Category Archives: God & Spirituality

NAVIGATING SUFFERING AND TOUGH TIMES

July 9, 2026 Becky Hill 6 Comments

Hello again! It’s been a while since I have shared a blog post … and in fact today I am sharing a very long one!!!!

Recently I spoke in church on Navigating Tough Times and as I was preparing it, I remembered that I had always wanted to make a video and write a post on some thoughts about how we can navigate suffering. So, I decided that I would combine my research and preparation to also write this article and put a video on my channel which includes my teaching from church – with a few minor edits.

I hope and pray that my own study, research and learning over the past 11 ½ years may well help to equip someone else in the midst of suffering. Suffering always feels horrible, it can be traumatic, life changing and full of grief and pain. But… although that is true…. It’s not the WHOLE story…

There can also be immense beauty, joy and even a deeper love to be experienced too… if we can hold on and slowly allow our perspective to be shifted.

That is my experience.

That is my reality.

And my hope today is that you too might discover some treasures in the darkness – despite your pain!

With much love and empathy to you all,

Becky x

Please note: This teaching has been prepared for a distinctly Christian audience. But I hope that those of different, or no faith backgrounds, will be able to glean something from it too.

NAVIGATING SUFFERING AND TOUGH TIMES

Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.”

“The real work, the hardest work, is to pick up the pieces and decide how to put them back together again. The new thing that emerges may not work the way it used to, but it can bend and stretch and change us in ways we come to treasure even more.” Katherine and Jay Wolf

‘Navigating Tough Times’ is such a big subject, as all the ‘Strong Foundations’ subjects are. Basically, this is a teaching about when things are tough and there are no quick fixes. It’s a teaching that is here to equip you to face and endure the hard seasons in life that sometimes come and don’t let up easily – whether you are in one now, have been through one in the past that still affects you or will go through one in the future.

But in talking about ‘tough times’ I feel like I need to give a disclaimer – that this is just a snapshot of understanding suffering and hard times and how we are best to deal with them as believers and as the Church. There are so many different types of suffering and struggle. Be it grief and bereavement, physical health and mental health issues, abuse, difficult job situations, redundancy, war and famine, persecution poverty, addiction, relational breakdown, loneliness, rejection, bullying, financial hardship and debt, infertility and challenging family dynamics. This has not an exhaustive list of course, it’s just a few things that came to my mind.

I never want to minimise anyone’s experiences of suffering or rate mine or others experiences above others.

But as with all the strong foundation preachers that we have heard over the past couple of months, this message is about trying to equip you to grow in your faith and go deeper in your foundations. We wanted to cover tough times and suffering because it can really make or break someone’s faith. Especially when those seasons last a very long time.

I feel very privileged to be speaking on the subject because I feel like it’s been a massive area of personal study, for me over the past 11 years. Even just looking through my phone notes, I came across so many great quotes from various books I’ve read over the years – so there will be many quotes in this message. Which I actually think is important because we need to hear different perspectives on suffering, because everybody’s experiences unique.

Tell you some of my story. I did tell some of it in one of my messages from last year: ‘Boasting About My Weaknesses.’ https://youtu.be/6PjU8i5AtMQ I also explained that this is why I pre-record my church messages as it’s easier for my body and brain and allows me more focus.

Most of you know something of my story – it is so long and complex I can only touch on my conditions but do have a public YouTube channel and blog if you were interested in more in depth of info and how I have navigated it over the years. Basically11 1/2 years ago I fell off a ladder and sustained two quite rare and very complex brain and spine injuries. I still have what is called ‘A Spinal CSF Leak’ in my spine which is where your spinal fluid leaks out of a hole in the protective layer that holds in your spinal fluid in your spine. This means your brain and whole nervous system can lack enough spinal fluid to function properly. It causes so much pain, a constant drunk/ foggy head, lack of mental clarity, a constant stiff neck, fatigue and many other symptoms. I also have Arachnoiditis which is midly adhesive. This is where your spinal nerves inflame and begin to stick to the edges of your spinal canal leaving very high levels of nerve dysfunction, pain, struggles to sit and stay in one position, travel and when in an inflammatory relapse – to walk, talk and think with clarity – without hospital visits and very high doses of steriods. Basically, they are both extremely painful and debilitating conditions I live with every day – even though most of the time ‘I look well’ from the outside.

My lack of healing and the trauma of facing countless doctors over the years who didn’t really understand due to my conditions being so rare and not well enough researched etc, also led to me having two very serious physical & mental breakdowns which left me despairing of life itself. So I have also experienced two or three serious mental health crisis’. Partly due to the immense strain of these conditions and major battles to get diagnosed and helped. But also due to trying to‘stay strong’ and striving hard to find ‘enough faith’ to receive my healing. Including at the end of my first year of serious illness attempting to try to live ‘like I was well’ when I was actually seriously unwell. So I ended up at the complete end of myself – not sleeping, stuck in bed in constant severe pain – in an extremely dark place of despair. And yet I still knew only God and my Christian faith could help me find a way forward whether I was healed or not. This is why – as I shared in my message ‘Boast about my weaknesses’ last year – I ultimately I had to ‘let it go’. Healing had became an idol and I had to rediscover Jesus for who he was in totally and not just ‘the healer’ & find the spiritual strength to help me endure for the long haul.

At the worst times of experiencing the deep trauma of utter darkness and despair – I found that I certainly didn’t need ‘theological answers’ – I simply needed love, gentleness, ccompassion, comfort, understanding and care. And even though God felt so distant at times and I felt like such a failure. LOVE did break through and began to bring some light in an extremely dark place. I couldn’t fathom theological thinking – It was only true, warm and gentle sacrificial love that was the thing that showed me God was truly real. I couldn’t feel God’s presence – but I could feel the fierce yet gentle love and support of my husband. Matt you showed me Jesus when I was struggling to see and feel Him directly.

REMEMBER – We can show up and reveal Jesus to those who suffer deeply – IF we are present and show gentleness, compassion, care, grace and love without judgement.

What I discovered over the next few years, was that I needed to deepen and widen my theology of suffering. Especially to help myself and others to navigate seasons of suffering that just won’t go away whatever we do. So I had to learn to listen and consider all sorts of different voices, perspectives and thinking on what the Bible says about suffering and how to approach it

One of the initial books I read which helped to open my mind was – ‘Where is God when it hurts’ by Philip Yancey (I know Yancey has recently discredited himself for moral failure – but the book was written long before this and still has so much to teach us). It starts off by talking about a young couple he knew – newly married, loved God and ready to serve him. But very early in their marriage she developed Hodgkin’s disease which is a cancer of the lymph glands. She had to stay in hospital for rounds of chemo which made her so sick that she couldn’t eat, she completely lost her radiance & outward beauty. Periodically she had radiation treatment that in those days required you to lie on a metal table completely naked. Over the weeks and months, she became a shell of herself. During this time, she contemplated God and suffering.

The interesting thing that Yancey does is to record her reports of some of the well-meaning ‘Visitors’ who came and gave their advice – from all theological perspectives:

– Firstly those who just tried to ‘avoid’ the issue of her suffering and simply bring ‘positivity’ and ignore the harsh reality of what she was facing

– those who told her she had obviously done something wrong and needed to search her life for what God wanted her to change.

– others suggested God is so impressed with you that he has chosen you to suffer and he will reward you for your endurance.

– another told her – this will only end when you have genuinely learnt to praise God for the privilege of suffering.

– yet another – who loved watching the US TV healing evangelists told her – if you just have enough faith you will be healed, so rebuke the devil, increase your faith and claim your victory!!

Philip Yancey then visited her and found her not only immensely unwell and in deep despair but also utterly confused about God and what He wanted of her. Who she should listen to? What lessons she should be learning through it? How can she keep staying positive and full of praise? And how is she supposed to ‘muster up’ enough faith for this promised healing? He thought to himself upon leaving ‘Is Christianity supposed to make a sufferer feel even worse?

Why do we often choose people’s weakest times to ‘burden’ them with all of our opinions on what they need to do to improve their situation?

Now there are of course elements of Biblical truth that have influenced ALL of those opinions, advice and teachings. It’s not ALL wrong ‘in theory’. But it did remind me of the book of of Job in the Bible and his friends opinions about his suffering.

Of course, there are lessons to be learnt in suffering, God certainly allows suffering in certain seasons, sometimes our choices and mistakes can add to our suffering, we can of course benefit from praising God and being thankful despite our pain, it is also true that our faith can play a part in our healing as we see in the gospels. But as Philip Yancey touches on – we need to learn the correct time and place for opinions, advice & simplistic theology. These things are never as simple as they look and when someone is in the depths of suffering, they often simply lack the ability and energy to work through all the different theological viewpoints and all of the nuanced questions and answers. They can then despair even more when the simplistic answers and fixes don’t seem to work. I only had capacity to consider and meditate upon all these things – when my mind was less chaotic and I started feeling slightly more well again. (Although I never actually feel well – just ‘less ill’ than my worst times.)

CAN GOD ACTUALLY BE TRUSTED IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING?

Psalm 34:18: (NIV) “The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Psalm 22:23-24 (NLT) “Praise the LORD, all you who fear him!…  For he has not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy.  He has not turned his back on them,  but has listened to their cries for help. ”

Psalm 147:3 (NKJV) “He heals the broken hearted. And binds up their wounds.”

“You see, the message of the Bible is that the arms of God’s power, presence and grace wrap around the deepest and darkest moments of human suffering.” Paul David Tripp

Does this sound like a distant God who doesn’t care? No that is not who our God is: He is compassionate, empathetic, comforting, loving and understanding. He is not there to condemn and accuse. However, there can also be purpose in pain, redemption in suffering, the beauty of his presence, power and comfort in our deepest weakness and things we can and do learn through seasons of pain.

SUFFERING IS INEVITABLE.

The Bible talks a lot about it. Central to our faith is the concept of a suffering saviour. The New Testament Is then full of people being persecuted for their faith, especially Paul who we will come back to later.

John 16:33 NIV “In this world you will have trouble. (Tribulations ESV) (NLT many trials and sorrows) (AMP tribulation, distress & suffering) But take heart! I have overcome the world.

JESUS THE SUFFERING SAVIOUR

John Stott whilst reflecting on suffering and the cross wrote: ‘I could never myself believe in God if it were not for the cross… in the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?’

Philippians 2:6-8 NIV “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”

God doesn’t distance himself from human suffering, he sent Jesus to experience it first-hand. Our God is a God who through Jesus becoming human has personal experience of human suffering, physically, relationally, mentally, emotionally. He ‘laid aside his glory and majesty’ to become a vulnerable human who faced betrayal, rejection, misunderstanding and the limitations of a physical body which was brutally beaten and completely broken until he died. God didn’t protect him from pain and suffering – he led him to it. He deserved a throne but submitted to a cross.

Sometimes we may feel God is absent in our suffering. But so did Jesus as he lay brutally beaten, struggling to breathe and hold onto life on a Cross he shouted ‘my God my God why have you forsaken me?’ – he too felt the Fathers distance.

