Of Need

Sorry that I haven't written for a while; I had a busy beginning of half-term then I was ill towards the end of it.

As I said, towards the end of half-term I had a cold. Usually I am ok-ish on the first day then have a terrible nights sleep which results in the cold worsening. Cold’s usually knock me back quite a bit, so I was really disappointed when I came down with one.

We really prayed that I would get a good nights sleep that night, and I did! Better still, I woke up at 5am that morning feeling wide awake, it was virtually impossible that I would get back to sleep. But nothing is impossible for God and after I prayed that I would get back to sleep, I did almost straight away!!!

The sneezing went away and God helped my body to fight the cold, and by yesterday I was completely better!

It isn’t always God’s will to heal us from viruses, but he is totally capable of doing so if he wants to! He does help us in times of need!

God is Sovereign

Mum and I are listening to an old Roger Price series on tape (yes, tape!) about the characters of God, and today we listened to “God is Sovereign”. We learnt that whatever God does, whether we like it or not, it is the right thing and we shouldn’t question him. After all, he is God!

This really spoke to me. I have given my illness over to God, and now I need to trust in him. Whether he wants me to get better or worse, it is his will and I need to learn to remember that he is God, and who am I to question what he does! Of course I want to be healed, of course I want to wake up tomorrow completely better. But that may not be God’s will.

In Psalm 115 v 3 it says, “Our God is in the heavens, and he does what he wishes.” God can do whatever he wants, he has complete sovereignty over everything. But he always acts out of love, he cannot do anything that isn’t of love.

It is going to take time to be able trust God completely, but I am going to keep asking him to be in control of my life everyday. It’s a journey of faith.

My Days At Home Aren’t Wasted

God gave me a reassurance today that my days at home are not wasted. I am learning and growing in my faith, and having that faith will come in very handy when I am older!!!

I can’t see people very much, but God still provides ways that I can witness to other people, by msn or the internet. (To be honest its a lot easier witnessing over the internet that in person!!!)

So although sometimes I may feel like I am not doing much, what I am learning now will help and guide me later in life!

The Holy Spirit Prays Through Us

‘Brain Fog’ is a common  symptom of ME,  where we can’t concentrate, forget what we are doing, ect… It can be quite comical at times!

My Brain Fog is worse on some days than others, and on the days when it is bad I find it hard to concentrate on praying, or I get my words muddled up! I was reminded of this verse yesterday:

“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the spirit is praying, for the spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s will.” Romans 8 v 26-27

It’s so encouraging to know that even if I get my words muddled up when praying, God knows exactly what is on my heart! If I pray the wrong thing, the Holy Spirit will change my words so that they make sense.

If I am finding it hard to concentrate I can just come before God and ask the Holy Spirit to pray through me, and he will!

About Me

My name is Abbey and I am nearly 13. I have had ME for 4 years, more severely for the past year. I have had my up's and down's and I am sure that there are more to come, but through it all I can be certain that Jesus is with me, holding my hand all the way.

When a friend suggested that I keep a blog about the things that God is teaching me, I thought it was a brilliant idea! God has taught me so many things during my illness, especially in the past year. I hope that by writing about the things I learn it will encourage other people going through similar situations.

I first became ill with M.E when I was about 9, but it has been gradual onset for me so at first I was virtually healthy. I slowly got worse and was diagnosed with the illness when I was 10. I remained between 70-90% in the ME Functional ability scale (here) until September 2008, when I started Secondary School full time. This was obviously too much for me, and although I managed a term at school, I soon had a big relapse and was down to 25% on the ability scale by the following June. I was housebound, unable to sit up at the table for meals, and wasn’t well enough to see anyone. But it was during this time that my relationship with God increased dramatically.

Although health is important, and I long for the day when I will be well again, having a close relationship with God is much more important. I know that the things I have learnt whilst being at home will help me later on in life.

It is now almost a year later, and I am up to 45% on the ability scale. It may not seem like a lot for people who don’t suffer with ME, but the recovery from this illness is a VERY slow process, and for me it’s a big difference. I still have a long way to go, but I take every step knowing that God is right beside me, leading the way. That’s the silver lining in the cloud of ME.

 

For more information on M.E, please visit www.ayme.org.uk