Weeping Wounds
For a while now, I have been dealing with a circulation issue in my lower legs, which leads to blisters, which pop and form nasty sores. These got infected (two different kinds of infection), and I have been having a tough time getting it all sorted out.
Doctors' visits have led to more visits, and there are more to come. Prayers are appreciated.
When the pain gets really bad, it hurts to walk, to move, to sit still, to do anything at all.
When it's at its worst, I have wondered (despairingly) if it wouldn't be better to have no leg below the knee - or an artificial one, at least - than to put up with the persistent weeping wounds and sharp pains.
This morning, as I pondered the pain, asking God to help me make it to and through worship services, staring at my wounds, I suddenly heard God say to me, "This is what your sin does to you".
My sins start out so small, and lead to other problems. Unattended, unaddressed, they cause painful blisters that eventually pop and create open, nasty wounds. Spiritual wounds. Things that keep me from being completely healthy, completely whole.
You've asked Me to heal your physical wounds, and the underlying causes of them - to address your systemic illnesses and keep the damage from returning, I hear God saying to me.
Are you asking Me to heal your spiritual wounds, and the underlying causes of them - to address your spiritual illnesses and keep the damage from returning?
You ask and do not receive because you don't ask for the right things.
My dad's sermon this morning was "Dealing with Disappointment," from 2 Corinthians 1:1-11. In disappointment, we should focus on who God is to us, what God wants to do for us, and what He wants to do through us.
How can I best praise God through this? Look above my body to the Creator and Healer. Focus on Him.
What does God want to do for me? Teach me to trust Him above all else? It seems I've been on the receiving end of that lesson my whole life. I'm a slow learner, apparently.
What does God want to do through me? Show others how to depend on Him through hardship. As He comforts me (is with me in His strength) I should comfort others in the way - sharing with them the light that flows through me from the Light of the World, the living water that has sprung up within me from the Living Water, and the power of His presence and His grace.
Doctors' visits have led to more visits, and there are more to come. Prayers are appreciated.
When the pain gets really bad, it hurts to walk, to move, to sit still, to do anything at all.
When it's at its worst, I have wondered (despairingly) if it wouldn't be better to have no leg below the knee - or an artificial one, at least - than to put up with the persistent weeping wounds and sharp pains.
This morning, as I pondered the pain, asking God to help me make it to and through worship services, staring at my wounds, I suddenly heard God say to me, "This is what your sin does to you".
My sins start out so small, and lead to other problems. Unattended, unaddressed, they cause painful blisters that eventually pop and create open, nasty wounds. Spiritual wounds. Things that keep me from being completely healthy, completely whole.
You've asked Me to heal your physical wounds, and the underlying causes of them - to address your systemic illnesses and keep the damage from returning, I hear God saying to me.
Are you asking Me to heal your spiritual wounds, and the underlying causes of them - to address your spiritual illnesses and keep the damage from returning?
You ask and do not receive because you don't ask for the right things.
My dad's sermon this morning was "Dealing with Disappointment," from 2 Corinthians 1:1-11. In disappointment, we should focus on who God is to us, what God wants to do for us, and what He wants to do through us.
How can I best praise God through this? Look above my body to the Creator and Healer. Focus on Him.
What does God want to do for me? Teach me to trust Him above all else? It seems I've been on the receiving end of that lesson my whole life. I'm a slow learner, apparently.
What does God want to do through me? Show others how to depend on Him through hardship. As He comforts me (is with me in His strength) I should comfort others in the way - sharing with them the light that flows through me from the Light of the World, the living water that has sprung up within me from the Living Water, and the power of His presence and His grace.
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