Elisabeth Elliot (whose young husband was killed by tribesmen they were ministering to as missionaries in Ecuador) “Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering. The love of God is of a different nature altogether. It does not hate tragedy. It never denies reality. It stands in the very teeth of suffering. The love of God did not protect His own Son. The cross was the proof of His love – that He gave that Son, that He let Him go to Calvary’s cross, though “legions of angels” might have rescued Him. He will not necessarily protect us… from anything it takes to make us like His Son. A lot of hammering and chiselling and purifying by fire will have to go into the process.

SUFFERING AND THE SECULAR WORLD

“Suffering causes us to scan our lives and face the fact that we control very little. – Paul David Tripp

“Suffering in its simplest form comes in the space between what we thought would be and what is.” – Katherine & Jay Wolf

One of the best books I have read on suffering is Tim Keller ‘Walking with God through Pain and Suffering’The book deals with theology, philosophy, psychology, Christian apologetics (defending the gospel) – but also interweaves many deeply moving personal and diverse stories of deep suffering and pain experienced by Christians from all sorts of human experiences of suffering – I highly recommend it!

In the early chapters of the book, he writes a lot about the diverse and different perspectives on Suffering from around the world and from different religious and spiritual perspectives. He also spends a quite a bit of time explaining how secularism in the West has caused a major cultural shift over the past century or so regarding views on suffering and how well we deal with it.

He writes about how the ‘secular assumption’ that life is just confined to this material world and lifetime means that people live their lives for what feels ‘good to them’ in this world so: ‘comfort, safety and pleasure are of the upmost importance.’ Suffering is then a BIG problem to this because it blocks you from achieving these things as you might want.

So the underlying message of our society is: AVOID SUFFERING AND PAIN AT ALL COSTS!

Interestingly, Keller references Dr Paul Brand’s book ‘The Gift Of Pain’ – (Philip Yancey does too in ‘Where is God When It Hurts?. Doctor Brand worked with leprosy patients whose bodies were ravaged because they lacked normal pain sensation’s so he argues that pain can actually be a gift to us that warns when something is wrong in our bodies, without that you injure yourself without knowing etc) Dr Brand also writes about the difference in how people viewed and dealt with suffering in India – where he worked with leprosy patients – compared to the USA. He observed in the West that mmeaning in life is often caught up in the pursuit of pleasure & personal freedom & achievement – he suggests that ‘this is why suffering is especially traumatic to Americans’. Many other cultures in the world put higher meaning on something other than individual happiness & comfort. This can be be moral virtue, gaining your way into paradise by good works, aiming for enlightenment after being stuck in karmic cycles, honour of those around you, faithfulness to the truth, putting family virtue higher than individualism or pursuing a greater meaning spiritually or philosophically. So in these cases suffering can actually been seen from the perspective of helping you to achieve those things:

Where as in the Secular world suffering rarely has much meaning or purpose: those who suffer feel that they are ‘a victim’ of something that is simply – a big distraction, an unwelcome tangent and a chaotic interruption to our comfortable, safe lives. So it should be prevented, stopped & alleviated wherever possible!

Whereas even in Western history suffering was simply part of a normal life story. For instance, in the 1800’s 40-50% of children died before their 5^th birthday and the average life expectancy globally was only 30-40 years old. Suffering and death of your closest loved ones was a normal part of people’s daily lives far more than now. But people had to choose resilience and endurance, to learn & grow through their experiences. Whereas sometimes in modern times we can lack resilience and perspective.

The influence of the secular/ material world around us, can thus actually damage our view of God and can lead to a sense of ‘spiritual entitlement’ as Tim Keller calls it. The belief that ‘God owes us a comfortable and pain-free life and should ensure all of our plans for our lives go as smoothly as possible.’ We then (and I can say this affected me on my journey) struggle when things suddenly get so hard – and pain, discomfort and shifting life plans become our norm. BUT this is where I had to learn to enter back into a proper view of the gospel and the message of Jesus’ life and the cross.

In reality, being a disciple or apprentice of Jesus means ‘taking up our cross & following him’ (Matthew 16). Even though God is a loving Father who will protect and provide for us. He is not interested in giving us an easy, comfortable and pain free life. Which can then cause us to become more individualistic and self-absorbed. Following Jesus’ example of the greatest of self-sacrifice on the cross, is meant to be uncomfortable, difficult and challenging, As Jesus followers, we are to surrender our control, influence and desires to him. We are to live a life of sacrificial love towards God and others.

But this is difficult in a culture that teaches us to ‘seek out comfort and pleasure at any cost’. And even more sad, is when this all creeps into our Christian world view. The ‘prosperity gospel’ was affected by this – it made, and still does make, tempting promises of achieving a life with full health, financial abundance and spiritualising the American dream – if you can just believe enough for it. But is this who Jesus was and what he represented – money, wealth and power? No Jesus lived an incredibly humble life – he grew up a quiet town, followed his dad’s profession of being a carpenter. Then once his ministry started at age 30, he was a travelling minister with no fixed place to live. Those who followed him usually gave up their livelihoods and fixed addresses to follow him. Persecution was real to both Jesus and also in the book of Acts. The apostle Paul’s list of his sufferings and persecutions in 2 Corinthians 11 puts into perspective some of our own daily struggles. Paul was whipped, beaten, stoned with rocks, imprisoned, shipwrecked, adrift at sea, lacked essentials, was frequently exhausted and felt deep concern for the churches. But interestingly he writes in Philippians 4 that he learned the ‘secret of contentment’ despite all these immensely ‘tough times’.

WHY SUFFERING?

In the Bible book of Job we are given an insight into one man’s immense suffering and his wrestles with it. We are given a window into the spiritual realm to see some of why Job is suffering – but it is never revealed to him directly. However, interestingly when he asks God for answers – God does not directly answer his questions. He simply reminds Job of His great power, wisdom, wonder and the glorious intricacies of the nature around us which as the Bible book of Romans tells us – should reveal to us who God is.

It makes the question of why there is suffering complex with little definitive or clear answers.

Of course there are truths we can glean from the bible – The influence of Satan and his forces of evil, human Sin, selfishness and the thirst for power and control that is introduced to us in the garden of Eden. And subsequently led to death entering into the world causing it to slowly become broken and fractured! The book of Romans also gives us insight into this as do other books and passages.

However, these reasons in themselves would take a whole message or series of messages to work through and try to explain. So I recommend if you are interested- doing a deep dive into what the Bible says about suffering yourself or read a book like Tim Keller’s for an overview.

So instead of trying to answer WHY I want us to turn back to thinking about HOW CAN WE PERSONALLY AND AS A CHURCH PRACTICALLY NAVIGATE TOUGH TIMES?

WHAT CAN WE DO?

PURPOSE & MEANING IN PAIN

Romans 5:3-5: “…We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Any great calamity in the natural world – death, disease, bereavement – will awaken a man like nothing else could and he is never the same. We would never know the treasures of darkness, if we are always in the place of placid security.” – Oswald Chambers

VIctor Frankl was a Neurologist, psychiatrist & philosopher who wrote a book called ‘Man’s Search For Meaning’ after spending time in a Nazi concentration camp for being Jewish. His personal experiences and observations of other prisoners showed him that those who found a deeper meaning and purpose in their suffering were generally those more likely to survive. In the book he quoted another philosopher to support this point who put it: “He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.” After the war went on to develop ‘this theory’ in his psychological work.

I have discovered our faith in Jesus and the truth of His gospel (which is so different to our secular world) can become our MEANING and PURPOSE. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ and His upside down kingdom, that gave me the strength, purpose and inspiration to keep on going even with all of the unknowns that continue to hang over me. Loving God and serving Him – despite our grief, pain and trauma – can be our anchor. Loving others and allowing our own pain to soften us and connect us more deeply to others can make all sorts of suffering strangely beautiful.

This is one of the greatest ‘treasures’ in the darkness.

James 1:2-4 NIV “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

So we see that we CAN praise God and even discover HIS joy in our tough times because it is not wasted time (as the secular view) or a tangent. GOD WILL USE IT. He will strengthen us, help us to grow and mature, build resilience – all whilst learning more humility and love for others (if we let him do it!) I have also found that our love for others can also become more purposeful because it takes more sacrifice to love when you are hurting, tired and in pain. But self- sacrifice is always at the heart of true love.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

“The Bible talks of suffering and difficulty as a furnace in which many impurities of soul are “burned off” and we come to greater self-knowledge, humility, durability, faith, and love.” – Tim Keller

LAMENT

This is the scripture Jesus quoted on the cross to reflect his own despair. Even Jesus lamented.

Psalm 22:1 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?

‘Lament is an expression of deep grief, anguish, sorrow or regret (often outward and vocal – although in Romans 8 the bible refers to this sometimes being without words and a ‘deep groaning within us)

We particularly see a lot of lament in Bible books like Psalms and Lamentations

Lament is simply the deep acknowledgement and processing of things being not how they should. The Psalms are songs and poems full of this. Through these scriptures God is giving a voice and words to human suffering and showing us that it is ok to struggle, to grieve, to be angry and frustrated at how life is. Lament should be expressed in prayer and in the midst of community. As a church we should allow people to lament without trying to get them to move past it quickly.

Lament can actually help us to wrestle through to a deeper, rawer and more real and tested faith. If it is given room to do it’s work. This is what the Psalms show us that start with very raw lament, but then often end in praise.

Even Jesus wept at Lazarus’ tomb – even though he was just about to raise him from the dead.

LEARN FROM OTHER CREDIBLE CHRISTIAN LEADERS & MINISTRIES WHO HAVE FACED SIMILAR TYPES OF SUFFERING – seek out their stories & teaching. Our stories are all unique but sometimes we need to hear voices that can relate to our own stories of suffering.

This was invaluable to me. I didn’t have leaders who had experienced what I had. So although they could support and comfort me – they couldn’t always understand and equip me like others who really had gone through similar challenges.

Here are some general resources:

BIBLE DEVOTIONS/ STUDIES

You Version Bible App A free app with devotionals / Bible reading plans about your personal challenges. Search for plans on topics such as: Suffering, grief, anger, anxiety, addiction, forgiveness, abuse etc

THEOLOGY & APOLOGETICS (WITH REAL LIFE STORIES)

Walking with God Through Pain & Suffering – Tim Keller. (Tim Keller died in 2023 of pancreatic cancer also his wife had long term severe Crohn’s disease. The book also includes many other diverse stories of suffering including bereavement & grief, divorce, infidelity, infertility etc)
Where is God in all the Suffering – Amy Orr Ewing (also on the Lead Podcast)

WRESTLING WITH GOD THROUGH HARD TIMES

God on Mute – Pete Grieg (When God seems to stay silent in difficult times)
‘Hope heals’/ ‘Suffer strong’/ ‘The Good Hard Story Podcast’ – Katherine & Jay Wolf’ (Also watch their videos on YouTube) Katherine & Jay Wolf ‘Suffer Strong’ (Katherine had a brain stem stroke at age 26 – 6 months after the birth of their son. After life saving surgery and 2 years of rehab she is mainly wheelchair bound with many disabilities but seeks to speak up, help and advocate for those weak, hurting and disabled – especially Christians.

