Substituting Praise for Pain
I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart. I will tell all the miracles you have done. I will be happy because of you. God Most High, I will sing praises to your name. Ps. 9:1, 2, EB.
Sometimes it seems as if the whole world comes crashing in on you at once. My husband’s back problem threatened to leave him a helpless cripple. My father-in-law died. Benji, our firstborn, hemorrhaged and was facing surgery. Then it happened . . .
A blowout forced me to the side of the road. I remember bending down to fit the jack, and the next thing I knew, I was picking myself up from down the embankment. Someone had sideswiped my car.
Not until a couple hours later did the pain hit—excruciating, nauseating pain shot down from my shoulder through my body, leaving my head throbbing. “Probably just a pulled muscle,” the doctor said.
A couple weeks later I became incapacitated with pain spasms so severe that I’d lose consciousness. I was hospitalized for a month, then bedridden at home for six months with pain so intense that I almost existed on morphine. Later a doctor in Edmonton said he’d never seen such a severe reverse whiplash and exclaimed, “You should have been killed instantly!” I owe my life to being in peak physical condition. My body simply bent instead of breaking! But as a result of the stress on my system I had come down with Fibromyalgia, a disease that now forces me to live in constant pain.
At first I fought it, became depressed, and felt a burden to my family. My negative attitude put a chasm between me and God. But as I began to read and pray, I came to realize that I was responsible for my own health and happiness. I needed to accept my condition and live life within my limits. My worth was not tied to my works.
I believe God is in the process of healing me. I may never be free of pain. The miracle is that He is giving me an attitude of praise that supersedes the pain. When I begin to count my blessings—when I focus on praising Him—I don’t notice the pain.
What are you thankful for today? How can you live in an attitude of praise all day?
Sometimes it seems as if the whole world comes crashing in on you at once. My husband’s back problem threatened to leave him a helpless cripple. My father-in-law died. Benji, our firstborn, hemorrhaged and was facing surgery. Then it happened . . .
A blowout forced me to the side of the road. I remember bending down to fit the jack, and the next thing I knew, I was picking myself up from down the embankment. Someone had sideswiped my car.
Not until a couple hours later did the pain hit—excruciating, nauseating pain shot down from my shoulder through my body, leaving my head throbbing. “Probably just a pulled muscle,” the doctor said.
A couple weeks later I became incapacitated with pain spasms so severe that I’d lose consciousness. I was hospitalized for a month, then bedridden at home for six months with pain so intense that I almost existed on morphine. Later a doctor in Edmonton said he’d never seen such a severe reverse whiplash and exclaimed, “You should have been killed instantly!” I owe my life to being in peak physical condition. My body simply bent instead of breaking! But as a result of the stress on my system I had come down with Fibromyalgia, a disease that now forces me to live in constant pain.
At first I fought it, became depressed, and felt a burden to my family. My negative attitude put a chasm between me and God. But as I began to read and pray, I came to realize that I was responsible for my own health and happiness. I needed to accept my condition and live life within my limits. My worth was not tied to my works.
I believe God is in the process of healing me. I may never be free of pain. The miracle is that He is giving me an attitude of praise that supersedes the pain. When I begin to count my blessings—when I focus on praising Him—I don’t notice the pain.
What are you thankful for today? How can you live in an attitude of praise all day?
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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