Why Thriving, Not Just Surviving, Is Possible With Autoimmune Disease

If you’ve ever felt like your autoimmune disease has stolen your energy, joy, and purpose, you’re not alone. Many women spend years just trying to get through the day - surviving instead of thriving. But God didn’t design you to merely survive. You were created to live with vitality, joy, peace, and purpose - even with an autoimmune diagnosis.

Thriving doesn’t mean your journey will be easy or always symptom-free. It means aligning your body, mind, and spirit with how God designed you to function and trusting Him in the process.

Here are some encouraging reminders and truths:

1. Remember How Wonderfully You Were Designed

When you live with autoimmune disease, it can feel like your body is broken. But the truth is, your body was designed by God with incredible intelligence and the ability to heal when given the right support.

Psalm 139:14 “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Through nutrition and lifestyle, you can begin to restore balance to your immune system, reduce inflammation, and rebuild your energy. The more we nourish our bodies as God designed - with whole foods, rest, and movement, the more we bring Him glory and honor His design.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

Did you catch that? Our bodies are not our own. We were bought by the blood of Jesus. When we care for our bodies as God intended, we are honoring Him.

2. Redefine Strength Through God’s Grace

Autoimmune fatigue can be humbling. It reminds us that human strength has limits. But God's strength does not. When you feel weak, exhausted, or frustrated, remember that God’s power shines brightest in your weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:9“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Instead of pushing through on your own strength, learn to pause and rest in His presence. True thriving happens when you release control and allow Him to renew you daily.

Isaiah 40:29-31 “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak… those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.”

3. Renew Your Mind for Healing

Your mindset plays a powerful role in your health journey. Chronic illness often comes with fear, frustration, or hopelessness but those emotions can keep your body in a constant stress response, raising blood sugar and cortisol, causing inflammation as well as slowing healing.

I encourage you to shift your paradigm. You are not your diagnosis. You are a child of the one true God who doesn't make mistakes. He uses everything for His glory to accomplish His purpose. Thriving begins when you renew your mind and replace anxiety with peace, frustration with faith, and fear with hope.

Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Through prayer, gratitude, and intentional rest, you can begin to shift from survival mode into a state of healing and renewal.

Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything… and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

4. Find Peace in the Process

Healing takes time, and that waiting season can feel discouraging. But God promises rest for the weary and peace that surpasses understanding.

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

When you approach healing from a place of peace and trust - trusting that God is holding you and loves you more than you can possibly imagine - your nervous system relaxes, your hormones balance, and your body begins to thrive again - just as God designed.

5. Thriving Is About Wholeness, Not Perfection

Thriving doesn’t mean every symptom disappears overnight. It means you experience wholeness - body, mind, and spirit - in partnership with God.

When you nourish your body with foods He created, move it in gratitude, and rest in His promises, you begin to thrive in ways you may have never thought possible.

Even in your challenges, God is cultivating resilience, wisdom, and compassion in you. These are traits that allow you to live with greater joy and purpose.

Final Encouragement

If you’ve been surviving day to day with autoimmune symptoms, please know you were never meant to do it alone. God is with you in every step, every flare, every tear, and every breakthrough.

I would love an opportunity to come alongside you on your journey. My signature course Calm the Fire: A 4-Week Autoimmune Reset gives you the essential tools to calm your immune system, restore energy, and take back control of your health.

You can thrive - even with autoimmune disease. God designed your body to heal when it has the right support. Not because your body is perfect but because His strength, wisdom, and grace are.

Forever thriving, by God's grace,

Julie

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