Eyes Up, Even in the Pain

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hey friends. Welcome back to Glow in the Chaos. I'm so grateful you're here today. Whether you're listening from bed, from the couch, on your way to an appointment, or in the small, in between moments where you're just trying to breathe through whatever your body is doing today, today's episode is for the ones walking through it. The flare ups, the exhaustion, the pain that doesn't ask permission. The days where your body feels loud and God feels quiet. But the truth we're holding onto today is even when our body is failing us, our God never does. Even when we feel weak, he is steady. And even when our eyes want to drop to the chaos, he calls us to lift them back up to Him. [00:00:46] Speaker A: Let's be honest. Chronic illness flare ups have a way of consuming everything. Your thoughts, your emotions, your energy, your hopes. When the pain spikes or your symptoms worsen, it becomes so easy to get tunnel vision. All you can see is what hurts. All you can feel is what's going on. And in that place, it almost feels impossible to think spiritual thoughts, let alone faith filled ones. But that's why today's message matters. God never asked you to pretend you're not hurting. He just asks you to look up while you walk through it. When I first started dealing with my chronic illness and the chronic pain, I can truly relate to what I just said previously about feeling like it was impossible to think spiritual thoughts or anything faith filled. Like when you're hurting and you're in pain and it's something that you're dealing with on a daily basis that I feel like is your very last instinct is to try to turn it into, I need to be thankful, let me be talking to the Lord. But that's the problem that does need to be our first instinct when we're hurting. Whenever we're either emotionally or physically, whatever we're walking through, our very first thought should be, let me fix my eyes on the Lord. He will give me every single tool that I need to if it doesn't. [00:02:26] Speaker A: If the sickness or illness or injury or grief or whatever doesn't go away, he will absolutely give us the tools to get through it. Remember, he did not dry up the Red Sea, he parted it. So you have to go through things. Sometimes things aren't going to be taken completely away. [00:02:51] Speaker A: Keeping your eyes on the Lord doesn't mean ignoring your pain. It means that you're choosing where your focus and your foundation will be built. Pain says, this is too much. God says, my grace is sufficient. Fatigue says, you can't keep going God says, in your weakness, my power is made perfect. Your symptoms may speak loudly, but they are not the voice of your future. [00:03:20] Speaker A: Keeping your eyes on Jesus is choosing the eternal truth over the temporary storm. [00:03:28] Speaker A: So think about that. I'm gonna, I just wanna, I wanna emphasize that. I wanna read that again. Keeping your eyes on Jesus is choosing the eternal truth over the temporary storm. So remember. It's so hard right now. I know, I feel that I'm going through it. But this storm that we are walking in is just temporary. However, the truth of our Lord is eternal. It's like Peter walking on water. The moment he looked at the waves, he sank. And when his eyes were locked on Jesus, he walked on what should have drowned him. And sometimes that's exactly what a flare up feels like, like something that should drown you. But eyes up, heart steady, and suddenly you're walking with the one who holds the waves. There's something so very powerful to change your mindset and to remember that when you are having your quiet time or your, your prayer time, your intimate time with the Lord, it's so special to just remember that you are having a conversation with the very person who. [00:04:40] Speaker A: Made the waves or holds the waves, so to speak. Everything that we're going through. [00:04:48] Speaker A: He has the tools, the knowledge and the power to get us through it if we will just be still and listen. [00:05:00] Speaker A: Which is very hard, especially when you're hurting. It's very easy to be restless when you are in pain. [00:05:09] Speaker A: One of the most comforting promises in scripture is that God is near to the brokenhearted, and that includes broken bodies. Sometimes we subconsciously wait to meet with God until we feel better. But he is not waiting for your good days. He is not waiting for a day when you have full energy. He is not waiting for you to get it together. He meets you here, right here, in this flare up in the tears, in the frustration, in the surrender. Your symptoms may fluctuate, but his presence does not. [00:05:47] Speaker A: His sufficience does not change, no matter what. When the pain rises, here's a gentle shift you can practice. Instead of asking, why is this happening again? Try asking, lord, where are you in this moment? Remind me that you're here. Instead of thinking, I can't do this, whisper, Jesus, carry what I can't. Instead of spiraling into fear, breathe out. Your strength is enough for me today. These are not magic words, they're anchors. They pull your eyes back to the one who never lets you sink. [00:06:26] Speaker A: Here are a few verses you can keep in your phone, your journal, or just your heart today. Psalm 121, verses 1 through 2 I lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of the heaven and earth. Isaiah 26:3. You will keep in perfect peace those whose mind are steadfast because they trust in you. 2 Corinthians 12:9 My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. These aren't just verses, they're lifelines. Looking back at that Corinthians verse that is just so beautiful and something that I really feel like we can hold on to and remember when we are suffering and hurting and in the midst of a flare up, he says, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. [00:07:27] Speaker A: So just remember guys, there is absolutely nothing that we cannot get through or we cannot. [00:07:37] Speaker A: There's nothing we can't conquer when we fix our eyes on the Lord. [00:07:43] Speaker A: If today is a pain heavy day, let me say this slowly. You are not failing. Your body is not your enemy. You are not alone in this. God is not disappointed in you. He is not distant. He is not expecting you to power through on your own strength. He is with you. He is for you and he will sustain you even here, even now, even in this flare up. [00:08:14] Speaker A: I just want to close today with a prayer for anybody who is truly going through it. Lord, for every listener who is hurting today, lift their eyes gently back to you. Meet them in the exhaustion, the pain, the discouragement. Remind them you are their strength when their body has none left to give. Fill their room, their heart, their day, with your peace. Help them walk on the waves that once overwhelmed them. And let today be marked not by the flare up, but by your faithfulness. Amen. If this episode encouraged you, share it with someone who needs a reminder that they don't walk their hard days alone. And if you want more faith based encouragement, devotionals or journals, you can find all my favorites linked below. Until next time, keep your eyes up and keep glowing in the chaos.