Holding on to Hope

Image by jenlemen

Building and maintaining hope, when your life is dominated by Migraine disease (or another headache disorder), is both a challenge and a blessing. Living in constant pain makes holding on to hope difficult, but I've found it necessary to make it through each day... each moment.

Faith in God
My faith in God is, by far, the source of my hope. Knowing that I have a Lord that loves me unconditionally is such a comfort. I know that He will never give up on me, so I do my best to never give up. It can be very difficult to hold on to hope through the pain / isolation / etc, onslaught of other people's opinions and misunderstandings, and all of the uncertainty of living with chronic pain... but, we must remember that our God suffered too, He is always with us, He understands us, and He knows our future and will equip us to handle it.

"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" (Jeremiah 29:11)

Today is Easter Sunday, which is perfect for explaining my hope. In His death, we see the magnitude of our Lord's love for us... and it is in His resurrection that we see the mighty power He has. There is nothing that can separate us from His love.

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39)

Christ loved us so much that He sent His son to die, so that we could have eternal hope! Hallelujah, Christ is risen!

"The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay" (Matthew 38:5-6)

Family and FriendsI'm also extremely blessed to have a family that loves me unconditionally.

• My husband helps me in more ways than I can ever even begin to explain. Besides loving and caring for me, he helps me to keep my faith in the Lord and hold on to hope for better days.
• My family has supported me so much through this, too. They've taken the time to educate themselves on Migraine disease, they listen to me explain my experience of it, and they share their love and support with me.
• My friends (especially my chronic pain online friends) each help support me, indifferent ways. My online friends and I are able to support each other in ways that many others cannot help support us because we all experience chronic pain and all of the obstacles that come with that. They offer me such love and support; and they help hold on to hope when I need help and can't do it myself.

Writing & Blogging

Writing has always been cathartic for me. I find a lot of peace and comfort in writing. It allows me to express myself in ways that other activities / outlets can't. When I write, I'm frequently reminded of how great our God is because He has given me the ability to write. What a wonderful gift to have... it gives me hope that He can still use my life to touch others.

Along the blogging journey I've had so far, I've come into contact with quite a few people, several of whom I've been able to help. What a blessing to be able to help others by sharing my experiences and offer support for their own journeys.

Here are some Scripture verses of hope:

• "Through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us" (Romans 5:2-5)
• "For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently" (Romans 8:24-25)
• "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer" (Romans 12:12)
• "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope" (Romans 15:4)
• "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13)
• "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1)

I previously made a playlist with songs of hope... you can check it out here, My Playlist: Songs of Hope.

Migraine disease may take away a lot of things in my life, but my hope is not one of them. I refuse to let this disease define or destroy me - it will not win! I will continue to do my best to hold on to hope!

Image found here

This post was written as part of the Health Activist Writer's Awareness Challenge (HAWMC), and the April 2012 edition of the Headache and Migraine Disease Blog Carnival.