How to Cling to Hope with Long-Lasting Trials
How do you keep holding on to hope when challenges or illnesses last a really long time?
How to Cling to Hope with Long-Lasting Trials
Have you ever felt discouraged…like you wanted to give up? That whatever trial you have been facing has been long and hard and seems to never end? That you’ve been trying—so very hard to find the solution to your problem…but you can’t seem to figure it out?
What can you do to keep going?
Today I am going to share with you a great story from the Bible that we can apply today—it is known as the story of the woman with the issue of blood in the New Testament, Mark 5:25-34
3 Lessons from the Woman with the Issue of Blood
Research for Solutions with Faith
Research and ask God to guide you
Talk to Experts
Keep your ears open she had “heard of Jesus”
According to William Barclay’s commentary, the Talmud gave at least eleven possible cures for her ailment.
She was also desperate, which can be a very good thing. Desperation keeps complacency and self-pity away.
“When she heard people speak of the power of Christ, she believed and began to hope again for an ultimate cure. If she could just get to him. She had been in hiding so long that she felt she couldn’t just go up to him and talk to him. She was embarrassed and needed as private a cure as she could get. She devised a plan. If she could just touch his clothing for a second. She pushed her way through the crowd. A crowd that could turn on her if they realized that she was that woman, the one with the issue of blood. But she pushed through anyway. She was desperate. She got to touch his garment AND instantly the blood stopped, and she felt perfectly well. But she couldn’t remain anonymous as she wanted. Her feeling of triumph gave way to fear and trembling. What would he do to her? She fell down at his feet and humbly explained what she had done. And his response wasn’t anger. It was delight at her extreme faith."
2. Act on Ideas, Thoughts and Impressions
God often answers line upon line…an idea here and there
Take one step at a time—don’t be overwhelmed by 20 things all at once.
Don’t give up when the first few things don’t work—keep trying. Keep hoping. (the woman tried different things for 12 years).
When you face obstacles, keep moving through them.
3. Trust the Savior Can Heal in His own Time and Way
Be patient as you wait on His timeline
Ask Him to tell you if there is anything you can or should be doing while you are waiting
Remember to pray asking for baby steps of miracles—while always adding, “thy will be done.”
Sometimes God heals different things than we are praying for
Praying for physical healing and he blesses you with emotional resilience
Praying for mental health help—resources (medication/support) to cope
you may be seeing physical health and he heals you spiritually
The healing will happen through Christ eventually—maybe even in the next life (which lasts forever btw)
My Personal Experience Dealing With Long-Lasting Illness
· When Nathan was first diagnosed with autism I prayed God would heal him. He didn’t.
· But, God did teach me little baby steps of healing for helping him with sound sensitivity and learning to sleep through the night.
· It was still hard, but we moved forward with faith, the help of experts
· We acted on the things we learned—bought medication, learned to make social stories, etc.
· We leaned on God to help us with all the rest.
· Don’t discount the baby steps of miracles along the way when you are praying for a big miracle.
Conclusion
The woman with the issue of blood researched solutions to her problem, acted on thoughts and impressions, and trusted that God would heal in His own time and way. From her story, we learned that it’s sometimes it takes time, patience, persistence and a lot of faith to carry on daily, weekly, monthly and yearly as we struggle through long-lasting challenges. We also learn that healing comes in different ways, and to trust that God will heal us and those we love eventually.
Religious leader Dennis B. Neuenschwander spoke about how the woman in this account acted in faith to come to the Savior:
“Among the crowd was a woman. … Outwardly, there was little to distinguish her from any other person in the crowd. No one tried to stop her from moving toward Jesus. Certainly, the Apostles neither noticed her nor made any attempt to stop her. But there was something that set her apart from all others in the crowd that day. Though buried among the thronging mass, she resolutely and quietly pressed forward with a single purpose in mind: to come to the Savior, having faith that He had the power to heal her, that He cared about her and would respond to her need. In this one thing she set herself apart from the crowd. The crowd came to see, but the woman came to be healed. …
“ … All of us are among the crowds of this world. Almost all of us are like the woman who, despite the crowd, comes to the Savior. We all have faith that just a touch will bring healing to our aching souls and relief to our innermost needs.
“ … In all of life’s circumstances let us quietly and resolutely press forward to the Savior, having faith that He cares about us and has the power to heal and save us” (“One among the Crowd,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2008, 101–3).
