Monday, January 11, 2010

Believe: no pain, no fear



Can you imagine your life without facial neuralgias or TMD? After pain has been around a long time, it becomes difficult to remember what it is like to “live a normal life.”

I remember when my bed became my home. Hope was gone, and I was preoccupied with why God would not let me die. I wanted to escape the pain, so I prayed constantly to die. Visualizing myself as a well person was a difficult thing to do. Sometimes the seconds seemed like eternity as the pain “electrocuted” the right side of my face and my right eye. During these times, I visualized Jesus. It wasn’t long before my prayer changed.

As the Lord began to pour out His tender mercies, I gained the courage to say another prayer. “Lord help me live. Let me be free from this pain so that I can help others.” Hope returned, and I knew that better days were ahead. It was still difficult for me to picture myself as a healthy person, but my relationship with Jesus Christ had grown. I thought more about Him than I thought about me.

Faith is a wonderful thing. It transcends pain and sorrow. It gives one the courage to believe. I believed that trigeminal neuralgia would leave me. Through God’s grace, I fought the fear of the pain itself. Every day I felt that I was closer to being free of trigeminal neuralgia.

Then one day as my mother and close friends gathered around me, the pain left. The fear was gone. The Lord had intervened.

Since then, I have had plenty of challenges. My jaws have caused more facial pain, but I am thrilled to say that I am doing so much better. Six months ago, it was difficult to imagine myself doing 50 minutes of cardio, but now this is a reality. I can chew and talk, things that seemed impossible just six months ago.

The Lord gives each of us a measure of faith. It might be dormant in your life, but it is there. Don’t be afraid to visualize yourself as a well person. You have nothing to lose but fear and pain. God bless you.

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