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Is There Any Hope at All?
We often feel that our life is with out hope, when we find ourselves face pain on a daily bases. It is this sense of
hopelessness that can drive you to thoughts of suicide, or it can drive you straight into the arms of the Lord.
The direction of your thoughts depend totally on how you choose to focus your attention. If your thoughts are
totally on how God has failed to heal you, or on the future pain you know you are going to continue to feel, dark
thoughts of ending your life will invade your thoughts. After all, it is human to want to be pain free. But if your thoughts
are focused upon the Lord, the desire for life will always prevail over any dark thoughts, despite the reality of a future
filled with pain.
If any one understand pain, Job did! He also understood, the struggle we all face when we dealing with pain on a daily
bases. He understood lose, and he understood the emotional ups and downs, that we face on a daily bases. And he
didn't always face them with a positive attitude.
Job was an upright man of God, who walked closely with God. Yet, his trial of illness and tragedy pressed his
faith into a corner. Illness is very hard on faith. A tragedy that results in loss of property, of a job, or the loss of a
love one can test the limits of our faith. A crisis of pain and illness can quickly become a trial of doubts, and begin
to press hard on our faith. Doubts begin to play games with our minds, as we struggle to accept the limitations that
have been placed upon our lives by our illness. We soon find ourselves lost in a world of confusion and uncertain
concerning the future and what it holds for us.
Pain of illness speak a strange language , it plays tricks on our mind and on our emotions. When pain begins
to bore through our body in waves , our minds begin to become clouded and we begin to imagine strange things
like- God doesn't exist, God has gone on vacation, God is punishing me for being a sinful person, God doesn't care…
Why me God?
When we are in physical pain, we often look towards God for the solution to our misery. And when that solution
doesn't come as we expect it to come, we begin to blame either ourselves , God ,or satin. Some of us take on
the same attitude as Job and begin to take upon ourselves the full responsibility for our own pain and illness. We begin to
look into own life looking for one particular sin that we committed that cause God to believe that He had to punish
us in such a painful way. On the other hand some of us choose to lay the blame directly on the door step of God,
accusing Him of failing to fulfilling His responsibility as a loving father and heal our body of our infirmities. And some
of us enter and endless battle against that powers of darkness, laying the blame for our illness squarely on satins
doorstep. But as the battle rages, exhaustion of the fight set in and a sense of defeat fallows as our body continued
to wage its own war against illness.
Whether we blame ourselves , blame God , or blame satin the results are the same , we begin to bow down
to the destructive habit of self-pity. We soon find ourselves struggle with irrational thoughts like- If only God
would heal me than my life would be happier. If only God would heal me than I would have friends I could
depend upon . If only God would heal me than I could do His work fulfill His calling upon my life. If only God
would heal me than I would have a closure relationship with my husband. If only God would stop punishing me,
If only I could figure out where I had gone wrong. If only satin would bow to the authority of Jesus……..If only! If only!!!
I have learned that blaming ourselves, God , or satin (for that matter) is counter-productive. Laying the blame
paralyze our minds and effect our faith. As we give into our habit of laying the blame, and giving into doubts
we begin to feel immobilized by despair and depression. We soon begin to be over whelmed by a sense of the
hopelessness of our situations and thoughts of suicide begin to invade our mind.
As Job gave into his thoughts of despair, Gods answer to Jobs was simple, Gird up now thy loins like a man
(Job 38:3). In other words, rise up and be a man…. Or a women of self-respect. Stop wallowing in the garbage
pit of despair!
A Light of Hope
One of my favorite scriptures of HOPE is ( Mark 5:25-26) It says: And a certain women which had an issue of blood twelve years, and suffered many things of many physicians
and had spent all that she had and was nothing bettered , but rather grew worse. When she had heard of Jesus,
came in the press behind , and touched His garment.
We don't even know her name , but we do know her situation. For twelve long years she suffered from
excessive bleeding, caused by a disorder of the her uterus. Such a situation is difficult in our time to deal with,
but in the era that she grew up in her condition was not only painful and hard to deal with , it also ostracized
her from society. For a Jewess nothing could be worse, simple because, no part of her life was left unaffected….
* Socially - she had to separate herself from people because she was her religion said she was unclean
* Sexually- she could not be touch by her husband
* Maternally- she couldn't bare children
* Domestically- any thing she touched was considered unclean
* Spiritually - she was not allowed to enter the temple
* Emotionally -she was lost in a world of loneliness, despair and depression.
As a result, of her condition she was physically and emotionally exhausted.
She naturally sought out the care of the medical profession of her time. ( v 26) She spent all she had ,
adding financial strain to her stituation. Many people who have found themselves dealing with ongoing
medical treatment, soon find themselves being hounded by creditors who demand payment . This can be as
devastating to their self-respect as any physical pain. But nothing can ware you down faster than to realize
that despite all the money that you have spent so far, nothing has helped to fix your health problem. In fact,
despite the money that she spent on medical help, her condition grew worse.
This women, like so many of us, awoke every day to the reality that she most face another day of misery. But a glimmer of
HOPE began to light her way, when she heard that a very important man of God was coming to her community.
