i will yet proclaim!

well, here we are. day 7 in my first full week of blogging. it’s late, but i couldn’t not write. appropriately, tonight was my last meeting for the ‘Believing God’ Bible study, which is what [finally] set me on this journey to begin with. i actually still have quite a few weeks of the study to catch up on since i started in the middle, and i’m eager and excited to see how God will move through the portions that remain ... and beyond.

as i reflect back on how God has grown my belief in Him over these last few weeks, i have to share one small testimony about how that was challenged just today. i am the queen of unexplainable symptoms that are generally not really serious, and usually resolve on their own eventually. it has been extremely frustrating to desperately want answers but not be able to find any. then, back in the winter i heard God say, “will you trust that i am still good even without an answer?”

oh.

since then, i’ve been better able to laugh at less serious situations when they arise (i.e. my tongue turning completely black for a couple days after eating a weird combination of food), and take the more serious ones in stride. the most recent development is a case of pleurisy, which is an inflammation of the lung lining that feels kind of like being stabbed in the chest whenever you move or breathe. thankfully mine has not been constant, but rather more of a periodic - albeit painful - nuisance. knowing there really isn’t anything they can do for it, i had avoided going to the doctor, but when it was still hanging on after three weeks i reluctantly made an appointment.

i got a chest x-ray and ekg. they asked questions and listened with their stethoscopes. and, as suspected, there wasn’t anything they could do other than tell me to take a regular dose of ibuprofen to try and stave off the repeated flare-ups ... and come back to see them if it didn’t get better. sigh.

fortunately, they told me i could keep running in moderation, since that didn’t make it worse. while that was an answer to prayer, when i stopped in the bathroom on my way out i told God that i really needed a clear word of encouragement from Him to know this had been worth it. as i came out of the bathroom, the doctor handed me some literature on pleurisy and said, “at least we didn’t have to remove any fluid from your lungs.”

thanks God.

despite the fact that i have a pesky infection which has hung on for over three weeks and put me in quite a bit of pain, at least it has not caused any potentially harmful fluid build-up. at least the pain is only intermittent and i am able to not only go on with my daily routine, but even to continue running. and as if those things were not enough, God is so interested in building my faith that He almost immediately answered my cry to hear from Him.

i will call to you whenever i’m in trouble, and You will answer me. (psalm 86:7)

i know satan would like to steal that from me, as i was hit with one of my worst episodes tonight during Bible study. still, i am absolutely humbled by God’s faithfulness, and it makes me that much more eager to continue on this journey of proclaiming it!