Invitation
So, going back to my initial question:
Have you ever felt discouraged…like you wanted to give up?
Remember the lessons from the story of the woman with the issue of blood and take action on one of the following items:
Research for Solutions with Faith
Act on Ideas, Thoughts and Impressions
Trust the Savior Can Heal in His own Time and Way
I know Jesus Christ loves us, sees us through the crowd and will help, heal and comfort us through any and all long-lasting trials in our lives.
#tamarakanderson #storiesofhopeinhardtimes #podcast #hope #God #hardtimes #trials #challenges #longlastingchallenges #longlastingillness #faith #Bible #Biblestory#Womanwiththeissueofblood #JesusChrist
Transcription
You can find the transcription of today's episode here:
Tamara Anderson 0:03
How do you keep holding on to hope when challenges or illnesses last a really long time--not just days, not just weeks, but months and years? It's at those times that it's easy to get discouraged and give up hope. And as this is a podcast all about hope we're going to tackle this challenging question today. Stay tuned.
Tamara Anderson 0:32
Welcome to Stories of Hope in Hard Times, the show that explores how people endure and even thrive in difficult times. All with God's help. I'm your host Tamara K Anderson. Join me on a journey to find inspiring stories of hope and wisdom learned in life's hardest moments.
Tamara Anderson 0:58
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Tamara's takeaways on the Stories of Hope in Hard Times podcast. I'm your host, Tamara K. Anderson, and today we're going to talk about how to manage and tips and ideas to help us when we're discouraged when illnesses or challenges last a long time.
Tamara Anderson 1:18
Have you ever felt like that discouraged because whatever you're dealing with lasts a long time? And maybe a long time for you as a week. And maybe a long time for you as a month and maybe a long time for you is a year or years or decades. Each of us are facing trials and situations that are unique and different for each of us. So don't compare your life to anybody else's. That's one of the first things we need to talk about.
Tamara Anderson 1:42
But whatever trial you have been facing, no matter how long it seems to end, there are some things that you can do to keep going. Now your challenges may be an illness for yourself or those who love. It may be mental health challenges. It may be physical diseases like cancer or cystic fibrosis or COVID. It may even be neurological disorders like autism, which affects my family, Parkinson's, or maybe even a stroke.
Tamara Anderson 2:16
So the question really is what do you do when you or someone you love is dealing with one of these life changing illnesses or challenges that lasts a really, really long time? How do you cling to hope? What can you do to keep going? And today I'm going to share with you an awesome story from the Bible that deals with this very, very situation.
Tamara Anderson 2:41
And it is the story with the woman with the issue of blood. And it's found in the New Testament in three different places. But we're going to, I'm going to share with you today, the one that's in Mark chapter five. And this can be found in verses 25 through 34. And I quote, "And a certain woman which had an issue of blood 12 years, (that's a long time), and has suffered many things of many physicians and had spent all that she had and was nothing better, but rather grew worse. When she had heard of Jesus, she came in the press behind and touched his garment. For she said, if I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of the plague. And Jesus immediately knowing and himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said to him, thou seest the multitude thronging the and sayest thou, who touched me. And he looked around about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her came and fell down before him and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, daughter, thy faith has made the whole. Go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."
Tamara Anderson 4:09
I love that simple story. For us. It takes a few verses, but for this woman, this disease had been ongoing for 12 years. And I think there's three things that we can pull out of it, that we can apply to our lives today.
Tamara Anderson 4:24
The first is to research for solutions with faith. Now, this is a critical one it talks about the woman going and seeking help from physicians. She was talking to experts in her day in her field. And she tried, you know, she talked to them, she worked with them. And so I think some of the keys to researching solutions with faith is first talk to God. Dear God, here's the situation I or a family members dealing with. Help me to figure out what I should do. Talk to experts is the second thing. And then keep your ears open. This woman here she was 12 years into this disease. And she finally heard of Jesus. And she was so excited when she heard of Jesus because she heard that he was a great teacher and a great healer.
