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It's a monster. It influences everything you think and do. Pain killers don't help, not really, and never for long. It causes temper flares, self-centered thinking, depression, anxiety and a host of other negative emotions. Worst of all, it's daily. We will discuss various ways to face the monster daily.

 

First of all, let's look at the pain monster right in the eye. Why is it there? Why is it invading your life and challenging your every move?

 

Because that's its job. It's your body's alarm that something is wrong, seriously wrong, and until you face it head on, you will never get any release.

 

There are all kinds of causes for pain. A broken leg screams for immediate attention, but you know that there is a cure. It's not the same kind of pain of cancer, for which we are told there may be no cure at all. There is also the pain of a mismanaged surgery. You would treat each cause with a different solution. For example, you'd take a trip to the hospital to take care of the broken leg. You'd want to follow your doctor's advice to treat your cancer. You might sue for damages after a mismanaged surgery.

 

But we're not talking about those kinds of solutions. We're talking about the monster itself: how to deal with the pain on a daily basis. I'm sure if you broke your leg, you'd get it set and cast. That is the long-term solution, with a whole, healed leg as the result – in a few months. With cancer, a whole plethora of choices are available to you, from the traditional burn, cut and poison methods to natural ways that actually remove the cancer itself. This might take years, no matter which route you choose. Although I'm not a fan of lawsuits, there are times when the perpetrator must make amends, such as the surgeon who botched his surgery. You shouldn't need to pay twice for the surgery, once for the botch and another for the correction. In the meantime, you are still hurting and your life is at the mercy of the monster.

 

Or is it?

 

We are living in a time when God is actively moving throughout the people – worldwide. People are being healed, eyesight restored, limbs replaced, ears opened and diseases absolutely abolished. In some cases, even the dead are being restored to life! Yes. It's happening now, in this day and age, all around us.

 

If I had my way, that's the route I'd choose, an immediate removal of the problem. In fact, that's the method I used after pneumonia took away the complete functioning of my lungs. I was told that I would be on oxygen for the rest of my life. I learned how to cook it parts, with my oxygen off while I stirred a soup on the stove, and back on while I cut vegetables.

 

But in a vision, I saw myself in the future fixing a fence with no oxygen bottle or tubing in sight. In the first place, I know very little about fixing fences, but the part that amazed me was that I was breathing normally. In fact, I was a little ticked that the person who was supposed to do the job never did, leaving it for me.

 

I held onto that vision with both hands. During worship at church, I decided to stand with the rest of the congregation and enjoy worship – without my oxygen engaged. I could only do it for a couple of minutes at a time at first. At home, I practiced deep breathing. (I still practice deep breathing. It calms me down.) I monitored my oxygen frequently. I kept repeating to myself, “I am healed. God showed me a picture of me healed, and it's mine.” I am now three years without any oxygen bottles or equipment.

 

You may or may not subscribe to spiritual healing, even though it's amazing, and it's real. In fact, it's more real than any disease or condition. But as I said earlier, pain is your body's alarm system. Something is seriously wrong, and it needs to be looked at.

 

Our minds are far more powerful than we realize. We can eliminate pain with a thought, once we learn how. I've read about this. I know this, even though I don't know how to do it. When I hurt, I really hurt, and no amount of positive thinking stops the pain. But how we think is definitely a tool we must use. We'll get to that later. It's important.

 

Another way is to find the cause of the pain and address that cause. It may not be readily visible. Get professional advice, but also do your own research. You were given an excellent mind. This is the time to use it. This is not the time to feel helpless and hopeless. You may need physical therapy to exercise some tiny muscles that you've never heard of before. You may need to change your diet. You may need to become far more physical, or ease up on a particular activity that you've been doing.

 

Regardless, you DO need to refocus your attention. Like I said, you have an excellent mind. Look at what you are telling yourself:

 

“I've got this condition that is debilitating! If it gets worse, who will take care of my disabled husband? I'm the only one he's got.” (helpless)

 

“I've prayed and prayed and prayed, and nothing is working. I know God has a plan for my life, so He can just fix this so I can do what He wants. I certainly can't do it right now.” (blaming God)

 

“People know I'm hurting. How can I work through this when people are on my case all the time?” (blaming others)

 

“If that stupid doctor had done his business right, I wouldn't be going through this right now. It's all his fault!” (blaming the cause)

 

“I can't do anything right now. How can I get this business started if I can't work on it? Why do people keep expecting me to do what I can't?” (helpless)

 

“God must really hate me, otherwise I wouldn't be going through all of this.” (self-accusing)

 

“It's just my lot in life. There's nothing anyone can do.” (hopeless)

 

“I wish I were dead.” (really hopeless. Be careful of this one. Words are far more powerful than we realize. You can really wish yourself into an early grave.)

