Well, don't give up! Things are much better than last week. That is good and bad news.
I apologize for talking so much about my health recently. But health is part of real life, isn't it? It's something every one of us struggles with at some time, or someone we love is struggling with right now. It one of those things you don't notice at all when it's going well. When it's not, it seems to push itself to the front because something is hurting, or making you feel sick, swollen, or otherwise miserable.
If you don't currently have a health problem, take a moment to thank the Lord. I am. Thank you, Father, for a drastically more bearable week than the week before!
The week before felt like PMS all week, from retained fluid. I used to have a counseling client who had a great line: "Last week I was so vicious, I didn't know if I had PMS or RABIES!" Or the joke about the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS: sometimes you can reason with a terrorist. My poor husband!
The good news is that we've finally seen the pattern (after seeing the pattern, that this is a side-effect of my meds and the depletion of salt from my body), so we're now able to control the whole thing much better.
That horrible, uncontrolled week, however, I was completely dependent upon God to get me through each day, because each day was a battle. God was my resource to survive, my strength, my fortress, my hope.
How about you? Are you having one of THOSE weeks? Where God is your only hope? Are you hanging on by your fingernails--and several of those are broken? Yet, and yet, there is a desperate intimacy with God in those terrible weeks. The tiny victories are powerful, and break our hearts with joy to see the work of God in our lives. To see that he really does care about our little needs.
But if you are not having one of those weeks, if your health or your stress level is at a more even state, again, remember to give thanks. The human tendency is to forget when things are good.
This week when I was not suffering as much, I simply got to work on my biology, trying to catch up on what I had not been able to do last week. I felt so much better, I wasn't thinking about the suffering I was not having to thank the Lord about. That's why we need reminders.
One way to remember is to have verses around. I keep index cards, since they're small and interchangeable. Maybe you like lists. You do whatever works for you.
I have a friend who is dying right now. I think of her, and know that at any moment, she is in pain, and needs prayers for comfort and God's peace to surround her as she's going through the dying process.
I also have a daughter who's praying about the mission field, another who's adopting a child, another who's raising active little boys, another who's going through very challenging times especially this time of year, a niece who's getting married, etc.
You must get the point. The list will keep you going, if your personal list is empty. You can thank God for what he has done in your life, your loved ones' lives, the answers you have seen, thank him that he is working in these current life stresses for your loved ones, and pray for them in the midst. The bottom line: you will never run out of things to bring to God for thanks or for his help.
Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
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