Tamara Anderson 5:20
According to William Barclays commentary, the Talmood gave at least 11 possible cures for this woman's ailment. But she was also desperate, which can be a good thing, because desperation keeps complacency and self pity away. It means you're trying. And then I'm going to quote from real William Barclay. "When she heard people speak of the power of Christ, she believed and began to hope again, for an ultimate cure if she could just get him. She had been hiding for so long that she felt she couldn't just go up and talk to him. She was embarrassed and needed as private a cure as she could get. So she devised a plan if she could just touch his clothing for a second. She pushed her way through the crowd, a crowd that could turn on her if they realize she was that woman, the one with the issue of blood, but she pushed through anyway. She was desperate, and got to touch his garment. And instantly the blood was stopped. And she felt perfectly well. But she couldn't remain anonymous as she wanted. Her feeling of triumph gave way to fear and trembling. What would he do to her, she fell down at his feet and humbly explained what she had done. And his response wasn't anger, it was delight at her extreme faith." And I love that. I love that hearing of Jesus, even after 12 years gave her the hope to try again.
Tamara Anderson 6:47
Now that leads us to our second thing, once you research something, you need to start acting, because researching and reading about something isn't enough, you need to start acting on those things. Act on ideas. Act on thoughts, impressions. Act on research that you're doing.
Tamara Anderson 7:03
One of the things that I'd like to point out is God often gives us answers line upon line, an idea here, an idea there. And He'll give us baby steps to solve little problems, perhaps within the big problem. So take one step at a time, don't feel overwhelmed, if you research, you find 20 things to do. Kind of whittle it down and say I'm going to try this one first. That's how the woman did it. That's how most people do things. Because often we do get overwhelmed when we get like a list of 50 things that we need to do. Let's just start with one, and then we'll try something else, and try something else.
Tamara Anderson 7:43
And that's another key to this action is don't give up when the first thing or the second thing or the 50th thing doesn't work. The key is to keep trying, because solutions do come. When you face obstacles, like the woman did. Keep moving through them. She suffered through years of suffering, she was ostracized by her family or friends just because in the Jewish community back then, if you had an issue of blood, you were unclean. And so that's why she was ostracized and couldn't be part of the Jewish community publicly. Don't be afraid of she had to overcome her fear of the crowd of being amidst these people. And then she also had to face her obstacle of the fear of confessing and telling the Savior It was me to touched your garment. So you're going to have obstacles just as this woman had obstacles. Don't let those things hold you back. Keep trying, keep acting, keep moving forward.
Tamara Anderson 8:51
So we have the first two things that we've talked about which are researching for solutions with faith, acting on ideas. And the third thing is trust the Savior can heal you in his own time and in his in his own way.
Tamara Anderson 9:07
So this third one is probably the trickiest because it requires patience on our part. And we often want instant solutions. We are in a day of instant everything right? You know, you Google something you have the answer right away. And unfortunately, healing isn't like that. Sometimes it takes many years and many layers of research to finally find the solution, or many, many years of prayers to find the solution.
Tamara Anderson 9:41
One of my thoughts for you as you are trying to be patient is to talk to God and ask him to tell you if there's anything you can or should be doing while you're waiting, because maybe you're waiting for him to present the solution and he's waiting for you to take some little action and So keep that conversation with God going talk to him, is there something I can be doing is there anything more? And remember to pray asking for baby steps of miracles, always while adding Thy will be done. Because sometimes we want, we pray for that ginormous miracle. And maybe we need to break it down a little bit.
Tamara Anderson 10:25
Let me give you an example from my own life as as something here that you can compare it to. When Nathan was first diagnosed with autism, I knew that God could heal him. And I prayed that the autism would be taken away, which of course it wasn't. And so I started researching little things that maybe we could figure out how to help, for example, His sound sensitivity. And so we we researched things, we found a program, we did this music therapy thing that he listened to. And it did help with the sound sensitivity a little bit, but that's just one tiny aspect of autism.
Tamara Anderson 11:10
Another tiny aspect of autism was the sleep that kiddos with on the autism spectrum just don't sleep really, really well. And, and so my husband and I worked and worked and tried to figure out solutions to this, unfortunately, the internet wasn't as prevalent as it is now. And so the solutions had to come either in books or by commiserating with our fellow parents who had children with autism and, and so I kind of had to go through things the hard way there. Unfortunately, my husband and I tried so long on our own to tackle this obstacle of the kids not sleeping well for years. Until we finally were just so so tired, we went to an expert. And I wish we would have gone to an expert sooner.
Tamara Anderson 12:03
So as part of your research, yeah, it's good to talk to friends. But sometimes it's good to also talk to experts. And that's one of the things I wish that I would have done sooner. As soon as we talked to an expert, he taught us about melatonin, which was a lifesaver for us. There are some people who have to take other medications for helping their children sleep with autism. But we were blessed that melatonin happened to be one of ours. And this is way back before melatonin became like a huge thing that you could just buy over the counter, you could only find melatonin in very specific places. Back then, and this is like before Amazon was able too. So you know, we had to go and actually buy it at a store. So that is something that I wish we would have acted on that we would have talked to an expert sooner. But that was only one piece of our puzzle.
