trials – Page 9 – Jesus is for the Wounded

Off in the distance

Published on March 14, 2015March 14, 2015 by Jesus is for the WoundedLeave a comment

This is a tough one for me and likely for everyone reading this at some level or another. Let’s add a Biblical perspective:

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;
²⁶it is good to wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:25-26)

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. (Galatians 6:9)

And there is more from my own experience in life. Waiting on the Lord in the past was where my faith in Him was strengthened. I remember a time when the crisis was so severe that the Pastor and Elders in my church kept asking me how I was doing with the basics of life: eating, drinking enough fluids and sleeping. Yes, they were all a struggle. By the grace of God and many good sojourners I got through that season of life with sweet victory. And here I am again in another . . .

March 26th is the day that Steve and I hope everything will start to change for the better. As written in the potato chip blog, we believe that a dental procedure will vastly reduce if not eliminate the hours of daily convulsive episodes. Yesterday it was on and off for 24 hours! You know it’s bad when you see stars and are gasping for air. Despite nearly a hundred episodes, somehow I read a book while in lying in bed. It served to protect my mind from dwelling on the wretchedness when I could focus. I am hoping it preserves a few of the neuronal synapses in my brain from damage. And focusing despite the pain does carry me through the daytime, the nighttime. Talking to Jesus a lot is a given . . . .

Thirteen more days and this hell could be over. In one month will be the 3-year anniversary of when the tics began while thinking I needed to treat a clinical diagnosis of Lyme disease with a fancy Rife machine. The Beam Ray was a mistake for me. It has taken 3 long years and many failed attempts at various treatments to figure out what is causing the tazoring of my central nervous system. Lord willing with removal of the source of what could be “dental galvanism” in my head, I will begin to heal from so much. And so in my weakness I rest at the throne of grace that delivers me each day unto the next. Lord willing, I am going to get well. Off in the distance is the hope of this new beginning for me and my beloved, Stevers. We are hopeful that His goodness awaits.

Gentle Reader: Just wait for the shining glory of His light through the words on this page as that day comes. Are you ready for it? Brace for impact! It’s going to be a good day real soon! Like the old Barbara Streisand song goes, “there ain’t no tellin’ what a satisfied woman can do!” ;J

It depends on . . .

Published on March 8, 2015March 8, 2015 by Jesus is for the Wounded2 Comments

Don’t you just “love” when you ask what appears to you to be a focused question and the person to whom you are speaking starts his or her answer with, “It depends on . . .” Yeah, I have heard that a lot lately as I discuss product specs for my new company, Two Step Solutions. My husband is a brilliant mechanical engineer and a bit more focused than me, I guess. There is so much to consider so it depends on this or that parameter, application, material, use, and so on. Yet this reply can be a bit maddening too, ya know? :}]

Enter here a somewhat unusual perspective on the somber topic of suffering. I would have never wanted to hear a blanket answer as to how to handle my own private hell. I understand that Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale gently take an “it depends on” approach in their new book, Why Suffering. They recognize that for Christians, suffering poses both intellectual and emotional challenges: God loves and cares about all of our needs yet desires to meet us amidst the unique circumstances in which we find ourselves in as well. Here are some further insights from Vince Vitale in the Fall 2014 Issue of RZIM: Quarterly News, Views, and Insights.

But while pain can be a great obstacle (to belief in Christ), it is also one of the greatest reasons to turn to God. The more seriously we take the problem of suffering — indeed, the more seriously we take the people who suffer — the more we will be led to trust the God who can do something about it.

The challenge, I find, is that what each person needs when suffering is very personal. There is no one-size-fits-all . . . Ultimately, what we need is the presence of a loved one. And when we have the chance to be that loved one for another, our temporary presence can act as an invitation to a life with the One who is always present. One of the greatest gifts of the Christian life is that you never need to wonder if a loved one is near; you never need to wonder if a loved one understands. That Person is always with you even within you.

While suffering can be traced back to humanity’s fall into sin, Jesus is clear that we cannot assume from the fact that a person is suffering that it is their fault or that they are being punished. A second distinctive of the Christian response to suffering is this: God promises that one day He will wipe away every tear. What an amazing claim, that God himself will wipe away our tears.