He was coming to help the daughter of an important man name Jairus. Her HOPE was born out of desperation ,
as she realized that unless she took a chance and reached out to Jesus, then the odds that she would die because
of the complications associated with her condition was great. She also knew that she was considered unclean,
so she couldn't in all conscience speak to Him, but if she could but touch His clothes maybe that would be enough.
For she said, if I may touch His clothes, I shall be whole ( Mark 5:28) Her FAITH was not based on what
she knew as a reality in her life, but on the change she HOPED would happen once she reached out and
touched Jesus. For Faith is the substance of things HOPED for, the evidence of things not seen.
(Hebrews 11:1)
As she walked towards the crowd she knew that she was taking a chance. She knew that she
would have to touch the people around her, and if any of them recognized her she would find her
self being rebuked and pushed away, and in the process lose her chance to be cured. But what
other choice did she have? She has no money left for medical treatment, and besides there was no medical
solution to her problem. But what she does have is HOPE in Jesus.
God greatest gift to His children has been the ability to HOPE. HOPE allows us to look beyond our
pain and fear of the future. HOPE allows us to look at our marriage and see what it could be, and not
what it is. HOPE gives us the strength to face another day of pain and uncertainty. HOPE guided the
hand of this desperate women as she reached out and touched Jesus.
Her HOPE was rewarded as she reached out touched Him, for immediately she felt His healing power
flow through her. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body
that she had been healed of that plague. ( Mark 5:29)
Jesus knew the minute that He had been touched. He had been touched before by many people,
after all He was always in a crowd. But this touch was different, because it touched the very Spirit that
resided with Him. Jesus looked into her eyes and saw her inner pain and realized that it took great courage
and faith to do what she had done. And He said to her in His gentle way; …..Daughter they faith has
made thee whole, go in peace and be whole of thy plague. (Mark 5:34)
We know with out even thinking to much about it, that this women never forgot Jesus or what He had
done for her. And that she spent the rest of her life resting in the peace that His healing had brought into
her life. In fact, she could have even been the women Veronica, who walked beside Him as He carried the
cross to Calvary and whipped the blood from His forehead. Or one of the women that knelled at the foot of the
cross, with tears of compassion flowing down their check. But whether she was Veronica or not it really doesn't
matter. What really matters is that one moment of HOPE, one action of FAITH was all it took to change her life
forever.
Living In A World of Possibilities
It is not easy to face our illness with courage and faith. Fear of the unknown can cause us to feel like
we need to run and hide. Fear of the unknowns can rob us of our HOPE and send us down a dark path
of hopelessness. Hopelessness born our of our fear as we look upon our situation as it is ,and not what it
could be. But God has graced every child of God with the ability to HOPE. HOPE allows us to look at a
future that is always filled with possibilities. There is always the possibility that some day there will be a cure
for our diseases ,and if not a cure at least a medication that will makes us feel better. There is always a
possibility that our marriage can be fixed, with God help. There is always a possibility that right around the
corner there is someone willing to give us a helping hand.
HOPE allows us to look at the future and realized that in the end our HOPE lies with Jesus.
Looking unto Jesus that author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured
that cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God ( Hebrews 12:2)
TRUE FAITH is not only based on the belief in God and His Son, but on our belief that with their help any thing is
possible. Even if we can't see the future clearly, we still have faith that God will do what is right to insure that our future
is a peaceful one, filled with all kind of possibilities.
When we begin to see a future with all kinds of possibilities with God help our faith grows and with our faith
comes courage to face tomorrow. The courage to find the healing that our heart longs to experience in this life.
Hope The First Step Towards Healing
As we look upon this women's life we soon realize that the healing in her life began the moment
that she began to have HOPE. The moment that she realized that HOPE was all that she had left.
Her HOPE caused her to move forward, to gain the courage to reach out and touch Jesus, and her
FAITH in Jesus made her whole. Healing begins when we take the first step, and begin to realize that
there is HOPE . And that the HOPE comes from keeping our eyes on God, and allowing His Son to give
us His strength. HOPE is born out of our FAITH in Jesus Christ.
TRUE FAITH in Jesus Christ leave no part of our lives untouched. Faith in Jesus has the power to touch
our minds , our hearts, and will. If our faith is only based on an intellectual understanding of the word and
what it says to be true about Jesus, then we will probable never move beyond our doubts. But when faith in
Him truly touches our heart, we begin to look past our present situation and begin to see all kinds of possibilities.
When faith in Him touches our will , we begin to gain the courage to face life openly and honestly about our life. When faith
in Him touches our minds, we begin to question the teachings that have come from the "Church", teaching that
have keep us in bondage rather than set us free.
Faith in Jesus gives us the ability to HOPE for a brighter future! One filled with many possibilities. HOPE
opens our heart and sets us free! HOPE gives us the ability to reach out and touch the lives those around us.
HOPE gives us the ability to build sound and healthy relationship with those we love. HOPE heals our heart
from the pain of yesterday! And the pain of tomorrow!
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I have written My life story, and placed it on CD in the form of a E-book. My story is not simply a story of my
battle with chronic illness and pain, it is a story about the condition of my own HEART as I traveled the road towards
healing. I hope as I share my story, that you will gain a little insight into the condition of your own HEART. For our personal journey in life, is never as unique as may have come to believe!
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