Tamara Anderson 12:58
Another piece of our puzzle came as our Parent Center in the area, we were living in Texas offered a training on how to make social stories. And so I went to this training, it was several days of training. And and they taught us how to build these little stories to teach your children how to do something. And for us it was how to sleep through the night. And so I wrote this little book and put little pictures in it and printed it off. And we would read it every single night. And the end concept of the book, or the social story that we had for Nathan was that he would stay in his bed until his clock said six.
Tamara Anderson 13:43
And so we were acting on it. We were reading in this book. And there were nights that were so hard still because I would go in when he woke up at two in the morning. And we have little blankets under his bed because it happens so often, that we were often sleeping on his floor, just trying to keep him in the room. So he doesn't wake the whole house up. And we were trying not to reward him for waking up early. We weren't just going to give him his iPad or his iPod. But we had to be tough. It was a little bit of tough love note, you got to stay in your room until your clock says six, you've got to do it. And there was a lot of screaming nights. And it was really, really hard. But we persisted. We persisted through these nights and long, long nights of obstacles until he finally learned, I'm gonna stand here until my clock says six. My parents aren't going to let me out early no matter what. There were days we had to tag team I'm so tired, I've got to get some sleep your turn to sleep with them or lay with him for an hour.
Tamara Anderson 14:52
And and so you can see we had to research we had to involve experts. We had to do Get some more knowledge ourselves and make a little book. And then the hardest part was acting on it and teaching him and I will tell you, he's now 22. And I haven't had to go in four in the morning for probably over 10 years, because he just stays in his bed.nHe knows he has to stay in his bed. And so even though autism isn't cured, this little piece of autism that makes life so challenging, is fixed, and helping God helped us get through that. So that third part is trusting that the Savior can help you and heal you in his own time and in his own way.
Tamara Anderson 15:36
And He has blessed us to find things that help Nathan sleep better at night. And, and those have come in little tiny baby steps. So don't... God doesn't often give us those big solutions all at once he knew that I could probably only process one thing at a time. First, it was the melatonin, then it was the social stories. And it was the implementation of all of that. But finally we got the solution we wanted.
Tamara Anderson 16:05
Another thing that I want to mention before I conclude is that often with Christ trusting that healing will come eventually, that third step-- is that sometimes the hope and healing that we will receive or that someone we love will receive, won't be until the next life. And keeping that in perspective. I know that someday, when Nathan is resurrected, and has a beautiful and perfect body thanks to Jesus Christ, that I will have a conversation with him and he will be able to talk to me and answer me. I know that autism won't be a barrier for our communication any longer.
Tamara Anderson 16:46
And so is it hard while we're in this life, when so many people I can communicate verbally? Absolutely. But how can we learn to get through a little bit by little bit? Yes, we have. And so sometimes something's he gives us a little bit of healing along the way. And we just have to trust Him, be patient with that. But we also have to keep in mind that God sees things from an eternal perspective. And that in his mind, the healing will happen, always for each of us. He will heal us physically, He will feel it heal us emotionally. In the next life, we will have that perfected, glorified body.
Tamara Anderson 17:28
And I'm so thankful for that. I'm thankful to know that. Is it hard sometimes wishing that I had it now? Yes, it is hard, but I have to hold and cling to that hope. That the help and the healing and that perfect health I may not have in this life, or Nathan may not happen this life. But I can wait for the next life. And the good news is that the next life is forever. We will live like that forever, there will be no more death, there will be no more disease, we will live as a perfected person forever. And so I can hold on till that. I can live for a small space of time here on Earth, and have a wonderful, beautiful son who has challenges with this with autism. Because I know it's temporary. And I know that I'll have a perfected Nathan forever and I'll be able to talk to him. And we won't have these obstacles anymore. And so I look forward to that with faith.
Tamara Anderson 18:33
In conclusion, the woman with the issue of blood 1) Research the solutions to a problem 2) she acted on the thoughts and impression she had. And 3) she trusted that God would heal her in his own time and away. From her story we can learn that. Sometimes it takes time and patience, persistence, and a lot a lot of faith to carry on daily, weekly, monthly and yearly as we struggle through these long lasting challenges.