SUFFERING FOR THE GOSPEL

The Hiding Place – Corrie Ten Boom, Rescued Jews from the Nazi’s in Holland then ended up in a concentration camp.
Tortured For Christ – Richard Wurmbrand. A Romanian Pastor who was tortured and imprisoned for his faith by the Communists
Persecuted Church resources – Release International, Open doors (website, videos and podcasts) remind us of those who currently ‘suffer for the gospel’ and need our comfort and support which can also help develop a better perspective on our own struggles. (These books and resources really helped/ help my own perspective of my suffering.)

GET SUPPORT – other believers, Pastoral Care Team, Life Groups, Men’s and Women’s ministries, Arise Youth Team. Sometimes outside support is also needed such as medical support, a specific therapy or counselling or a particular agency that deals with your particular challenges. (We are developing a Pastoral Care Directory to help direct people to places we are already aware of.)

HOW CAN WE SUPPORT OTHERS SUFFERING?

“Think too of all who suffer as if you shared their pain.” Hebrews 13:3 J.B. Phillips New Testament

Our compassion and empathy can actually really deepen when we have walked the humble path of long term suffering and have faced the depths of our own weakness. It is one of the great purposes and privileges of pain. Sharing in the suffering of others and carrying one another’s burdens without judgement.

LISTEN

ACKNOWLEGE

PRAY – IF WELCOMED

OFFER COMFORT

“Suffering invites us to be radically human with one another, perhaps doing nothing more than reaching across the table, clasping hands, and weeping together. We are afforded the chance to create a safe place for someone else to mourn…” – Jen Hatmaker

LISTEN – Stephen R. Covey states, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”

The Bible book of Job & his friends are again a good illustration. At first they chose the best path of silence – simply being with their friend as he suffered greatly. However. The problems then began when they opened their mouths to offer Job all their ‘opinions’ on why he was suffering.

Please remember that we don’t always have to ‘find the right words to say’ and that’s ok – you can offer your presence, a kind look, even a genuine tear, a hug, a gift, a meal.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT (of pain) is everything to someone struggling!

Rather than trying to ‘fix’ someone’s pain with advice – we firstly just need to ‘acknowledge’ it. Ie. ‘I am so sorry you are hurting – it must be very hard’… then mostly try to listen.

PRAY FOR OTHERS – But always ask for permission and enquire about what they specifically want prayer for. ie. Sometimes people who have long term illness and disability can find others assume that is what they want prayer for or even force it. However, sometimes they might be trying to get the focus off that thing and onto Jesus as a whole. So where possible – be gentle, understanding and listen before you pray.

BRING COMFORT

2 Corinthians 1:3-4: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

Comfort others with the comfort you receive. This is one of the purposes and benefits of suffering if we allow it to deepen our empathy, understanding (rather than our anger and bitterness) It enables us to comfort, support and communicate with more understanding. But be careful not to compare your situations – all our stories are unique so tread carefully in the language you use.

THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE:

Revelation 21:4: “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'”

As believers when we die, we are heading to a gloriously perfect place where our bodies will no longer be sick or feel pain or saddness. Ultimately, the bible book of Revelation tells us that there will be a New Heaven and New Earth. Can you begin to imagine this world joined with Heaven and God’s presence and love and completely perfected! I always hope then I will be able to see some of the world’s wonders made perfect again – because at the moment it is so tortuous to travel very far and I love seeing beautiful places.

CONCLUSION

Isaiah 41:10 NLT “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”

Navigating tough times and suffering is hard. Our stories and journeys are unique. Katherine wolf I spoke about earlier has a podcast called ‘THE GOOD HARD STORY PODCAST’ with a strapline ‘because the good story and the hard story can be the exact same story.’ And I relate to that so much. Suffering is awful, it always feels horrible. It can come like a sudden tornado and send your life spiralling and crashing down around you. But I am here to remind you our suffering saviour SEE’s you and He loves you. If you can reach out to Him he will wrap his perfect arms around you and hold you until you feel a bit stronger. He will send people to help, support and comfort you – if you keep that door open and don’t isolate or withdraw. And ultimately, he will use even the worst, most tragic and traumatic things that can happen in this world – for His glory and to build into your life a testimony of His goodness and grace.

And then your own story of pain might then become a treasure and anchor in the darkness for someone else stuck in the dark fog of grief or despair!

Isaiah 61:3: He can “bestow on you a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
Then you will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendour.”

To finish with:

This poem is based on text found scrawled on a cellar wall in Cologne, Germany, in 1943. It is believed to have been written by a child hiding from the Nazis:

I believe in the sun

Even when it is not shining

And I believe in love

Even when there’s no one there

And I believe in God

Even when He is silent

I believe through any trial

There is always a way.

But sometimes in this suffering

And hopeless despair

My heart cries for shelter

To know someone’s there

But a voice rises within me saying “Hold on my child”

I’ll give you hope

I’ll give you strength

Just stay a little while.

God & Spirituality, Suffering & Grief

Finding Peace in the COVID-19 Storm

April 13, 2020 Becky Hill Leave a comment

It feels stormy out there right?

Everything is so strange. In one moment our whole world has changed. A surreal season which we are struggling to understand. To catch up with or comprehend.

And as time goes on…

We all know people deeply affected by this world-wide tragedy. Those who got sick and recovered. Those who never did recover and so sadly lost their lives. NHS & care staff working on the frontlines dealing with new levels of stress, pressure and anxiety that those of us stuck at home can hardly fathom. Our day to day lives so completely transformed.

Will we ever return to the normality which was once known?

Can we truly find peace in this uncontrollable storm?

Our chaotic unpredictable universe is reminding us of how out of control our lives often seem. We have again recently all had to face our own mortality and brutally realise how fragile we truly are.

Is anything certain any more? What does the future hold for any of us?

It feels stormy out there for so many. But it also often feels stormy in here too – right? Within us, in our chaotic minds. In our homes, families, relationships and lives.

Chaos is not at its worst outside of us. It’s actually most dangerous when it takes over within us.

How can we find stillness in chaos? Is it even possible without escaping from, or numbing away, our anxious thoughts? Or in trying to escape or distract ourselves from the reality of the current major struggle in our world?

These are important questions. Ones that I have had to dig so much deeper into and wrestle with a lot over the past five years since I fell off a ladder in January 2015 and sustained a debilitating brain/ spinal injury that I still have today.

In that one moment my life suddenly rocketed out of my control. One day I shifted onto a new life path I was never meant to take. A place I had not planned for or envisioned to live or endure.

These current restrictions due to the Coronavirus lockdown are actually not so strange for me, because the past five years have kept me predominately at home anyway. And for many hours a day lying down to control debilitating brain and spinal pain and other symptoms which means I still spend an awful lot of time in bed or on the sofa.

So many times my life felt devastated, as the restrictions and debilitation overwhelmed me. I watched so many around me continue on with their ‘normal’ lives whilst mine remained somewhat ‘on hold’ and out of control.

…. until ‘one day’ I would hopefully get fully well.

Then things could return to ‘normal’ I could again shift back onto the path I should be on.

But I never did get well…
I never got to take back control…
My old ‘normality’ never came…

So I have had to learn how to live here. To find a haven of peace even when the storm rages. To let go of my need to try and take control of my, or others, destinies. To climb out of the box of ‘normal living’ to embrace new spaces found in the ‘abnormal’ reality here.

It’s not an easy journey.

I know that so well.

It’s painful! It’s full of grief.

But it’s full of wonder and profound new discoveries too.

The letting go of control.
Of embracing a new way of living.
Allowing old dreams to fade.
So that new ones can arise.

I have had to adapt, I have had to change so much so as to find a new way of life that can be lived in this place. To discover new hopes and dreams within all of the restrictions. Rather than constantly grieving the life I hoped to be living right now.

I have had to dig deeper. To find peace and stillness – even when life doesn’t look like how I imagined it before.

Through all of my wrestlings I have discovered a deeper peace that I know is always there to be found. If I will continue to ‘let go of the old’ and ‘embrace the new’. Settling in my heart that change must come and that life can still be lived in the midst of all the restrictions and pain.

I must look for the firm foundation amidst all of this shifting sand.

Where is this unchanging peace found?

In my experience there is only ONE true and reliable avenue to discovering lasting peace. A peace that is described and experienced as ‘passing all understanding’. It’s unfathomable because it is not based on your circumstances going well. It’s not reliant on a peaceful place being found. It’s not even discovered only when everything is quiet & still.

Because for me… true peace is not the ABSENCE of something. It’s not a place where there is no longer struggle, pain or discomfort. Instead my experience of peace is the PRESENCE of something far more beautiful.

To be exact – my peace is the PRESENCE of SOMEONE!

A person who is always there and will never leave me, because He forever lives with me. He constantly dwells within me. He is all around me and will never forsake me.

My peace is a person… yet He is also a supernatural force.

My peace is so gentle … and yet He is also known to roar.

My peace is abundantly loving… and yet He challenges me each day.

My peace upholds me… even when I can no longer feel Him there.

My peace is Jesus Christ.

The tangible stillness that guides my life’s ship through the storm.

A place where He is fully in control even when everything within me feels like a storm.

An indescribable presence, so still, so restful, so easy. Where the heavy burdens I have been carrying are lifted. And His gentle yoke of unconditional love and undeserved grace is left in its place.

He is the ONE who has won my heart with the beauty of His unending Love.

He is my ultimate calm.

So many people misunderstand my Saviour. But it doesn’t mean that He is not there. He is always standing patiently, glimmering in the shadows of our lives. Knocking at the door of our hearts. Willing us to let Him in. Desiring us to allow His Light to radiate into our dark places and shine through our broken pieces into our hurting world.

So that we can experience the supernatural power of His peaceful presence. An unimaginable Love that takes you over as He enters in. Awakening you by the grace that He plants within.

In His peaceful presence there is a realignment of His Spirit and your soul. You find that you become restored back to who you were always meant to be. You discover the purpose for which you were created. You finally discover what it really means to truly be ‘me’.

In His presence the striving will cease as His supernatural rest takes over as He does His own work in you. His peace descends as you cease resisting who He made you and who you were designed to be.

I wonder – do you know that peace yet? Have you experienced its stillness?

Do you feel it now?

I feel that peace. The deep calm of knowing Him and Him fully knowing me. It emanates through and from His Spirit who came to live within me the moment I fully surrendered. The time that I was born again into His family. The occasion that I was made fully new.

He is my peace.
My love, my life, my all.

Do you desire to feel deep peace today? Has anxiety taken you over and you long for even just a taste of peace again? For normality to be restored? To discover the joys of how life used to be. To go away somewhere, to retreat back to your favourite places of beauty & joy. To return to a life that was more ordered and controlled, when your plans were not put on indefinite hold.

Well He is here for you – if you will call out His name.

His name is Jesus.

Call to Him today.

He is always waiting, always willing and always longing for your call.

Jesus said, “”I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.””
– John‬ ‭16:33‬ The Bible ‭‬

We will have trouble in this life. Our broken world is full of it. If we can avoid it today – it will somehow reach us tomorrow. But Jesus transcends the trouble in our world. And with your permission that presence of peace can enter into your own personal chaos.

You simply have to…
Let go.
Surrender,
And dare to let Him in.

You cannot earn peace. You cannot muster up enough positivity to win it as your reward. You can only surrender to Him and allow Him to do His deep work within you. Until peace begins to take control of all that you say and do.

I assure you – once you start to taste and experience the glorious fruit of His peaceful presence, you will be ruined for anything else.

