Prayer request for pain relief

“Piper observed, “The common feature of the
faith that escapes suffering and the faith that endures suffering is
this: both of them involve believing that God Himself is better than
what life can give to you now, and better than what death can take
from you later.” All to say, no matter what comes our way in this
life, God wants to be our TREASURE.

“Faith is utterly in love with all that God will be for us beyond the
grave. Faith loves God more than life. Faith loves God more than
family. Faith loves God more than job or retirement plans or ministry
or writing books or building the dream house or making the first
million. Faith says, “Whether God handles me tenderly or gives me
over to torture, I love him. He is my reward (Heb 11:6), the builder
of the city I long for (11:10), the treasure beyond the riches of Egypt
(11:26), and the possession that surpasses all others and abides for
ever (10:34).” –Piper

 

I am up in the wee hours with pain. The pain from the mastectomy is no big deal–that part of the surgery left my chest numb–it’s all the discomfort that resulted from removing all those lymph nodes that is really wearing me down.  I had no idea that it would hurt so much, especially this 24/7 tourniquet/inflated blood pressure sensation that is on my left upper arm constantly.   I am taking pain medication as prescribed along with an OTC anti-inflammatory the surgeon recommended on Monday when I told her how much pain I am still having but it is not working very well.  Thankfully it does reduce the pain in my armpit, side, and back and allows me to do the movement and exercise I need to be doing on that arm and I am working hard on using that arm as much as I can.  I was given a different medication for pain at the hospital (Percocet) but it left me feeling very drugged and ill and I don’t intend to take that one ever again.    I would really appreciate it if the Lord eased up the pain soon, but if He doesn’t choose to do that, that He will give me grace and do the work He wants to do in my heart through all this.  Could folks please pray for relief from this pain and courage and strength as I anticipate the treatment plans soon ahead of me?  Thanks.

 

Below are the verses that I am reading and meditating on this morning.

 

The joy of the Lord is my strength,

 

Paula

 

 

Matthew 11:28-30 ²⁸ Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

 

2 Corinthians 4:7-5:10 (New Living Translation)

 ⁷ We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.^[a] This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

 ⁸ We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. ⁹ We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. ¹⁰ Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

 ¹¹ Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. ¹² So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.

 ¹³ But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.”^{[b] 14} We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus,^[c] will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. ¹⁵ All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.

 ¹⁶ That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are^[d] being renewed every day. ¹⁷ For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! ¹⁸ So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

2 Corinthians 5

New Bodies

 ¹ For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. ² We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. ³ For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.^{[e] 4} While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. ⁵ God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. ⁶ So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. ⁷ For we live by believing and not by seeing. ⁸ Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. ⁹ So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. ¹⁰ For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10  

 ⁸ Three different times I begged the Lord to take it (my thorn in the flesh) away. ⁹ Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. ¹⁰ That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.