Tamara Anderson 19:04
We also learn that we can fall at the feet of the Savior and tell Him everything and that He is always listening and that He can help us. And we learn that help and healing comes in different ways and to trust that God will heal us and those we'd love eventually.
Tamara Anderson 19:21
Religious leader Dennis be new shawanda spoke about how the woman in this account acted in faith to come to the Savior. Quote, "Among the crowd was a woman outward the there was little to distinguish her from any other person in the crowd. No one tried to stop her from moving toward Jesus. Certainly the apostles neither noticed her nor made any attempt to stop her. But there was something that set her apart from all others in the crowd that day. Though buried among the thronging mass she resolutely and quietly pressed forward with a single purpose in mind--To come to the Savior, having faith that He had the power to heal her. That He cared about her and would respond to her need. In this one thing she set herself apart from the crowd. The crowd came to see, but the woman came to be healed. All of us are among the crowds of this world. Almost all of us are like the woman who despite the crowd, comes to the Savior. We all have faith that just a touch will bring healing to our aching souls, and relief to our innermost needs. In all of life circumstances, let us quietly and resolutely press forward to the Savior having faith that He cares about us, and has the power to heal, and save us." end quote.
Tamara Anderson 20:57
So, going back to my initial question, have you felt discouraged, like you wanted to give up because whatever trial you have been facing has been so long, and so hard, and it just never seems to end? Have you felt like you've been trying so very hard to find the solution to your problem, but you just can't seem to figure it out.
Tamara Anderson 21:21
Remember the lessons from the story of the woman with the issue of blood, and take action on one of the following items today. First, research and find solutions with faith. Include God in your research, He will guide you. Second, act on those ideas, thoughts and impressions. Take baby steps of action, don't give up when the first or the second or the third doesn't produce the result that you want. Keep going, keep acting, keep trying. Push through your obstacles. Search for the Savior, and for your healing. And third, trust that the Savior can and will heal in His own time and way. He may not heal the autism, or the huge problem that he may present little tiny baby steps of solutions along the way.
Tamara Anderson 22:14
Don't discount those as the miracles that they truly are. Maybe like me, you'll find a solution to a child sleeping through the night. Maybe you'll find a solution to as you care for an aging parent. Maybe you'll find the solution to help someone who's struggling with Parkinson's disease. Maybe you'll find a little baby solution to someone struggling with cancer and have the faith to take that next step.
Tamara Anderson 22:46
I know that Jesus Christ lives and that as we search for Him through the crowds and through the challenges of our lives. That as we reach out and touch him, He is always there to provide help, healing and comfort. Hope on my friends.
Tamara Anderson 23:06
Hi, this is Tamara K. Anderson and I want to share something special with you. When our son Nathan was diagnosed with autism, I felt like the life we had expected for him was ripped away and with it, my own heart shattered as well. It's very common for families to feel anger, pain, confusion and anxiety when a child is diagnosed. This is where my book normal for me comes into play. It shares my story of learning to replace my pain, with acceptance, peace, joy, and hope. normal for me is helped change many lives. And I'd like to give this book to as many families as possible. We put together something I think is really special. My friends and listeners can order copies of my book and significantly discounted price. And we will send them to families who have just had a child diagnosed with autism or another special needs diagnosis. We will put your name inside the cover so they will know someone out there loves them and wants to help. I will also sign each copy. You can order as little as one or as many as hundreds to be shared with others. So go to my website TamarakAnderson.com and visit the store section for more information and to place your order. You can bless the lives of many families by sending them hope, love and peace. Check it out today at TamarakAnderson.com and help me spread hope to the world.
Tamara Anderson 24:42
Hey, thanks so much for listening to today's show. If you like what you heard, subscribe so you can get your weekly dose of powerful stories of hope. I know there are many of you out there who are going through a hard time and I hope you found useful things that you can apply to your own life in today's podcast. If you would like to access the show notes of today's show, please visit my website storiesofhopepodcast.com. There you will find a summary of today's show, the transcript and one of my favorite takeaways. You know, if someone kept coming to mind during today's episode, perhaps that means that you should share this episode with them. Maybe there was a story shared or quote, or a scripture verse that they really, really need to hear. So go ahead and share this podcast. May God bless you, especially if you're struggling with hope to carry on and with the strength to keep going. When things get tough. Remember to walk with Christ and He will help you bear the burden. And above all else, remember God loves you.