Because peace is not a place. It is not an absence. It is not even an escape.

Peace is a person.

Peace is a presence.

His name is Jesus.

And you can experience Him now.

IF you will surrender and let Him in!

“Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the gentle night to you.
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you.
Deep peace of Christ,
of Christ the Light of the world to you.
Deep peace of Christ to you.”
– A Gaelic Blessing

God & Spirituality, Suffering & Grief

Falling Into Grace

June 2, 2018 Becky Hill 1 Comment

“Grace can’t be explained; it has to be experienced … grace always has a story.” – Kyle Idleman

Grace is a word that we are all familiar with. We might think of it as a quick prayer at the start of a formal dinner. Or maybe a popular baby girls name. Perhaps you might think of a ballet dancer or figure skater moving gracefully around the room. You may of even heard it talked about in church.

But as the quote above says – grace is so much more than all that. It is not simply a word, a short prayer or even a religious concept…

Grace is an experience!

Over the past few years God has really deepened my experience, understanding and revelation of grace. Grace has become such a powerful reality in my life that even just hearing or thinking the word can often bring tears to my eyes, or tangibly move my heart very deeply, as I hear and ponder it.

To me, the concept of divine grace is one of the most beautiful things in the world!

This is mainly because I believe, know and have profoundly experienced – that divine grace truly is the ultimate foundational building block of unconditional love.

You cannot separate grace from love. They are fully dependant on one another. Unconditional love is only possible because of undeserved grace.

Of course, we are talking about a specific definition of the word grace. I am referring to the word as a Biblical concept, a spiritual experience. So before I move on, let me first attempt to describe to you what I SEE when I read, or hear, the word grace in this context.

In the Bible’s New Testament, grace is translated from the Greek word ‘charis’ which can be translated as God’s unmerited or undeserved favour and ability. To favour someone or something is to prioritise, show preference to, demonstrate a special kindness towards and basically give approval to that person or thing.

Normally in our day to day world we would show ‘favour’ to someone that we love more than others, ie. a spouse, child, family member, best friend, someone who has helped or shown us more kindness than others. We would rarely show ‘favour’ to someone who had been unkind, treated us badly or someone that we dislike.

Therefore we usually show favour (or grace) to people conditionally. We repay love for love, kindness for kindness, generosity for generosity, dislike for dislike, rudeness for rudeness, hate for hate. The way someone behaves or acts towards us dictates how we react, treat and respond to them in the vast majority of cases.

This is where ‘charis’ blows normal human behaviour and convention out of the water.

The whole point of the New Testament concept of charis is that it is wholly undeserved. There is no initial assessment about whether someone’s behaviour merits us favouring them. We decide to favour them – before we know how they will treat or respond to us. AND we choose to favour and show kindness to them DESPITE wrong, hurtful or negative treatment or attitude towards us.

Do you see how undeserved grace is the foundational building block of unconditional love?

Can you SEE how outrageously beautiful it is as a concept to me? However, the stunning nature of undeserved charis can never be fully explained in words. It has to be SEEN & EXPERIENCED. For us to truly get a life changing revelation of its glorious divine nature and intention you have to have lived through, and from, its awesome perspective. As the lyrics to this song show is so beautifully…

“And nothing ever LOOKED like this
The wonder of a world I missed
The clarity I find in GRACE
Never thought I’d SEE this way.
You’ve been there every time I fall
Been there through it all
All this time to SHOW me
The VIEW from here.”
– Stu Garrard (The View From Here)

Those words help to describe the profound transforming metamorphosis that occurs from the day, or season, that we truly begin to SEE via divine grace.

It revolutionises the way that we SEE the world. It completely changes our own perspective of God and humanity. We start viewing everything from the eyes of our hearts – rather than with our limited heads and minds. It is a wholly new ‘view from here’. And today I want to try and describe something of the view from the vantage point of divine undeserved grace.

“The view from here
So beautiful
It’s so beautiful…
… can you SEE it now?”
(Stu Garrard ‘The View From Here’)

The view from the outlook of grace is truly stunning. It is simply indescribably beautiful. As you look out at the world, you begin to increasingly see the beauty in each and every person you meet. Even when they are in a bad mood, even if they treat you terribly, despite their good or bad behaviour. You see hidden beauty within them and you long to reach, connect with it and draw it out from them. You feel a profound depth of love for them before you even meet or know them.

Undeserved grace is truly THAT radical!

Isn’t it beautiful?!

Can you imagine a world where everyone could see and treat others from that viewpoint?

But I can also hear the cynics among you mumbling: “Well that’s simply unattainable idealistic ‘world peace’ rubbish – who on earth can love to that depth? How can you love someone you don’t know or have never even met ... if you don’t know them – how do you know if that person really deserves your love?”

And all true Jesus followers should quickly reply with a resounding…

“We don’t! – But that’s the whole point of grace.”

How deserving someone is of love is taken right out of the equation.

There is nothing they could do to make us love them more. There is nothing they can do to make us love them less. We simply love them because we just love them. Full stop!

Isn’t it beautiful?

But…you might say… is it really possible to live like that? With that radical view of the world? Seeing every person you meet as uniquely, but distinctly, beautiful?

It is ONLY possible if you have ‘experienced’ that undeserved grace and unconditional love yourself first personally. You can’t view the world like that until you truly see and experience that level of divine love from the source of perfect, infinite, Divine Love Himself – Jesus Christ! When people have truly experienced divine undeserved grace and love. It will naturally flow out of them like streams of living water – to increasing measure, to everyone they meet. You can’t make it, will it or force it to happen. It should just increasingly become as natural as breathing, for those people who have truly surrendered to God’s unconditional love and grace.

However, unmerited grace is not a one-off experience alone. That is where it begins. But it’s real beauty is seen when people experience an ongoing deeper and deeper revelation personally. Day by day. Month by month. Season by season. And as they do it will just naturally transform the way they think, feel and behave until they increasingly drip and bleed undeserved grace and unconditional love to everyone they meet.

That metamorphosis has to be one of the most stunningly beautiful processes to watch happening in both yourself and others. Once you have seen and tasted what grace can do in your own and other people’s lives. Once you have experienced the restful ease of it’s transforming power. When you begin to rise up and view the worlds valleys and humanities brokenness from the lush green hills of grace.

You are never the same again!

However, the hidden glory of that transformation is that you will only truly experience it mesmerising depths, IF you begin from a place of witnessing the true extent to which it is undeserved. In your own life first… then in others second.

The truth is you will only experience grace in proportion to how much you acknowledge the depths of your own brokenness and weakness.

The divine key – given freely via Jesus Christ – to unlocking this view of undeserved grace and unconditional love in your own heart… Is surrendering to and receiving it’s ultimate core revelation…

That you have done nothing and can do nothing now, or in the future, to deserve miraculous divine perfect love.

The moment you believe you have done something that helps make you worthy of unconditional love and undeserved grace, you have voided the whole revelation and experience. You cannot experience grace by earning it – you can only receive as the ultimate gift.

You can only experience grace when you see how absolutely undeserved it really is!

And that is also humanity’s biggest hurdle to receiving the life transforming experience. Because humans like to justify how good and deserving they are; of respect, life and love. They have believed the lie that has completely corrupted people’s understanding and experience of love in our world – that love is something you give and receive because of how much you have earned and deserved it. This is why human convention dictates that you love those who love you, show kindness to those who are kind to you, and dislike and even hate those who dislike and hate you. Which makes the most sense to our human minds.

However…

People can’t see that it’s just that corruption of love that has polluted and destroyed our world, it’s inhabitants and all our relationships. The world is falling apart because it doesn’t truly understand and hasn’t truly experienced perfect unconditional love.

All this is because the truth is ‘weakness is the ONLY way’ to receiving that love. And unfortunately humanity hates feeling weak. We spend our lives trying to cover over and whitewash the cracks and crevices we ALL have. We will do anything we can to show off our strengths and sometimes go to any extreme to hide and cover over our weaknesses.

This results in our own ‘view from here’ being totally corrupted, polluted and full of both:

Pride AND shame.
Superiority AND inferiority.
Self-promoting AND self-hiding.
Self-prioritising AND self-loathing.
Arrogance AND false humility.

All of which will pollute and destroy perfect love.

Paul said in the Bible; “But he (God) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” – 2 Corinthians‬ ‭12:9‬

Anyone who has followed any part of my painful three year journey through a debilitating and devastating chronic illness will have heard and seen how it’s relentless waves have completely wrecked me again and again. I cannot begin to describe to you what has happened in my life over the past three and a half years. But perhaps I would say that, at times, it felt like a mixture of a devastating typhoon that ravaged its way through my life and attempted to destroy everything in its path. Whilst I sailed through its unrelenting storm in an exposed wooden rowing boat trying to not be completely sunk by the untamable wind and waves that seemed to strip me naked and constantly flood over me. On and off, I thought I was physically, mentally and spiritually drowning. Unable to cope or see a way through.

I can’t tell you how weak and vulnerable you feel when you are quite literally mostly bed bound and debilitated by a ‘life wrecking’, widely misunderstood, illness.

But as the never-ending storm raged and ripped through my life, stripping me of so many parts of my identity, dreams for the future and so much of what I could do, it revealed a deeper and deeper vulnerability. It exposed more and more of the real, naked, hidden and weak me. Until at moments I wasn’t totally sure what was left behind amidst the tatters of my old life.

Its destructive path at times completely overwhelmed me... but through it all... that still small voice of the Holy Spirit whispered…

“Weakness is the way”
“You can’t – but I AM can”
“Let yourself fall into My undeserved grace”
“Immerse yourself in My unconditional love”

And over time I began to SEE more and more of the depths of my Creator’s unconditional love – that could only be experienced through falling into and being completely immersed in His undeserved grace.

The old me who wanted to look, and be, so strong, the old me who struggled with pride and shame as the depth of her weakness was exposed, the old me who wanted to cover her nakedness with various worldly ‘fig leaves’ as Adam and Eve did after the fall…. Had to let herself be brutally killed off more and more – so that I could experience His ever increasing grace.

All of my heroic self-attempts to keep striving to be strong, all of my ugly self-reliance that tried to fight the battle on my own, all of my projected ‘able, high-achieving, pretentious’ self-identity had to be brutally crushed and wounded.

… until I could again see that we can do absolutely NOTHING to earn or deserve God’s divine favour. We cannot add – even a morsel – to His unmerited ability or His unearned strength at work within us.

“It would be so much more comfortable if God would keep us in our “strengths zone” wouldn’t it? But God keeps thrusting us into our “weakness zone” because it is only in our weakness that he is made strong”. – Christine Cane.

My Father, Lover and Friend… in His incomprehensible wisdom, allowed me to walk through the relentless ‘valley of the shadow of death and destruction’. So that I would learn to fall more deeply into Him. So that He could keep leading me like a Shepherd leads his scared lost sheep, up the greener, more peaceful, lusher mountainside. Up towards the higher ground where ‘the view from here’ would look even more stunningly beautiful than ever before.

My view of undeserved grace and unconditional love could only be widened and deepened when I truly realised that…

“It’s NONE of me… it’s ALL of Him.”