And perhaps most unique is that the Christian God chose to suffer with us. Suffering’s greatest cruelty is its isolation. The Christian never suffers alone. (We point) emphatically to the Cross of Jesus Christ, to the Cross of the only God loving enough to suffer with us and for us. (p. 7)

May these words encourage you or your loved ones who are suffering. While the experience of suffering is unique to each of us, we are not alone in our time of need. God takes our angst seriously, suffers with us, and will deliver us one day. My prayer is that you will seek comfort in the person of Jesus Christ who loves you more than anyone, more than you can ever imagine. His Scripture reassures us this fact in Psalm 139:17-18:

How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

And that’s way more than my words can say. Take care Gentle Reader and do let me know how I may pray for you, k? JJ

True Hope, True Freedom, True Peace

Published on November 8, 2013November 8, 2013 by Jesus is for the WoundedLeave a comment

Watch video here:

My Hope with Billy Graham

Sometimes the night just passes unnoticed

Published on October 9, 2013October 9, 2013 by Jesus is for the Wounded4 Comments

Psalm 121

I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help? ²My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

³He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. ⁴Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. ⁶The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night.

⁷The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. ⁸The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.

I’ve heard this called the bedtime psalm. Sure beats the one I grew up with:

Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

If I die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.

The childhood prayer above offers me no comfort during a night like last night. If the worst outcome of 15 or so total hours of noxious symptoms last evening and overnight were to repeat itself, I would need the truth of God’s word on my mind and in my heart. Some wishful rhyme uttered as a “prayer” has only the fleeting power of a feel-good sentiment. It wouldn’t refresh my husband enough either to feed me or carry me to the bathroom again. Only God’s word has the power to transform our fragile lives, and I know He will transform mine someday. I know he sustains my beloved with supernatural strength. Only God’s word provides sustaining grace for all who suffer, for when sleep will not come.

This afternoon I must somehow get to 2 medical appointments despite the lethargy, pain, sweats, stiffness, low grade neck headache, ringing in my ears, and so on.

Oh Lord, I do hope these trials end soon! Maybe I can nap later this afternoon? Yawn.

Your God is not big enough

Published on September 8, 2013September 9, 2013 by Jesus is for the Wounded3 Comments

If you can’t have peace when sick in bed on a drop dead gorgeous afternoon . . . your God is not big enough.

When the dog looks at you with worried eyes because she heard you yelping from the bedroom with convulsions and you wonder if you’ll survive the day . . . your God is not big enough.

A doctor gives you a new medication to calm you down and maybe even lessen your suffering, it doesn’t, and you wonder if you’ll ever get past the wretchedness, the repeated disappointments . . . and your God is not yet big enough.

When you are frustrated that dinner is finished after midnight, you are up on the internet after 2:00 a.m. and you lose faith that you will ever have a normal life . . . your God is not big enough.

If every day poses a new test to your resolve and there is none left . . . you have not learned to rely on a God that is big enough.

When your blog glorifies your own accomplishments, makes you appear stronger than you really are, and claims to know anything separate from the One who made you . . . you have not allowed your God to be big enough.

And if you can find a way to convey how small yet how loved you really are, how your forgiveness spans as far as the east is from the west, and how there truly is hope beyond Lyme disease or what you can see . . . your God is becoming big enough to believe.

So if you are suffering in any way like me and find yourself in doubt, in pain, despairing, angry, lonely, or worse, it’s time we both face the fact there is a God who is big enough to carry all of our burdens. Let us come before His throne of grace this day and pour out our hearts to the One whose gracious thoughts towards us outnumber the grains of sand on the earth. He wept for each one of us, He sweat drops of blood for all of His children, He died a tortuous death for you and me, and He rose from the dead to save us from the burdens of all of our troubles in this life. In time, He will come again for you and for me to live with Him forever in paradise.

As you ponder this, I invite you to get to know just a little more: the God who is big enough. And if you have not yet invited Him into your heart, consider doing so this day too. You will see what a difference His love will make. Then you will say about the Lord Jesus Christ, His Word, His hope, His promises, the adventurous and mysterious life that he bestows upon us: I just can’t get enough!