Feels like the tests are too harsh, assalamu alaikum
Assalamu alaikum. I'm a born Muslim and I've been tested with severe eczema since I was five. It improved a lot as I grew up with only occasional flare-ups, and I kept being patient, hoping my duas for relief would be accepted. If not in this life, I pray it's a delayed acceptance that leads me to Jannah, insha'Allah. At the start of the new year I had a small flare-up and I only asked Allah that it wouldn't get out of hand. Not for a full cure - I feel like that might come later - just that I wouldn't have to suffer so much. That prayer felt ignored, because within days things became so much worse. I can barely leave bed, walk, or move without pain. My clothes are all soiled and I can't manage laundry. This has gone on for two weeks. I've cried and begged for ease, but it keeps getting worse and now it's on my face. Today I was meant to receive a cream that could help, but the delivery hasn't come and my skin flared up again, like relief is being postponed on purpose. I don't know what to do. I'm exhausted from crying and pleading for something that seems never to come. I just turned 23 last month and should be graduating this year. I lost my job and hoped to start over, but I'm completely dependent on my mother and sister for chores and food, feeling trapped in the same helplessness I had as a child. I want to travel, maybe study abroad, work, earn, get married - but it feels like whenever I ask for those things, Allah reminds me of my limits and I end up reduced to ‘the girl with eczema.’ How do I regain faith and hope after 18 years with no real change? I don't want this to be my whole identity. I want to be normal like others, and I get so angry when people tell me they have struggles, even though I know that reaction isn't right. I read Quran and stories of the prophets and believers hoping for comfort. I read about accepted duas and journeys in Islam to reassure myself, but instead I feel more resentful and hopeless, like those promises aren't meant for me. I would welcome any gentle advice, reminders, or duas from fellow Muslims who have faced long trials. Jazakum Allah khair.