And that is what characterised His constant whispers to my soul throughout the storm…

“You can only do this through I AM’s undeserved grace. It’s My strength in your weakness. I didn’t build or design you to try and scale this mountain by your own human striving, strength and perseverance. I have allowed you to feel and see the depth of your weakness – so that you will see how much you need My grace. So FALL into My grace My precious, dependant, child and allow my SHALOM peace and completeness to STILL your heart again. And watch as you are saturated by My unconditional Love – so that when you look into the eyes of every person you meet, you will truly SEE with My eyes of pure unadulterated love.”

That is my ‘view from here’ which grows clearer and clearer each and every day.

That is why the word grace can cause me to catch my breath, bring tears to my eyes and deeply move my burning heart once again.

That is my story of undeserved grace.

That is what I need you to hear as you listen to my tragically beautiful tale.

Weakness is the only way to truly experience God. His grace can only be received as a mind-blowingly generous undeserved gift. His unconditional love is given despite our faults and failures. So that when we receive it – it will overflow to everyone we meet. In the stunning form of unconditional love for ALL people – regardless of how they feel about us in return.

The view from here is so very beautiful. It’s so beautiful… can you SEE it now?

“Christianity is not primarily a moral code but a grace-laden mystery; it is not essentially a philosophy of love but a love affair; it is not keeping rules with clenched fists but receiving a gift with open hands”. – Brennan Manning

God & Spirituality, Suffering & Grief

Suffering into a Deeper Spiritual Awakening

April 28, 2018 Becky Hill 10 Comments

“Any great calamity in the natural world – death, disease, bereavement – will awaken a man like nothing else could and he is never the same. We would never know the treasures of darkness, if we are always in the place of placid security.” – Oswald Chambers

If you have ever faced pitch black darkness – you know how hard it is to get around. In that place, if you want to get somewhere, you will have probably also experienced the desperate longing to discover more revealing light.

We tend to fumble around in darkness, utterly lost and insecure about where our feet should go. We have to move so slowly. Feeling our way around and through. Hoping to find a flicker of light, some moonlight, a torch or that revealing light switch that should instantly show the right path ahead.

In pitch black darkness, we all know that we must move towards a source of light to find a way out.

I can still vividly remember being on holiday in Menorca years ago – when our kids were small. We were staying in a small villa, which had shutters and at night was pitch black. One night, one of our small girls screamed out after having a nightmare and I literally jumped out of bed, half asleep. I instantly felt completely disorientated and enveloped by the confusion of the darkness around me.

Where was I?
How could I reach my screaming child?
Where was that light switch that I desperately needed?

In the pitch black, fear and anxiety often overwhelm you. Especially when you face the urgency of trying to get to your screaming child. In that moment I felt completely and utterly helpless as I felt the walls, trying to recall where that light switch was.

Eventually – after fumbling around for ages – I found that precious switch. With it came a stilling burst of light. My panic began to subside as I could see the way to reach my distressed little girl in her own room. And as she felt my presence in the light, as I held her in my reassuring arms and listened to her describe her scary dream – I was so thankful for that light.

The same is true in our lives.

Times of deep darkness disorient us. We can panic and become anxious as our way forward is hidden. We might fumble about trying to find a source of light to make the path ahead clear. We can feel desperate – longing to discover even a flicker of light.

Darkness quickly feels enveloping and all consuming. Its black fog often starts to seep into every area of our thoughts, emotions, actions and lives. We can’t seem to shake it off. Its mist covers everything we do. Until we feel like we are slowly being sucked to its desolate and empty core of despair.

And as it does… the desperate longing and need for light increases and intensifies every hour of every day. Until we know the flicker of a flame – ‘a little hope’ – is not enough anymore to guide us through the dense fog we are immersed in. We need a more powerful light – a more ‘substantial and secure hope’ – to get us through and illuminate, reveal and secure the path ahead.

But it is also in the ‘deep darkness’ that the ‘treasures of darkness’ are waiting to be found. For it is only in that place that we truly see how much we long for and need the light to survive. It is only when our eyes are blinded by the darkness that we fully realise the depths of our desperation and longing for the light to again truly SEE!

The past three years, or so, have been the hardest physical, mental, emotional and spiritual challenge of my life. My journey through an utterly debilitating chronic illness following my accident in January 2015 left me feeling more broken and weak than I ever have before.

And yet…

I have increasingly discovered that ‘broken and weak’ is the avenue God uses to draw us more deeply towards Him. It is in true human desperation that we realise how little strength we really have alone. Weakness, and the subsequent new level of humility it can usher in, is always the path to discovering just how deeply we need God.

But the stark reality is – the intense journey of brokenness is truly a painful and raw place to walk. Where layer upon layer of self-sufficiency, self-security, self-identity and self-confidence are brutally peeled away. Leaving us more and more exposed in our human ‘naked’ vulnerability and fragility. Even as you begin to tentatively emerge and ascend out of the valley of deep darkness, you can still feel very battered, bruised and disorientated from the utterly exhausting and often overwhelming fight.

Finding your way through the darker valleys of life, although intensely difficult, can also be an exceedingly beautiful journey; as your heart is softened, opened and humbled like never before. IF – and only IF – we truly invite God into the hidden depths of our vulnerability and pain.

It is only then that we discover and SEE the light of His love,

More intimately.
More stunningly.
More remarkably.
Than ever before!

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” – ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭34:18‬ ‭(The Bible)

It has not always been easy on that relentless journey through life’s darker valleys. There have been moments of anger at God. Thoughts of betrayal. So much lack of understanding about what was really going on. I have had to wrestle through intensely difficult questions and thoughts.

I needed to ‘discover more of God’ in a FAR more real – and yet gritty – way.

I have also had to come to a deeper acceptance of the fact, that we all currently live in a ‘broken world’. And that it is probably not going to change, for many of us, any time soon.

The world was originally created perfect, with God, humanity and creation living in perfect ‘Shalom’ (peaceful) completeness, wholeness and harmony. But ever since humanity decided to do things ‘their way’ rather than the ‘Creator’s way’ in the garden of Eden. The ‘completeness and harmony’ of creation has been fractured and has been subsequently breaking down & slowly falling apart. Sickness, disease, genetic deformity, natural disaster, selfishness, rebellion and pride all entered the world as a consequence of that ‘fall’ and separation of humanity from the Perfect Designer of the universe.

It doesn’t mean God wanted me – or any of us – to be sick. Or that He caused me to fall that day to teach me a lesson. Sickness is just part of our broken world that is groaning to have its ‘Shalom’ completeness restored. God wasn’t the ‘author’ of my sickness, but He does promise to work with our fractured creation and turn it around for my good.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” – Romans‬ ‭8:28‬ ‭(The Bible)

Over the past few years I have increasingly ‘groaned’ alongside the whole of creation for the ultimate redemption and restoration of the Shalom. Matt and I have also never been more aware of the deep, yet at times exceedingly painful, tension that exists between the ‘now’ and the ‘not yet’. Between God’s perfect kingdom and the current world in which we live.

This life is our ‘in the meantime’ life…

Yet the promise is that we can also begin to increasingly experience the ‘not yet’ perfect kingdom of God – His Shalom – in the ‘now’ through Jesus Christ. Jesus broke into His fractured creation to reach broken humanity. He came to live in the centre of the tension – as one of us. To see and then experience the deepest and most painful suffering here – to bring the ‘not yet’ of God’s glorious kingdom into the broken reality of creations ‘now’.

God’s complete ‘Shalom’ (perfect, whole life, restoring, enveloping peace) is what we ALL yearn and long for in the depths of our spirits and souls. Especially in the midst of suffering. But it is not just a ‘fuzzy’ feeling of ‘inner peace & calm’.

‘Divine Shalom’ – is so much more!

It is the stillness of our entire being – even amidst the storm. It’s illuminating light – even when everything appears dark. It’s the divine ability of undeserved grace – displayed through our human weakness. It loves us whole – in the reality of our brokenness. It is perfect completeness – in the midst of our imperfection.

It’s so very hard to explain to you – with simple words – what has happened to me spiritually over the past three years. How can mere words describe the indescribable?! The only way I can explain it to you is that it was a profoundly deeper ‘spiritual awakening’.

I now SEE with new eyes.
I now HEAR with new ears.
I now FEEL with a new heart.
I now THINK with new wisdom.

My own human ‘nakedness’ of weakness and vulnerability has been exposed and uncovered to a much greater depth. And it was in that place that I found more indescribable divine Love waiting patiently for me. It was as if, all the way through my journey of brokenness and pain, I was being drawn further to seek and discover, being taken deeper to search and find.

It was only when I saw and felt the depths of my weakness and inability that I experienced the glorious wonder of His strength rising up within me. It was only as my self-reliance was brutally crushed by my inability to cope, that my dependency on Him grew so much stronger. Until from deep within the broken clay jar vessel of my life I cried out to the one who created me…

“Make me whole again Daddy.
Then shape and fill me anew, Holy Spirit.
Mould me into Your Divine image Jesus.
Nothing else really matters… All I need is You!!”

I had again reached that intimate place of deeper surrender.

When the darkness intensifies – our need for light increases. When blindness envelopes us – our longing to SEE truly grows. When our inner being is parched and empty – our spiritual hunger and thirst becomes more desperate. When the world can only offer silence – our spiritual ears long for His eternal song.

When trying to describe spiritual – awakenings, encounters or experiences. We often use ancient images, words and metaphors. That to some might sound ‘cryptic’. To others may be simple ‘poetic words’. But to those of us who have truly tasted and experienced the eternal immeasurable love of God – Father, Son and Spirit. To those who have discovered Him waiting for them in their deepest brokenness and pain. To those who have seen His mesmerising light in the darkness. To those who know they cannot live without His beautiful grace…

Such words truly connect with the deepest longings of our hearts. Desires that we know nothing in this world can even begin to satisfy.

I wrote these words about my recent struggles to inspire us today. So that – together – we can again perceive the divine call to our souls – in the midst of suffering – to stretch further, to reach out deeper and uncover more of the dazzling light of His Truth, that will enable us to SEE and experience more of …

…the stunning, transcendent, everlasting – yet intimately personal and experiential – Triune GOD…

Who is pure unconditional LOVE.
The Author of undeserved GRACE.
And the central beating heart of the perfect infinite SHALOM.

“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” ― C.S. Lewis, (Mere Christianity)

Click here for a great video explanation of the Hebrew word ‘Shalom’

For more posts about my three year battle with a spinal CSF leak – please click here or click on the CSF Leak tab at the menu above.

God & Spirituality, Spinal CSF Leak

Finding A Way Through: My Spinal CSF Leak Improvement

March 21, 2018 Becky Hill 33 Comments

UPDATE: Please note that in August 2020 I was also diagnosed with arachnoiditis as well as a spinal CSF Leak – I now have radiological evidence to support both those diagnosis. To read more about the new diagnosis please see this link.

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.– Confucius

It’s been a while since I have written here. The last six months have been a season of deep trial and anguish, whilst simultaneously becoming a season of great joy. My ongoing health battles have been truly exhausting and yet…

I am currently seeing some light at the end of the tunnel.

And today, I have rediscovered my voice to share my story.

Following just about holding on through the immense challenges of the the last three years – since I fell off that ladder in January 2015 – I can now pretty confidently say that it seems that I am currently in recovery from my CSF leak. We are hoping that this time – following epidural blood patch number four last September – that I can make a full recovery.

