Persisting through illness
Today I want to reminisce about persistence and the part it plays in our lives when we face challenges. I’m working through some health issues which got me thinking about how in the past I got through challenges.
I think that when we go through any long term struggle it can be easy to give up.
Everything seems too hard.You have tried so hard and got no-where, so giving up seems to be the only option. I can sympathise, I did it.
I got to that point over and over again, first with M.E./Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and then later with repeated hospitalisations over septicaemia (blood poisoning) from burst abscesses deep in my back.
I can remember having an 11cm deep open wound requiring daily nurse visits for over 6 months and being unable to work or even function as a normal human being.
I gave up multiple times.
Persist with the medical profession
But I found that without my full participation the process stalled.
It wasn’t until I started to ask persistent questions of my nurses that they started to change things and we found a silver impregnated dressing made a difference. But when I lay silent, submitting to the indignity and pain of it all, the nurses just did their job and left.
I didn’t get answers or solutions until I was really determined to get answers.
I had to make multiple appointments with my GP, asking the same questions when the last visit didn't solve anything. In the end I think my doctors started to really seek answers for me simply because I was always in front of them….. annoying them.
Through persistence and nagging I was referred to have an elective surgery when I didn’t have an infection, to remove all the diseased tissue. This final surgery broke the cycle of blood poisoning, emergency surgery, antibiotics and slow recovery.
The biblical illustration is the persistent widow (Luke chapter 18) who bothered the judge and demanded justice until eventually the judge gave in and did the right thing, not because it was right but because he was sick of her annoying him.
This time on the sickness merry-go-round I am holding the medical profession responsible for finding solutions. I have been to my doctor repeatedly, and I know my doctor is thinking about my case and seeking answers. He knows I will be back and he will be expected to try something if the last idea didn’t work.
He will get no peace until I get peace.
Pursue God’s healing
The one thing I did do well in the past was pursue Gods healing. I asked for prayer every chance I got. If there was an alter call for people needing healing I was there.
If there was a call for people needing prayer for finances I was there – explaining that our finances were tight because I was ill so really I wanted healing as well as our finances prayed for.
If there was a call for people wanting prayer for spiritual issues, I was there and would ask for prayer for my spiritual issues because healing is a spiritual issue!
I was there. Anyone who offered to pray for me was gratefully accepted.
Ask for and expect help
What I also learnt is that I couldn’t always be persistent on my own.
I couldn’t be persistent in prayer when I was exhausted and miserable, so I learnt to rely on others to bring my case before God at times.
I couldn’t always be persistent with the doctors so I learnt to bother them as much as possible until they were seeking answers.
God puts us in community so we can support and love each other. Let people support and persist on your behalf when you are finding it tough.
Most of all – keep going, keep seeking answers, keep looking for healing and keep asking for help. Don't give up.
KG
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