Navigating Health Needs at Home and On the Field (part 2)

Last week we learned that God isn’t limited by our limitations. We looked at our makeup as created beings and focused on 5 biblical reasons to care for our bodies. Remember, it’s not spiritual to ignore your body!

Now we are going to learn some valuable lessons from women who have gone before us. They have much to teach us!

Lessons from women who served faithfully through suffering

I just taught a course in the Chile Training Center called Biographies of Godly Women. We studied over 30 women who were used by God in the past, mostly as missionaries. I was surprised that several of these women had major, chronic health issues. Can you think of some of your Christian heroines who struggled with their health? Let’s see how they served the Lord through their struggles and what we can learn from them.

God uses the weak to show His glory

2 Corinthians 4:7 reminds us that “we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” This truth was lived out in the lives of many faithful women.

Amy Carmichael spent the final 20 years of her life bedridden after a serious fall, yet from her room in India she wrote over 35 books, poems, and devotionals. Her suffering gave her a deeper insight into God’s presence and purpose. Corrie ten Boom, imprisoned in Ravensbrück concentration camp, suffered from malnutrition and illness, but she brought hope to hundreds of women in the barracks and later shared her testimony around the world. Gladys Aylward, after leading 100 orphan children across the mountains in war-torn China, collapsed from exhaustion and illness, but after recovering, she continued ministry in Taiwan. Ann Judson, the wife of Adoniram Judson, nearly died of tropical illness in Burma multiple times and lost children to disease, yet her faithful witness and translation work paved the way for generations of believers.

God’s plan is not hindered by our limitations. As we saw in the introduction to this lesson, He desires to work through our weakness to show His strength, and these ladies lived out that reality. As 2 Corinthians 12:10 says, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

Obedience is more important than comfort

Let’s be real—everyone enjoys and desires ease. Yet these women understood that following Christ meant sacrifice, not ease. They didn’t wait to feel better before saying “yes” to God. As Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Paul echoed this spirit in 2 Corinthians 12:15 when he wrote, “And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.” Obedience sometimes means pouring out everything, knowing that the joy of serving Christ outweighs personal convenience or health.

Perseverance in suffering produces eternal fruit

Elisabeth Elliot returned to live with the very tribe who had killed her husband. During her years of ministry, she contracted several illnesses, but she endured them as part of the cost of the call. Rosalind Goforth, a missionary to China, suffered frequent illness, grief over the loss of children, and poor living conditions, but she used her trials to teach and encourage others through her writings and ministry. Those writings have influenced countless Christians. As Galatians 6:9 reminds us, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” These women prove that fruit is often unseen now but lasting in eternity.

Total dependence on God gives us strength

These women did not rely on physical resilience; they walked daily by grace. They knew what it meant to wake up with no strength and to call on God for every step. As Isaiah 40:29–31 says, “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” This Scripture has been very real to me through the sickness and death of my mom and the emptying of our nest. I am depending on the Lord more than at any time in my life right now; and I’m learning that dependence is not weakness—it is the gateway to God’s sustaining power.

Eternity is more valuable than physical health

In today’s culture, we are taught to prioritize wellness and self-preservation, but these women remind us to live for what lasts. They willingly spent their health and energy for the glory of Christ, knowing it would not be wasted. As 2 Corinthians 4:16–18 declares, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

It's worth it ladies! There is no greater reward than being sold out for Jesus. His glory shines through in our weakness. Our obedience trumps comfort every day of the week. That eternal fruit from our perseverance is real, and it will be ours. When we are weak, through Him we are made strong. These truths keep us anchored and enable us to keep spending and being spent for our Savior.

We started this series saying that it’s not spiritual to ignore our bodies. Yet this week we are looking at women who seemed to sacrifice their health to serve God. How can we reconcile these two truths? Stay tuned. We’ll learned about that next week.