Darkness

I've wrestled with migraines for over a decade, since the line of duty injuries to my spine caused degenerative disk disease and spinal stenosis.  The neurologist I see has attempted all sort of medical intervention - I even had three rounds of Botox injections three months apart last year - with only limited results.  Even the injections from the emergency room that once provided relief are now impotent in my system.  To say it's frustrating is to understate the obvious - days on end of painful evasion of light and sound and scents...days lost to darkness.

But even migraines can honor God when I allow it.

Darkness and quiet, ice packs over the eye and side of the head where the migraine strikes, stillness and pressure, pillows that prop in the right places and take the pressure off others - these things are familiar to migraine-having-folks...and also there are the short, desperate prayers for relief.  Even those of us prone to waxing philosophical in our everyday lives (okay, maybe it's just me) get very direct in those times.  The electrical storm in my brain can be truly humbling as I stumble through the days after a migraine attack, leaving me feeling like an uncoordinated toddler fighting sleep.  Fortunately, there are no word-count-minimums to legitimize our prayers, just connection.

Be still & believe.

Even in the darkest places, isolated by pain, we can trust that God hears us and understands our hurts.

Jotting with Johnna

• We can likely all recall times of darkness; what drew you out of yours?
• Do you have God's Word hidden in your heart (memorized) so that, even when you aren't able to look at a page, you can still focus on a passage of Truth?
• What has pain taught you about patience, God's faithfulness, and compassion to others?
• How might the dark places in your life help highlight the goodness of God?
• Who needs to hear your story of deliverance from darkness & how can you share Light [a hand-written letter, in person, over the telephone] with him/her?

Remember:  your struggles can be strengths when you let God use them (look what He has done with the sixty-hour headache).  Claim victory today and reshape the burden into a blessing in Jesus' name.

Stay tuned.  Stay focused.  Stay well.