At the moment it looks like we are heading that way. And yet my three year journey has been full of a cycle of injury, treatment, recovery and relapse. So it has been intensely difficult to definitely say to the world – “this is IT!”

Although that is of course the hope and dream.

Following my long summer of 2017 spent almost totally flat in bed (or on my beautiful garden bed outside) I had a CT Myelogram scan mid September to try and locate my spinal CSF leak. Traumatically, the scan caused me to have an epileptic seizure and yet failed to evidence my leak. Such is the challenge of looking for these elusive leaks – 50% of which are never actually found. I was subsequently then left even worse off than I had been – hardly able to walk or be upright for more than a few minutes at a time. So I stayed in hospital and a week later I had a 40ml lumbar epidural blood patch (after the first one was aborted due to the needle going too far). Two days later it appeared that my headaches had shifted from low to intense rebound high-pressure headaches and I was finally discharged with the diuretic acetazolomide to help these new headaches.

High pressure headaches point to the fact the blood patch has probably worked – however the journey of trying to discern what is high or low pressure is not for the faint of heart.

In fact – over the next few weeks – it again almost completely floored me.

Over the following couple of months I was extremely unwell, even though I could be upright much more. This took its toll on my mental health as I struggled to work out what on earth was going on in my crazy body. One day I was sure it was rebound high pressure symptoms and the blood patch had worked – the next I was convinced it was still low pressure and that the treatment hadn’t worked. Day by day, week by week, the confusion and debilitation of severe neurological symptoms and pain – both upright and lying flat – and an inability to rest and sleep properly – took its toll on my mental health. Until I realised – if nothing changed quickly – that I was heading towards a second complete mental breakdown. (Like the one I had had a couple of months after my second epidural blood patch in November 2015).

When suicidal thoughts began to again abound – as I again convinced myself that I was probably still leaking and would maybe never get well – I knew I had to take radical steps to calm my terrifyingly restless and anxious thoughts and again find a way through the anxiety and confusion.

“A person who worries still thinks in some way that he can solve his own problem. Worry is the mind racing around trying to find a solution to its situation” – Joyce Meyer

The darkness of hopelessness and despair began to wash over me like a flood – mixed with the sheer exhaustion of three years of fighting and partially recovering and then relapsing again and again – and I was slowly beginning to feel like I was drowning again mentally and emotionally.

My legs were madly trying to tread water to keep my head above the waters – but some moments of some days I felt far too worn out to keep battling to stay afloat.

But what choice did I really have – right?!

There is no choice – because the only other choice is the unthinkable… and yet in the darkness you DO think the unthinkable. In the silence of pain and debilitation – your mind can end up in a scary place.

You just need it all to go away…you just need the pain and struggle to end…

You even sometimes naively wish what you had was terminal – because at least then there would be an end.

There needs to be an end.
There has to be an end.

How do you keep going, when you don’t know how long you have to endure? It’s the not knowing that feeds the anxiety, it’s the fears of getting worse that drain your depleted energy… and yet there is no escape.

You just need an escape…

But then you become consumed with guilt and shame for being so selfish to not only think – but at times dwell on such horrible things. Because if I love my family then I have to endure – because love never gives up! Right!? Unconditional love endures till the end.

…And yet how do you keep on going when you are utterly exhausted and at the end of yourself.

It’s a vicious cycle.

I even shouted at God on a few occasions to make it all stop because I couldn’t take any more of it. I told Him I wasn’t strong enough to keep on fighting. I was utterly worn out in every way – I pleaded with Him for no more pain, no more medical battles, no more clear scans, no more chaos in our life, no more crazy debilitating symptoms!

Shame was pulling me back down into its dark clutches. In my mind shame taunted me with the fact I was too weak, the fact I couldn’t cope, the fact I was chronically ill and couldn’t get well, the fact I had seizured after the CT Myelogram – so thought no one would do any more scans like that now to try and find the leak. The fact that I thought soon enough Doctors would give up on my difficult case.

I heard a voice within me screaming; ‘You can’t do this! You might as well give up! You will never get well – your worthless life will be full of this kind of pain for good. It won’t get better. It will only again get worse. Relapse is inevitable – and you will only go and muck up any healing again anyway!!

I HAD to still those relentless voices.
I HAD to rediscover the voice of hope.
I HAD to somehow find a way to discipline my restless mind.
I HAD to trust God for the strength to somehow make it through.

“If you hear a voice within you say, ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” – Vincent Van Gogh

I had to find the voice of faith, unconditional love and abundant grace.

That still small voice that is always whispering to my heart telling me: You CAN do this and I AM is here helping you through.

I couldn’t do it alone. I needed Him to walk me through. I needed Him to talk me through.

I needed His voice.
I needed to draw closer to His heart to hear His whispers.
His words became my breath of life.
His truths lit up the path ahead.

Moment by moment
Day by day
I somehow made it through…

Even when it seemed impossible.

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord GOD is the eternal Rock.” -‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭26:3-4‬ ‬. The Bible.

Things began to settle down a bit a couple of months or so after my fourth blood patch and I began to discover that I could be upright more and walk further – little by little, week by week.

But I knew I had to protect any progress.
I needed to focus my mind and fix it on more hopeful things.
I knew I must use my thoughts to meditate on more calming concepts.

I had to shut down the multitude of voices that surrounded me and work on listening to the one I most needed. The voice that whispered, ‘be still’ in the midst of the raging storm. The only voice that had the power to break through the deep darkness that enveloped me, with the light of true abundant life. The voice singing songs of love over me – as He navigated my broken vessel through the raging seas.

And,
…step by step…
…hour by hour…
….day by day…
…week by week…

I am finding my way into more and more peaceful waters.

Physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually – calmer times have come.

I am not yet ‘back to normal’ – back to where I was before I fell that day in January 2015. And yet, I can be upright ALL day long without needing to lie down. Week by week I am growing in confidence in what I can do. Month by month my strength is building and my body is in less pain and is more fully relaxing.

I still have issues in my head. My Neurology Consultant and I agree that it seems to be a ‘hypersensitivity to higher pressure’ – so I still need a lot of calm and quiet in my days. I cannot rush about like I used to. Stress, raising my voice, singing, talking too much, bending, lifting, going to the loo – and similar things – all increase the pressure in my head.

But it is improving … slowly … and it is gradually heading in the right direction.

So that I can hope, believe and dream again – that one day I will be fully free from this horrendously debilitating condition. Free from the monster that has plagued the last three years of my life and attempted to rob far too much from our family. I still have to fight the fears of relapse – because that has been my very real experience so very many times.

But I HAVE learnt so much on this crazy recovery story – and those around me have learnt so much too.

Doctors are learning how better to treat this condition – because I chose to open up my life and to keep them informed. Patients are learning how to find a way through – because I chose to speak up, challenge misguided opinions about the condition and reach out amidst my pain. Christians are finding a way to endure seasons of great suffering – because by His grace I have somehow managed to wrestle through.

And one day – one fine and beautiful day to come – I hope that I can fully enjoy and embrace the wonder of hindsight. That in a time hopefully coming soon – I can stand on the mountain top and tell the world that I managed to just about endure and somehow made it through the pain. I have always known that that will be a glorious season – where I will shout, sing and share the tales of complete restoration and stunning redemption from the intense struggle. Where I can testify to how God brought our family all the way through.

But in the meantime…

….whilst things are still a little hazy and complete recovery is a dream not yet fully attained… I want to tell you of my gratitude. For life, love and breath in my lungs. For my amazing husband, my enduring children, my loving family, dear friends and wonderfully supportive church. I want to tell you about all the wonderful doctors and nurses that have helped me through – even when their understanding was so limited. I want to speak of my gratitude that I can currently be upright ALL day, that I can walk for miles whilst listening to music or inspiring words. That I can drive locally, go to the shops, visit friends, eat in a cafe and sit up in church.

I need to tell you that when you have tasted of utter debilitation, that being able to DO things again is a wonder to behold.

However, most of all I need to tell you about the fundamental thing that has brought me through.

He is known as Jehovah – the stunning three in one God – who so very many people don’t yet know. He is my light in the darkness. He is unconditional love in the midst of trial and sorrow. He is my undeserved grace when I completely fall apart and shout at Him in anger and despair. He is my comforter when I am distressed. He is the still small voice that sustains me. He is peace to my anxious thoughts. My fountain of life. My inner calm.

He is the way, the truth and the life.

But most of all I need to tell you that in and through His stunning grace – He carried me – on the days I never thought I would make it through. Sometimes through my husband, children, family and friends. Sometimes through a song or inspiring words that someone chose to share. Sometimes through the prayer offered up by someone who saw our pain. Sometimes through a whisper on the wind picked up when my heart and mind were finally still.

So I will ALWAYS hold fast to Him and listen to His songs of love – until that day comes when this beautiful scripture becomes my physical – as well as – my spiritual reality.

“My beloved spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come…” – Song of Songs 2:10-12. The Bible.

My dream is that one day I will sing again – with all the breath in my lungs – without it hurting my head.

And on that day I will sing a new song of never ending love from my soul, to the ONE who carries us through our deepest, darkest pain.

To read more about my story of living with a chronic spinal CSF Leak click here.

Here is a brilliant 2 min animation about Spinal CSF leaks.

For more information about spinal CSF leaks please see the UK charity website at www.csfleak.info or the US charity website at www.spinalcsfleak.org.

Here is a medical journal publication about rebound intracranial hypertension (rebound high pressure) as a complication of epidural blood patching.

This is a wonderful new May 2018 medical paper about the 10 most common myths and misperceptions about spinal CSF leaks. It is by some of the top world experts in treating this condition. I was told so many of these myths by various neurologists, anaesthetists, radiologists and many other doctors during my lengthy and traumatic nearly 5 year battle with a spinal CSF leak. This kind of misinformation caused many delays, misunderstanding and great distress on my already immensely long winded and difficult medical journey.

This other in depth 2018 medical paper is about both low and high intracranial pressure syndromes and their similar and different symptoms. It also mentions cross overs with other headache types. When a patient suffers with a spinal CSF leak long term it can cause massive fluctuations in their whole pressure system both whilst suffering from a spinal CSF leak and following treatment. This is why lumbar puncture pressure readings and ICP pressure monitoring can prove an inaccurate diagnostic tool for SIH (low pressure) and RIH (rebound high pressure) as this paper refers to as does the 10 myths paper. My initial LP in February 2015 reading was a 7 which was considered ‘evidence’ of low pressure by some doctors and normal by others.

God & Spirituality, Identity, Perspective

What Is Within Us Is Who We really are.

June 2, 2017 Becky Hill Leave a comment

Over the past two years whilst my body has not been working properly, I have had to learn that what’s inside me, who I am within, is far more important than what is seen on the outside.

On the outside my body is currently broken and debilitated by my spinal fluid leak. But I am increasingly learning that it’s what is on the inside that truly counts.

So even though I am currently struggling to change the limitations of my physical body, I know I can still develop the person on the inside of me, whatever is happening on the outside.

This means focusing on feeding what is inside of me with good thoughts, words, inspiration and ideas. Having the wisdom to know how to cultivate the good parts, then allowing the positives (as well as the stark reality of the difficulties) to break out through my writing and in my communication with others.