 

You know the rest. You've probably been repeating a litany of phrases like these for a very long time. It's time to take control of your self-talk. It's the one thing you can control. All of the above phrases are KEEPING you in pain. Abolish them.

 

Just a note here: Sometimes we hold onto a pain because we feel that it's a part of us. We identify with it. (Example: “I've been a diabetic most of my life.”) It's our punishment, or we deserve it.

 

Those are lies. Let go of them. Replace them with the truth, that God really did make you exceptional and He really does have an amazing plan for your life. You must let go of the lies and begin making a habit of focusing on the truth. “... whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

 

I wake up expecting God to go with me with each step. “Yay, Lord! We made it to the bathroom! Now we're heading to the living room where You're going to use my exercises to ease the muscle spasms in my hips and buttocks. You're always with me. I never need to do this alone!”

 

Yes, this is personal. I wake up each morning in pain so great that even with my walker I can barely take a single step. Yet I must go to the bathroom. I must use my shocked, overactive muscles to push out that last bit of urine because I don't want a urinary tract infection in addition to a piriformis condition that is crippling me.

 

Then I sing phrases (in my head. I don't want to wake up my husband.) such as “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” Not only is that a song, it's a line of Scripture. The Word of God is one weapon that Satan can't abide. The truth is, GOD doesn't want you in pain. He wants to empower you with tools that defeat the pain Satan is causing. Satan, however, wants you as incapacitated as possible. Don't give him the satisfaction.

 

Then I do some gentle stretches. I get on the floor and lie down on my back. That alone is a mild stretching exercise. It takes my muscle spasms from a half hour to a whole hour to release so that I can walk with out a walker. Then I try to sit, which always hurts for another half an hour. But I sit anyway because I want my morning quiet time. God is my only source of strength. I would hate to be without Him.

 

The next thing I must do is fix breakfast. My husband isn't able to cook. There is quite a bit that a person on a walker can do, but he also has very poor balance. If he should fall, neither one of us can get him up again.

 

During this time, I try (yes, try. I don't always succeed.) to keep my mind focused on “... whatever things are lovely … of good report...” (Philippians 4:8, remember?)

 

Later in the day I do piriformis exercises. Through the research I suggested you also do, I discovered that there are a bunch of tiny, but very important, muscles in the hip and pelvis areas. Because I have spent most of my working life in an office chair, I damaged these muscles. Some have even stopped working, which meant that other tiny muscles needed to take over the responsibility of keeping me on my feet, walking, bending, stretching, gardening, cleaning house, and so on, to the point that none of them work well at all right now. I LEARNED about all of this and am finally seeing some positive results by facing that monster and using various tools to defeat him.

 

Although I believe in faith healing, that wouldn't have worked as a long-term solution, because I still sit in an office chair, and I needed to address the underlying cause or the condition would return. I needed to learn about the function of these tiny muscles and what I can do to (God always provides answers.) to make the process permanent. I also needed to know that my negative self-talk was KEEPING me crippled.

 

I have looked the monster in the face and defeated him. Although right now I still deal with chronic pain, it will not be permanent. I have all my tools in place and in practice.

 

A final note on pain relievers: pain relievers relieve pain. They heal nothing. Unless we do something permanent, the pain will return. If we break a leg, we have it put in a cast so that it can heal. In that case, pain relievers make us more comfortable, but they don't heal the broken bone. To heal the pain, we must do something more. That means addressing the underlying problems, including the problem of your focus, where you concentrate your energy? Do you give all your energy to the pain, or do you focus your attention on where you need to be spiritually and emotionally?

 

God wants you healthy and whole. Satan wants you crippled. You choose which one to follow. Just so you know, though, I didn't say changing the way you think was easy. But it's a better solution than giving in.

 

Go with God, Prepared Family. Remember: “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” Isaiah 54:17

We will see each other in health.

 

Blessings,

Mama Prepper

 

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