Your Guide to Shining Like a Star During Illness
Many of us have “invisible" health issues; living with an illness that others cannot see can make you feel alone in your suffering. Have you ever felt the need to list all of your symptoms so that your friends and family will believe or support you?
Sometimes when my husband and I are watching television, I realize that he has no idea that my body is aflame with burning pain. I may seem okay, but I am actually in agony.
So I start to complain about my pain.
What do we really want when we complain about how illness makes us feel? We desire connection. We crave understanding. We seek comfort and compassion.
But the person who hears our laundry list of aches and pains, troubles and trials may not be ready to offer the connection that helps us to feel seen in our struggles. They may even feel overwhelmed because complaining is draining—to both parties.
Do you feel hurt or unseen when people you love cannot seem to grasp the severity of your health issues? Some of us have loved ones who grasp our health issues too well; they argue with us when we attempt to push past our limitations. This can lead to conflict:
Have you argued with others in an attempt to make them understand your limitations or suffering?
Have you argued with those who try to put limits on you in an effort to help you?
There is a Solution in God’s Word. Here is Your Guide to Shining Like a Star During Illness:
"Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, 'children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.' Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life." (Philippians 2:14-16 NIV).
Notice that you will shine brightly when you do everything--including living with illness--without grumbling (complaining) or arguing. You will shine brightly in your home. You will shine brightly when you go to the physical therapist, doctor, and hospital. People around you will notice that there is something different about you. You will shine among them "as you hold firmly to the word of life."
How is it possible to shine while going through chemo? How can you shine during mounting medical bills, increasing health issues, and isolation? How do you shine when diagnosed with a terminal disease? First, you need to understand what it means to shine.
(My first chemo infusion during aggressive stage 3 and stage 4 cancers in 2016. I am holding firmly to the Word! The heart says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” You can, too!)
Five years after that photo was taken, I am again living with advanced-stage lymphoma, debilitating pain, and limited energy. Illness presses so hard some days that there seems to be nothing left of me to shine at all. But I shine the brightest when I hold firmly to Jesus amid my suffering.
What does it mean to shine like a star in the sky? Does it mean that we must live every day with a smile? Should we perform public acts of service so that people can see us shine? I used to define "shining for Jesus" this way, but when I became bedridden by illness, I discovered the truth about how stars shine.
How Does a Star Really Shine?
A "star in the universe" does not shine because of its outer glow. A star shines because of intense pressure and heat. Do you have intense pressures in your life? Have you felt the burning anguish of suffering?
Then it's time you learned how a star converts pressure and heat into glorious shining light.
A Little Science Lesson for Your Spirit
The sun is our brightest star; it shines enough to light the earth, emit heat, and foster life on our planet. The pressure of its outer layers is so great and the heat so high that it causes protons to smash together and join one another.
The protons actually lose mass as they join, and the missing mass is converted into energy. This nuclear fusion creates energy that causes the star to shine.
You might feel that your suffering changes you, diminishes you, and causes you to become a shell of the person you used to be. If so, let me encourage you!
When the heat of your trials and the pressure of your pain make you hold firmly to Jesus, you will be forever changed and transformed—and the glory of the Lord will shine in and through your life.
Shining brightly does something other than illuminating the world around us—it actually does something for us!
The energy that causes a star to shine also stops the sun from collapsing inward from the pull of gravity.[1] This is true in our spiritual lives, as well—the energy, power, and strength that God gives prevent us from being entirely destroyed by the pressures around us.
It turns out that shining outwardly as we hold firmly to the word of life keeps us from collapsing inward!
These truths make me eager to shine during this challenging season of my life. I don't want anything to get in the way of my ability to shine—which takes me back to this:
"Do everything without grumbling or arguing...then you will shine among them like stars in the sky..." (Philippians 2:14, 16).
Complaining and arguing may seem to temporarily relieve your pressure, but they will ultimately diminish your ability to shine. Arguing, grumbling, and complaining leak the toxic gasses of anger and despair into the atmosphere around you. They dispel a certain amount of pressure, but they waste your opportunity to use that pressure to shine. You can shine, even now, by holding on to Jesus and by obeying the truth of His Word during every season of life.
Three Key Verses For Those Who Struggle to Shine:
1. We all complain or argue to prove a point from time to time. If you argue or complain when under pressure, remember that God is merciful with this verse:
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).
2. God loves you and has compassion for you. He wants to hear about your pain, struggles, and difficulties. Telling God all of your troubles is not complaining—it's prayer. God wants you to pour out your complaints to Him!
"I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble" (Psalm 142:2).
3. God's glory shines through you when you rely on Him during your struggles. But guess what? There is even more glory ahead of you! Remember this verse when you start to lose hope:
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).
Three Points to Ponder:
Complaining and arguing will diminish my joy and my ability to shine God's glory.
I will shine like a star by holding firmly to Jesus, obeying the truth of God's Word, and voicing my complaints to God.
My present suffering is not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in me!
I'd love to hear your comments!
Do you know anyone who shines brightly during times of suffering? Comment with their first name only (or initials) and tell us why or how they shine. Then send this blog to them!
[1] NASA."StarChild Question of the Month for September 1999." StarChild. September 1999. https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question13.html