That is why words are so precious to me.

That is why writing is a wonderful gift, because it allows me to try to express the inexpressible. It allows something of what is on the inside to break out to speak and connect with others.

Last night, I was trying to describe to my husband Matt how, whilst my body is stuck lying flat nearly all day, it feels like what is deep inside of me keeps intensifying. Even the pain and struggle of this season fuels this ball of passion inside of me, a force that I want to be characterised mostly by love, compassion and grace, and yet still have the rawness and reality that comes with our natural human weakness. And I have certainly become more aware than ever of my weaknesses over the past two years.

I believe suffering brings a whole host of deep feelings inside of us. Some are good; it can develop more humility, more understanding of others pain, more compassion for those hurting, more personal resilience and strength. But on the not so good side; suffering can also draw us inside ourselves, we can easily become self absorbed and left sinking into a pit of self pity and despair that becomes extremely hard to climb out of.

All extremes of feeling and thought come at me daily. Some days and sometimes it takes all my might to redirect the negatives. Sometimes it feels almost impossible to stop them overcoming me. I can have many moments of tears and emotional/ mental exhaustion.

Yet I know I have to fiercely guard my heart and mind and protect what is inside of me. Every day I have to choose carefully what to fill my mind with. Every day I have to be ruthless in taking control of my thoughts. Every day I must make myself see the beauty and wonder that is still always around us.

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” – ‭‭A Proverb‬*

I must keep choosing to see outside of myself and look at how I can contribute positively to the world around me. I must stir up the wonder of what is inside of me, until it breaks out in and through my words and actions in the form of love, grace, compassion and fighting with, and for justice for, other people.

For me what is inside is intrinsically linked to my spiritual faith. You cannot separate the two. That is what inspires my many words!

It is through spiritually inspired words, thoughts and ideas that I feed the good parts of what is within. It is only in and through my love for God and other people that I personally can and will find a way to live like this, for as long as I have to. It is God’s Spirit that lives on the inside of me, that is at the heart of the ball of passion and love that inspires and creates the words that I speak and share.

It is God who leads me through this dry and desolate land and helps me to change the way that I think. Through His words, truth and other people’s wisdom, kindness and love, I can cultivate what is on the inside of me so that the good stuff can grow.

Some people must wonder how I can still love and trust in a loving creator God, when I am stuck with this cruel debilitating physical condition. But for me, I just don’t know how to live without him. I have wrestled through many questions and thought through the whys, as I wrote about in Why Me? The Soul Destroying Question. And yet sometimes we have to just let go of the whys and instead focus on what we do know.

I know more than ever that God is alive within me and that he fills me with his peace and love. Even while there is seeming desolation on the outside….

Deep within me there is a whole other world.

I want to discover more of the incredible beauty of that deep potential within me. A place that has been made raw and real by suffering and pain. And yet a place that is made beautiful and tender by unconditional love. So that I can dive even deeper inside me to find what can touch another deeply inside of them as well.

I don’t want to settle for just surface connection with others. Instead, I want to reach out and connect with another’s heart. I want to honestly meet them there, in their deep reality of both joy and pain.

So I need to do all that I can to keep being filled with inspiration. One way I do this is to read various ‘devotions/ inspirations’ on my You Version Bible app each day. Those words of inspiration by various authors, when added to the truth and beauty of Biblical words, feed my spirit and soul and re-balance my thoughts and emotions.

Some days when I open my Bible app to read God’s words, I am like someone who has not eaten for a while, desperate for some sustenance, craving more deep satisfaction.

I can often wake up in the morning and suddenly remember the reality of my current life and discouragement and despair can begin to try and seep into my mind and heart. It’s then more than ever that I know I need some deep inspiration from God to hang my perspective on again, as I start my day.

“But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!” – ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭20:9‬, The Bible

When I take the time to invest in filling myself with good words, they increasingly burn within me. They are like fuel that keeps the inside aglow. It’s only if I put the right inspiration within me that the right inspiration will come out of me.

I really do love and value words so much.

Because words are what connect us all together.
Words are what communicate from what is within us.
Words are what encourage and inspire us in the hard times.

So I have decided that whilst the never ending battles continue on a physical level, I want what is on the inside of me to tell a very different story. An adventure that probably won’t be seen much from the outside. But if you listen carefully you will still hear something about it. As I use words to attempt to describe to you what is truly going on deep within my soul.

“You cannot kindle a fire in any other heart until it is burning within your own.” Eleanor Doan

*Proverbs ‭4:23‬ ‭The Bible

To read more about my story of living with a chronic spinal CSF Leak click here.

Here is a brilliant 2 min animation about Spinal CSF leaks.

For more information about spinal CSF leaks please see the UK charity website at www.csfleak.info or the US charity website at www.spinalcsfleak.org.

God & Spirituality, Spinal CSF Leak, Suffering & Grief

‘Why Me?’ The Soul Destroying Question

January 19, 2017 Becky Hill 7 Comments

We all know that life is full of good and hard times. All of us have experienced wonderful moments and very difficult seasons.

Why is it that we rarely ask the question ‘why me?’ for the good parts of life. I rarely think about why I was so privileged to be born into a middle class British family, rather than to a young prostitute, in abject poverty, in the slums of Mumbai. Or why I got to be born healthy with all my body parts as they should be, unlike others who were born disabled.

Yet when hardship and tragedy strikes, these questions often come into our heads and take room in our thoughts.

Why me?
Why us?
Why this?
Why now?

For you, it might be a question asked in your own mind that you simply send out into the unknown. A question that asks why are we all here and what is this life about anyway.

Perhaps it’s a scream from inside stemming from comparison. Why did this happen to me and not them? It’s not fair! I am a better person than them and do more to help others and yet they are fine and I am stuck with this.

Or for those of us who know God, it can be a cry from deep within us – why did this have to happen? I don’t understand! Why should I have to suffer like this? Why should anyone have to suffer? Is it not within God’s power to prevent this? I thought he was supposed to be good!

The questions cause us to have to consider our life, beliefs, perspective and the world more deeply. They can draw us into impossible and exhausting mental gymnastics as we try and work out the intricacies of predestination, fate, acts of good or evil and whether things in life do all happen for a reason, or are purely a random set of circumstances.

But I have learnt the ‘why me’ questions don’t get me anywhere. And they naturally lead to the ‘why not me’ anyway. It’s then just a never-ending cycle of questions that wears us out.

I still believe in and love God deeply. But my accident and ongoing debilitating CSF leak/ Low Pressure Syndrome have naturally raised questions linked to my faith. This has, at times, been a difficult journey of wrestling with the unknowns and uncertainties, considering different answers and perspectives, learning new things, but then ultimately letting go of the need to know and accepting where I am at today.

In the end what has happened, has happened.
We cannot change the past – all we can do is learn from it and move forward.
Whatever that moving forward may look like.

There is undeniably pain and suffering in the world. Whatever you believe, you cannot deny that fact. So perhaps the question should not so much be;

Why is this happening?

Which we can never completely answer and can rarely control – unless our problems are self inflicted and/ or could be self resolved.

But instead perhaps we need to change the question to focus on;

What can I DO with my suffering?

It shifts the focus from getting lost in the complexities of unanswerable questions and things we cannot currently change and puts the focus back onto what we do have more control over.

Our RESPONSE to suffering.

Can I still find meaning and purpose here?

“Suffering can be what economists call a “frozen asset.” It may not look remotely like an asset at the time, but gradually we can find meaning in it, an enduring meaning that will help to transform the pain.” – Philip Yancey

Continue reading ‘Why Me?’ The Soul Destroying Question →

God & Spirituality, Identity, Spinal CSF Leak

Learning To BE

July 8, 2016 Becky Hill Leave a comment

Walk with me
Let’s forget the what-might-be
And slow to now.
– Speak Brother (Slow to Now)

These beautiful lyrics are a reminder that we sometimes have to slow down enough to live in THIS moment. To not let life rush us by. To make the most of every experience and to enjoy sharing those moments with others. Forgetting the ‘what-might-be’s’ and learning instead how to ‘slow to now’ so that we can be fully present;

Today
Now
In this moment.

The challenge of learning to BE, is just that. It’s about being present now, today; whatever today may bring. To not be defined by what we do or the titles we own.

Instead it’s about being:

ME, simply me, NOW.

This is probably one of the main lessons I have been learning over the last 18 months.

To be fully present TODAY, not distracted by fighting the limitations I currently face or the unknowns of tomorrow. But instead choosing to embrace THIS MOMENT and making the most of the opportunities I have HERE.

It’s not been easy. In fact, I have probably found it harder than any other point in my life. Because when you are dealing with difficult circumstances it is so easy to miss the wonder of the small things that still surround us. And yet, I have set out to learn and change for the better. To learn how to ‘let go’ of the unknowns, even when it’s so hard and when the future can seem so uncertain.

It’s a journey.
I am still learning.
I face the daily battles everyone else faces in their minds. (Particularly those of us fighting serious/ chronic illness or other turbulent circumstances).

And yet I hope that in sharing what I am still learning that we might learn together and in that way my journey might just help someone else.

So how do we learn to BE?
It all sounds deep, but what does it really mean?

LETTING GO

Recently I have learnt a lot about the need to ‘let go’. To realise that there is so much I can’t control that I can only let go of. To choose not to allow worry and anxiety to take over and constantly dictate my mood and behaviour, overshadowing all I do.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it’s own. – Matthew 6:34*

Worry and anxiety are usually caught up in our fears of the future and the ‘what if’s’. When we allow them to take over our thoughts they pull us to a place where we feel out of control and where the future feels beyond what we can cope with. That is what happened to me during the dark days at Christmas 2015 that I write about in ‘Breaking Through the Darkness.’

Letting go is often challenging, because you feel like you are letting go of everything you can’t control one minute only to find yourself taking it back the next. It actually takes learning new disciplines of the mind to learn to replace negative thoughts and learn how to redirect them.

It can often feel like an exhausting battle. But I do believe it is possible to find ways to replace negativity with positive thoughts and perspective.

On a practical level, deep breathing & relaxation can be a good outward form of letting go that can sometimes help us to deal with the inner things. The physical action of breathing in deeply then breathing out slowly can help us to let go of some of the tension and anxiety in our bodies.

BEING GRATEFUL AND THANKFUL

“It is not happiness that makes you grateful. It’s gratefulness that makes you happy.” – David Steindl-Rast

These words are from David Steindl-Rast’s TED talk; ‘Want to be happy? Be grateful’. He talks about how we can learn to be grateful in EVERY given moment. It’s about a thankful perspective; CHOOSING TO SEE what we DO have instead of focusing on what we DON’T.

This is so important. Especially when we are dealing with difficulties in our lives. The storms in life have a tendency to pull us into them so that we can’t always see what we DO still have and the things that we CAN still be grateful for.

For me, gratefulness is often directed towards God. I daily try to thank Him for all the wonderful things in my life. We can learn to develop a daily habit of being thankful – practically we can write things down, pray about them or just choosing to focus our thoughts on them.

