Is a fulfilled life possible with chronic disease? It’s not nice to be sick. To be sick for the rest of you life, well, that’s not nice at all. But that’s what a chronic disease is. It’s an incurable condition, often painful or uncomfortable, that can only be controlled and maintained, often by medications that have nasty side effects…for the rest of your life… Phew! There goes joy! There goes living life to the full! There goes all your dreams! Say hello to depression, self pity and doubt. It’s natural to feel sorry for yourself. According to statistics, sufferers of chronic disease are two times more likely to suffer from depression. The real challenge is to still live your life to the full in spite of your condition. Is that even possible? At the blooming age of twenty five I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I have just started a career in teaching and had a head full of dreams. The diagnosis left me devastated, angry and scared. But I have learned a lot of thin

How do I get rid of doubt? Time, has everything to do with the answer. Let’s use an example from the workplace. You are the director and you need somebody to complete a very important task. Will you trust the new employee who just walked in last week? Or, will you rather give the task to a senior because you’ve known this colleague for longer and you trust his/her ability to make a success out of the project? It is just human to trust somebody that you spend lots of time with, more than the person you hardly ever talk to. So, it is also just human to trust a God that you spend lots of time with, more than a God that you hardly ever have a conversation with. How do I have a conversation with God? You’ve heard the answer before, by praying and reading your Bible. Simple. But it’s not easy. It is easy to close your eyes, fold your hands together and fall asleep. Even on your knees. It’s also easy to read a whole chapter from the Bible and not take in a single word. I

The Son rose on Sunday morning. My daughter once asked me if we will meet all the characters from the Bible in heaven one day. Well, yes, the good ones of course. I would like to ask Mary Magdalene what went through her head that Sunday morning when she arrived at the empty tomb. Why was she so upset? Was she not there when He said He will rise again? Did no one tell her? Did she forget? Or, could she simply not believe that He would actually rise for real? Maybe she thought it was some kind of metaphor or another parable . Doubt. Did Jesus really say: “You may ask me for anything in My name and I will do it?” Maybe He didn’t quite mean it in that way. The empty tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem “And, whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Faith? Really? Is that all? “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” For real? People have a problem w