The Pain Continues, But So Does Life!

It has been a while since I have posted a journal entry about pain.  While I certainly haven't exhausted the topic, I perhaps exhausted my desire to talk about it, at least for a period of time.

(For you who are newbies to the HPJ site, I battle an acute case of Fibromyalgia, which is a pain disorder.  For a list of my previous entries on "Grace for the Pain," click here.)

The other night I lay in bed wide awake and almost beside myself.  The pain, from head to toe, and finger-tip to finger-tip, felt the same as when my elbow funny-bone has been whacked.  The same sensation, and this time it was the same pain level too.  What causes this?  Nobody really knows.

However, I am not writing this today in search of empathy, but rather as a testimony of God's sustaining power and comfort even as I walk through this trial.  Yes, God could take the pain away and fix my whole body with just a glance of His eyes (and I look forward to the day when that WILL happen!), but for now I also have the privilege of not just knowing the God who can calm the storm, but also the God who can sustain through the storm!

Sure some people say that if I just had more faith, God would heal me.  While I understand their sentiment and believe in the doctrine of faith and divine healing, I also know that there is MORE to life than healing (though I look forward to the day when healing WILL come to my body!).

One of the character traits that scripture articulates for us is that of perseverance.  And, perhaps unfortunately for our feelings, perseverance is not learned and developed just by reading a few scriptures, but also by experiencing (at times) lengthy trials of suffering (James 1).

So what is my faith doing right now?  Well, [1] it is growing stronger, [2] it is being proven true to Christ in the midst of suffering, and [3] it is being solidified and grounded in the fact that it isn't about me... it is about Him!

If you have been suffering lately, I can probably relate to one degree or another.  Perhaps some of your circumstances are worse than mine, and some of mine are worse than yours.  Regardless, we probably can "feel" each other's pain.  Today I would like to encourage you to set your heart upon the Lord.  Keep your heart on the right path.  Don't let pain, despair, circumstances, suffering, or anything else cause you to grow bitter toward God, yourself, or others.

Fight the good fight.  You may not feel like you can make it to tomorrow, but that is okay.  God will give to you what you need, even if it is just for the next minute, or even 30 seconds.  I have been in such pain at times, I could only think in terms of "I can make it for the next 5 seconds" and when the 5 seconds were up, I targeted another 5 seconds.  It was a long night that time, but I made it WITH the Lord at my side.  While I never want to go through another one of those nights again, neither do I want to trade the benefits that I have received in the building of my character, faith, and love for the Lord and the people around me.

Thanks for reading.  See you at the altar.

[PS.  If you too are in some kind of physical or emotional pain and really need someone to communicate with, please feel free to email me at David.Hall@LivingstoneGroup.com.  I may not have the answers, but maybe we can encourage each other in Christ.  Blessings.]