"Am I going to throw up?" Forces of queasiness were launching probing actions in my stomach. Within the hour I started to feel drained and exhausted. A searing headache .
My unease went beyond sickness. I'd started with a sore throat 2 days before but these didn't seem like cold symptoms. What they mirrored were symptoms I'd had 3 weeks earlier when the doctor told me I had Lyme Disease--a diagnosis the huge bullseye on my leg made easy. 5 more days of antibiotics attacking bacteria left courtesy of a tiny tick 4 weeks ago.
Colds. Lyme. Flat tires. Falling out with your mother-in-law. Your marriage ends. Teenage son is put in jail for DUI. You lose your job. An investment goes south. DISHNET goes out for the entire fourth quarter of the last game of the NBA finals. Seriously! OK, so it wasn't lifethreatening but we all have our burdens to bear.
Whether just inconvenient and trivial, or terminal and lifechanging, things don't always go right. Maybe often don't go right. Does that surprise you? In this world you will have trouble. Maybe that's one of Jesus' promises you haven't memorized. He was trying to warn his followers: expect stuff to go wrong. But immediately following the warning came this reassurance: But take heart! I have overcome the world.
Sitting upright on a recliner the last few nights, hoping to fall asleep, I ask God to heal me. But if he doesn't--or it takes longer than I think it should, Jesus has not failed me. He's never broken this promise in the midst of troubles: I will never leave you or forsake you. Troubled..., but never alone or without heaven's resources.
Praying !!!!
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