Pain

Pain

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Pain is a relative term. As an RN on a busy orthopaedic unit, I learned that the slightest twinge can make a grown man cry. But I live with more than twinges, my nursing career sidelined by a pain that gnaws at me day and night. My pain begins with a capital “P”.

I walk a hard road. Not one system in my body is untouched, and no one knows why, but God meets me in my pain. Jesus understands because He suffered too. In the midst of my pain, God gives me Himself. When I can’t take another step, He carries me. In the middle of the night God speaks to me. When I feel like giving up, God reminds me that He has a purpose for me.

Maybe you suffer too. I can’t tell you how to do it. We each have our own path to trod. God’s purpose for me is not His purpose for you, but I know He has one. I know because He enables me every day. I can speak love to a hurting soul. I can write a poem that touches a wounded spirit. I can understand when someone loses heart and offer a listening ear. If my aching body can minister to someone’s hurting spirit, I am blessed.

Father, speak to those who hurt today. The source of their pain doesn’t matter. Your comfort is for everyone. Thank you that for caring enough to teach me to trust You every day. My pain shows that You’re not finished with me yet. Help me honor You by facing this trial in Your strength. Enable me to finish well because Your grace is sufficient for my every need.

© Copyright Norma Gail Thurston Holtman, February 16, 2016

Norma Gail is the author of the Christy Award nominated contemporary Christian romance, Land of My Dreams. A women’s Bible study leader for over 21 years, her devotionals and poetry have appeared at ChristianDevotions.us, the Stitches Thru Time blog, and in “The Secret Place.” She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, and the New Mexico Christian Novelists. Norma is a former RN who lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband of 40 years. They have two adult children.

Connect with Norma:

Website: www.normagail.org

Are You in Labor?

A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. (John 16:21, NKJV)

I gave this post a very unique title, I know. For those of you who have had children, you know the pain that brings. But you also know the reward that will eventually come from the pain. Once that child is in your arms, you forget all that pain. In this Scripture, we see the trials being compared to the pain of labor. In my Beth Moore study on the book of James, we talked about how our greatest joy can come through our greatest pain. We also talked about how the pain and joy can be swapped out. With labor, the pain you feel is swapped for the joy of that precious child. So let me ask you this question ladies. Are you going to give up before your baby is born? In other words, are you going to give up before the trial is over? Oh I know we want to give up at times, I know I do. But we also know that out of our pain can come our passion. What are you passionate about? In childbirth, you're passionate about getting that baby out. In our trials, what are we passionate about? So let me ask once more, are you going to give up before your baby is born? I pray we won't.

Father, thank You for the joy only You give. Lord sometimes we don't feel joyful, but praise God it isn't about feelings. Help us Lord to see the joy even in the midst of our greatest pain. In Jesus name, Amen.  

Lord Do You See?

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” (Gennesis 16:13, NKJV)

I titled this post with a question that I'm sure we've all asked. I konw I did this weekend. My plans to see a dear friend had fallen through, and I was (and still am at times) wrestling with questions in my mind. "Lord why isn't this happening?" "This is the third time this has been canceled, why Lord?" Ladies, I felt as if I was all alone. I felt like God wasn't anywhere I turned. But the reminder of a dear friend once again reminded me that He is there. He is El Roy. He is the God who sees. He sees my frustration. He sees my disappointment. He sees my pain. Are you in a place where you feel God isn't anywhere in your circumstances? Ladies, He's right there. He knows what you're going through, and He cares. Let me encourage you, call out to Him. Tell him you're hurting, after all He's been there. He's struggled with disappointment. He's struggled with pain. He's struggled with everything that we as humans struggle with. So, call out to El Roy. He sees you, and He'll see you through your storm of despair.

Dear Lord, thank You for being El Roy. Thank You Lord that even when we don't feel you near, You've never left us. You've never left our side. I pray for each of my readers. Give them the comfort that You so long for them to have. Lord we love You and we praise You. Amen.