“I think that many times we let what should be extremely special to us—things we should be extremely grateful for—become too commonplace”. – Joyce Meyer

LEARNING TO SEE WHAT IS AROUND US

Learning to BE allows us to open our eyes to SEE more of the wonder of the world around us. To notice the beauty of nature and the joys of human relationship. We can become more aware of our surroundings. Taking time to look more deeply and discover new things.

I have walked a lot in our local area over the past few months and discovered so many new places I had never been before. Sometimes there can be beauty all around us but we miss it because of our busyness or the distractions in our mind. Some days we need to be intentional about looking to SEE what is ALREADY around us.

REDISCOVERING PURPOSE

I believe that we are all designed to have a purpose; a role in this world that only we can fulfil. Endeavours that help us to feel alive and make our mark on the world. However, ask anyone who has faced having to ‘give up’ what they love to do due to injury, illness or other circumstances and they will probably tell you how hard it’s been.

Our identity is so caught up in ‘what we DO’ that when we can no longer DO those things we can feel purposeless. It feels like our life is of little value anymore.

Scott Dannemiller writes:
“… we are defined by what we do. Our careers. What we produce. It’s the first question asked (of us)…. The implication is that if I am not busy doing something, I am somehow less than. Not worthy. Or at least worth less than those who are producing something.”

I have definitely grappled with this over the past 18 months and wrote about it in Is Busyness A Choice?.

WHO AM I WHEN I CAN’T DO ANYTHING?

It is actually these seasons that draw out the deepest questions about our identity. Who am I really? We have to search for new meaning and purpose because it is not always obvious.

I have had to learn that I am valuable without having to DO anything. I have a place in this world just being me. And whatever the limitations are, there are still so many things I CAN DO:

I can love others.
I can hold my family and speak words of love and encouragement to them.
I can use my words to encourage and help others going through hard times.
I can choose to be grateful for every blessing, big or small and communicate that to others.
I can keep enduring through the trial so that we can all learn through it and that those coming behind me can have an easier path.
I can broaden my mind by listening to other people’s thoughts and ideas.
I can go deeper in my faith by spending time listening to and speaking with God in the quietness and allowing His words to shape my heart, heal my hurts and reignite my hope and purpose.

FINDING PEACE AND REST AMIDST THE STORM

Is it really possible to learn how to find true rest and peace in any moment, even when those moments are stressful?

I believe it is. I write about it in this post.

We can learn to manage our emotions rather than allowing them to manage us. –Joyce Meyer

But I also believe that we have to learn new ways to deal with negative circumstances so that they don’t pull us into a cycle of negative thoughts.

The fact is physical rest is NOT always good for our minds. We DO need to rest and we certainly DO need quietness. But sometimes the silence can be deafening, especially when rest is enforced. This is because rest can cause our minds to go into overdrive. Our thoughts take over and if they are more biased towards the negative, silence can make them worse. (Think of times you couldn’t sleep because your thoughts were ‘so loud’).

So we need to have resources that help us to be still and restful and yet simultaneously focus on more positive things. Music and meditations are good. I also love listening to inspiring talks like TED talks, other people’s stories of trials they have faced, as well as teaching and inspirational messages that encourage my faith. These help me to focus my mind and gain a better perspective through prolonged rest.

So I am again choosing to ‘learn to Be’. I am not yet fully recovered from my CSF leak journey. Whilst some of the symptoms linger I have no choice but to learn a new way of living in which I cannot DO everything I would like to do.

But instead of fighting this season and getting worn out as I did at Christmas, I have to ‘let it roll’ to a certain extent. Yes, there are many things I can do and can change that will help my situation and I need to celebrate those. But I also have to realise that there are also many I just cannot change myself. So instead of frustration consuming me, I have to learn, each and every day to ‘let go’ of the ‘what may be’s’ and ‘slow to now’ so that I can savour;

Every
Beautiful
Moment
That STILL exists HERE.

Please do comment below and share some of the things you have learned about ‘living in the moment.’ You never know, it might really help someone who is struggling.

You can listen to Speak Brother’s song ‘ Slow to Now’ here.

*Verse from the NIV translation of the Bible. (The verse in image from Psalm 34:14 is from the NLT translation of the Bible).

To read more about my story of living with a chronic spinal CSF Leak click here.

Here is a brilliant 2 min animation about Spinal CSF leaks.

For more information about spinal CSF leaks please see the UK charity website at www.csfleak.info or the US charity website at www.spinalcsfleak.org.

God & Spirituality, Suffering & Grief

Finding Peace In The Midst Of The Storm

October 17, 2015 Becky Hill 5 Comments

“Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.” – Author Unknown

Do you ever crave true peace?

We live in a world that competes for our attention. There are so many voices speaking at us and to us. Both from the outside, as well as the thoughts from within.

We often don’t feel peaceful.

Decisions,
choices,
stress,
trouble
and people …
With all their thoughts, needs and opinions;
battling for our attention.

Some days we feel like we are drowning in noise.

Even in the silence.

It is actually often in silence that our own thoughts become louder. All the different opinions, perspective and voices from ourself and others fly around in our heads, as we attempt to work out how to live this life as best we can.

It’s stressful.
We long for peace.
We search for it everywhere:

Perhaps a holiday will help.
Maybe TV will block it out.
Perhaps having a few drinks might drown the noise.
Maybe that bar of chocolate.
The perfect partner.
A night out.

…Will distract and cover over all the noise, insecurity and stress that we feel in the hidden depths of our hearts and minds.

But when those moments of distraction have passed – the noise is still there. Earlier I typed in ‘peace’ and ‘inner peace‘ into Google. This is what it found:

“Inner peace (or peace of mind) refers to a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress. Being “at peace” is considered by many to be healthy and the opposite of being stressed or anxious.” – Wikipedia

I love this definition and can totally relate to it. I have felt it, it is there in my heart. It is what gives me strength in hard times.

But some days I still have to seek it, find it and receive it.

Peace is always there, but it sometimes gets hidden by all the other noise. Or we can get distracted from it, by the force of the storm around us.

I am in a storm right now that won’t go away. Whatever we do it won’t seem to budge. I have a spinal/ brain condition, from an injury, which means I have to lie down flat all day (apart from using the bathroom etc). Otherwise I feel exceptionally unwell.

Sometimes things go wrong in our lives. Regardless of how positive you are. How much you fight it. How much you pray. How much faith you have.

Bad things still happen.

Sometimes we are responsible or someone else played their part. Sometimes it’s the combination of a crazy set of random circumstances. Sometimes it is a mix of the two.

But tough things do happen. Storms will come that won’t seem to budge.

And all we can do is survive them.

But is that all we can do?

Maybe we can do more than that. Perhaps we can thrive in the midst of them. Letting the storm rage around us, while we just bask in the peace within us.

Is that really possible?
This is the place I have reached again in the last few days. To a new depth.

The peace has always been there over the past 9 months. In fact, neither my husband or I expected or really worried that my injury would cause major health issues for this long.

Over the years, we have learnt to look at everything positively and with faith. I never even begun to imagine that all this could happen after ‘that fall’.

But it has.

When I was first told I had a concussion – I dismissed it, in part, thinking ‘well it can’t be that bad’ I am sure I will be OK in a few days.

You see I am used to ‘bouncing back’ I have never really been ‘ill’ for more than the occasional few days. I am normally a very healthy person.

When they then told me I had ‘Post-Concussion Syndrome‘ and I would probably be out of action for 8 weeks. I honestly thought – nah not me – give it 4 weeks tops.

When I was then diagnosed with a CSF leak after 9 weeks, I thought OK one epidural blood patch will do me and I will bounce back – no worries – and all this will be over.

When it didn’t ALL go away after my first blood patch, I believed it’s perhaps just going to take a bit of time – I’m going to be 100% better soon.

When five months later things started getting worse again, I thought, this is just a blip I’ll just take it easy for a bit and then I’ll be back.

When I completely relapsed and ended up back in hospital – I thought, I will be OK, they will give me another blood patch, I’ll be sorted and it’s all going to go away.

But that was nearly 4 weeks ago and there seems to be every barrier being thrown up to stop this blood patch from happening.

My condition is apparently complex.

I have learnt that sometimes storms linger for a while.

Whatever we do,
Whatever we say,
Whatever we pray,
Whatever we believe,
the storm lingers.

What do we do when nothing is working? When we are tired and weary? When we don’t know what to do anymore and there seems no way forward?

There are two things we can do.

We give up, allow ourselves to sink into self pity and be carried away by what is happening. Letting it begin a process that will consume and destroy us, our relationships, and our mental and spiritual health.
We choose to dig deep and seek out the inner peace that is available in the midst of the storm, and keep on moving forward in faith.

Number one is not an option for me. I will NOT allow what is happening around me and to me to steal my inner peace and wreck my relationships. I won’t let it dictate how I should behave.

Because when there is nothing left, I still have God. Even when things are tough, I still have faith. Even if the wait goes on, I still have trust.

When the storm rages I can have a peace that passes all understanding. AND I KNOW, THAT I KNOW, my relationship with Jesus will sustain me through all the trials and all suffering.

If my faith in God and the peace I have only remains firm in the good times, then my faith is very shallow.

But when I can say:

I DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS.
The way forward is not clear.
It is really hard.
I feel stretched and challenged everyday.
I have moments where I want to give up, crumple in a heap and get angry at everyone.
Moments that I break down because it’s too tough, I am again in pain and there is no end in sight.

However, despite it all…

MY GOD IS ALWAYS GOOD AND ALWAYS FAITHFUL.

That is when I know that my faith is secure. That is the moment that I know that I have peace because Jesus is with me every step of the way.

Like a small child whose anxiety and fear goes away because their parent is by their side. I have a Father in heaven who walks beside me saying “You are going to be OK because I am with you – ALWAYS. I will love you through this and cover you with my grace and strength.”

I no longer need to understand it all. I just have to trust in Him.

That is the inner peace that passes all understanding. That is how we can rest in the storm. In a place that discouragement, worry, anger, bitterness and blame can no longer eat away at us.

The storm then looses it’s power over us and we begin to thrive in it’s midst. Growing stronger, getting wiser and taking hold of that all consuming peace that never lets us down and empowers us to keep pressing on regardless. There is always peace hidden in the storm but you have to learn how to seek and find it.

You have to learn how to seek and find HIM.

“… God’s peace … exceeds anything we can understand.” –Philippians‬ ‭4:7‬ ‭The Bible

How do you find peace in the midst of the storm?

To read more about my ongoing story of living with a chronic spinal CSF Leak click here.

Here is a brilliant 2 min animation about Spinal CSF leaks.

For more information about spinal CSF leaks please see the UK charity website at www.csfleak.info or the US charity website at www.spinalcsfleak.org.

Becky Hill's Blog

Category Archives: God & Spirituality

NAVIGATING SUFFERING AND TOUGH TIMES

Finding Peace in the COVID-19 Storm

My peace is Jesus Christ.

He is my ultimate calm.

Falling Into Grace

Suffering into a Deeper Spiritual Awakening

Finding A Way Through: My Spinal CSF Leak Improvement

What Is Within Us Is Who We really are.

‘Why Me?’ The Soul Destroying Question

Learning To BE

Finding Peace In The Midst Of The Storm

Writing to explore what life is about. Amidst its captivating beauty and deepest pain. In the hope that we can learn, grow and be inspired together.