A Better Way
10/10/2014 15:21
A few weeks ago I tried to post my weekly blog on my Facebook wall, but encountered a little problem. Usually, a picture from my blog gets picked up and shows up with my blog title. That day however, my pictures seemed to have gone on strike. There wasn’t one to be seen. I wasn’t happy; but there was not much I could do about it.
Later that week when I posted the blog on my Author page, I found something very interesting. Here (unlike on my own page) I was allowed to add a picture if I wanted to. Exactly what I needed. As I mused upon my discovery, I realised that that there was now a way around my problem. A better way to do it. I could use my Author page as a springboard to what I sought. The next Monday I tried it. And yes, it worked. Hooray.
I first shared the blog link on my Author page. Next I inserted a relevant picture on it. Then I shared the link from my Author’s page on my own timeline. Finally I deleted the one on the Author page. Problem solved. I was so pleased. Often, there is a way around a problem isn’t there? I have been seeking healing for my fibromyalgia for many many years. While I’ve accepted it to a certain degree (because ‘acceptance’ I believe is one of the keys to doing life) I have never given up asking God for healing.
I don’t believe God wants me to keep struggling with it because it diminishes my life so much. It prevents me from doing all I could do to bless His world. Last year, I stopping eating/drinking my much enjoyed dairy products (a big sacrifice for me) and wondered if that was my answer. Because immediately, my pain and exhaustion became more manageable. Wonderful. Unfortunately, this year brought change. After being laid up in bed for 6 weeks after my operation in January, my fibromyalgia reared its ugly head again in a big way.
My battle with this debilitating illness made me seek God for healing with renewed purpose and passion. I continued to ask for prayer. I continued to search for help. And I just might have found it. Research on the Internet located a hopeful supplement. Fibro sufferers are said to be often deficient in Magnesium. I decided to give it a go. My preliminary trial was very hopeful. I felt better rightaway. That was amazing. I rode high like an Eagle scaling the mountains.
Unfortunately I soon hit a snag. Strong tummy pain and unpleasant nausea came to visit – and they were most unwelcome. I’d exchanged one set of symptoms for another. I had to back off. I stopped taking the supplements for awhile. Then began again but in very small doses so my body could cope. I have been struggling lately with discouragement. A 'normal life' (after 9 long years) is so near and yet so far. Feeling very ill and nauseous has sapped my fighting spirit. And yet, I am determined to keep fighting it and to claim God’s victory. I WILL NOT GIVE UP.
The other day, I re-read the story of David’s battle with Goliath. A truly fascinating account. David was just a boy. But not ‘just a boy’. David was a boy who was filled with courage. His bravery came from years of relying on God to fight his battles. ‘The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine”. David didn’t have Goliath’s magnitude on his side. But he did have what matters most. Total trust in God. Obedience. Courage. Fighting not for himself but for God. No wonder God honoured him and gave him victory.
I wonder what kind of battle you are facing today. If you are discouraged – please do hang in there. Don’t forget that there are many ways of fighting a battle. God places in our hands human resources which often help us – like he gave David a pebble and a sling which enabled him to win his encounter with the giant. But there are other ways of fighting our battles. Other means we should always draw on.
I am trying to find a way of getting that much needed Magnesium into my system even though sadly, all my efforts so far have come to naught. But I will persevere. I will continue to hope - a candle burning bright within my heart. And just as David’s hope wasn’t in his stone, my hope isn’t in a magical supplement. My hope is in my God who has come through for me time and time and time again. His word encourages me on.
“He who did not spare His own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” Romans 8:32
The Christian’s weapons are unique weapons are they not? Faith. Hope. Trust. His Word. Love. Prayer. Obedience. The Holy Spirit. The God who has rescued us before will do it again. As sure as the run rises each morning, His promises continue to ring out the truth. Your hope (and mine) is not in our circumstances or in our own strength. Our hope is in the Living God. He has already won the war. He will also win our battles in His time and in His way. So don’t give up. Begin praising Him even before He answers. The God of Angel armies is at your side.
“The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.” Psalm 145: 18,19