His WORD, True Peace in the Midst of Pain and Struggle

Hebrews 13:5 "For He has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you "

If I had listen to the enemy, I would have missed seeing the beauty of a blue bird outside my kitchen window, hearing my husband say "I love you", my friends voice and her laughter over the phone and I would have missed this opportunity to share my heart with you.
First of all, I want you to know I am not a writer, a "THINKER", but not a writer.
I feel I am the least among the least,  but as small as we may feel, we all have a life story to tell.
I believe we preach our very own funeral each day.
Since my journey with the Lord, which began in 1976 it has been my heart's desire to be a vessel for Him and one in which He can use.
Over the past year and a half, I have struggled with health issues arising from a congenital disease that I never knew I had.
Through all the Doctor appointments, three surgeries in a four month span, a broken ankle, medical bills, not to mention all the pain pills that I had been given that was  suppose to fix it all.
I tried to continue my daily life of being a wife, work a full time job,host a weekly TV program and singing every weekend with our Gospel Music group became a struggle for me. I tried to stay strong and smile through the pain, but each day was becoming an issue for me.
I prayed, sang songs, read the Word, quoting Bible verses, later I found myself so wrapped up in the pain that I did not want to pray, sing, read or even quote verses. I only wanted out of the pain.
In my Spirit I knew that God had not left my side, because His Holy Spirit dwells within me, even though at times He felt so far away. These following words never left my memory, "I will never leave you nor forsake you".
You ask me how I know, I am glad you ask, almost thirty-six years ago I ask Jesus to forgive me of my sins, been to church all my life, never been a bad person, but you can not good or work your way into Heaven, Jesus' precious blood has to be applied to your soul. Since that Sunday in 1976, this girl has never been the same. I took Him and all His promises to me that He has listed in His Word.
Often in the midst of the pain and the daily struggles of life, the enemy would put thoughts into my mind telling me that God had forsaken me, just as my parents did, He was not hearing my prayers, I was not going to get any better and God was finished with me.
No one knows what I am about to share with you, but for a while I listen to the lies of Satan and began to play it out in my mind how I could end my own life by taking all the pain pills I had been given. I feel so ashamed to share this with you, because I never thought I could ever get to that point in my life. Being a Christian we should have enough faith and trust in God not to think things of sort.
I want you to know that Satan knows just when and where to attack us and he continued to attack my health over and over. My faith was strong enough not to go out and willfully sin against God, but my health kept me in a mind set of not being able to do what I loved in life and serving God. The enemy knew he could not get to my heart, so he used my health, family, job and our finances to keep me oppressed.
You feel so alone when you are oppressed in the midst of pain and struggle.
My only hope and source was God because my husband and friends could not fix me.
In my despair and at the end of my rope, it was either take the pills or sit down at the piano. I sat down at the piano and began to sing a song, My Shepherd's Voice, my heart broke and I remember my prayer as I cried out to God, "I can not take it any more, I can not worry about the out come of my health, if I never get healed and out of pain, if I lose everything I am still going to trust You, because I know You have never left me and You will not forsake me. If this is what it takes for me to totally trust You or for someone else to see your hand on my life, this is my cross and I will carry it in Jesus' name."
From that moment on , I have not listen to the lies of the enemy of my soul. Even as I type this, I am not totally where I would like to be in my health, but I have a peace that surpasses all understanding and I know that my God loves me with a love that I can not comprehend and better yet, His blood covers my life and I can trust Him even in the valley of sickness as well as on the mountain top.....I have found His promise to be true, "I will never leave you nor forsake you".

"My God in Heaven, You know who is reading this devotion today, You knew they would over 2000 years ago as You looked through the scope of time. It is my prayer if they do not know You as their personal Savior, that You would knock upon their hearts door. For those that know You and they are in the midst of pain and struggle, Father right now the same promise Your Word has for me, You have it for them as well. Let them feel Your peace that surpasses all of our understanding, I bind the lies of Satan from their life as they grab onto Your promise, that You will never leave them nor forsake them. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to share with others, that we are all human and not a one of us are above the pain and struggles that life brings. Thank You Father for being my God and for keeping Your promise to me, in Jesus' name I pray."

Donna Hannah-Boswell - Guest Blogger