“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
Arthritis creeps into my feet and for a long week and counting they hurt incessantly. Trying to keep up with active little girls and domestic chores requires a lot of time on one’s feet, and my feet aren’t up to the challenge.
I try anyway–to walk the good walk, fight the good fight, smile through the pain, and remember every moment how very blessed I am.
Because, you see, I have feet. Some people don’t. I have medicine. Some people don’t. I have a wonderful husband, and some mothers with chronic conditions do not.
At the end of a long week, after a grocery shopping excursion that leaves my feet feeling like they’re on fire, I sit in a chair and put them up, because I just can’t walk anymore.
My husband Jonathan makes dinner, bathes our 4 year-old, and because he’s not already busy enough, serves me strawberry lemonade. After I hug them goodnight from my chair, our little girls in footed pajamas are tucked into their beds, kissed, and prayed over.
Jonathan returns and says, “Hey, don’t you have a little inflatable foot soaking tub?”
Ten minutes later, he has arranged my chair, crafted a platform out of a Rubbermaid storage bin, draped a towel across the platform, and filled my (now inflated) foot tub with warm water and lavender scented Epsom salts.
My feet slip into warm water and when they emerge, the pain is all but gone.
Jesus once did something similar. He filled bins and knelt to wash His followers feet, and I bet that when their feet emerged from the water, when their eyes met His eyes of love and grace, their pain (both of the flesh and the heart) was gone.
In this life, I may not win the chronic pain battle. People we love will die. But I think often of the day when I will look up and meet His eyes, and my pain (physical and emotional) will be gone. In that Holy presence, all peace, all hope, all love, all grace, all things good will soak through to the heart of His children and I can’t even imagine what that will feel like.
Prayer: Father God, I can’t wait for the day I will sit at Your feet with no more pain. Thank You that I never have to walk alone. Amen.
About the Author:
Jennifer LeBlanc lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of 9 years and their two young daughters. She has been living with chronic pain since 2005, and was diagnosed in 2010 with Ankylosing Spondylitis, a chronic inflammatory disease that attacks the spine and joints. In the midst of this “chronic” life, she also chooses to live with chronic gratitude. You can read more of her story at her blog, Live Art.fully: http://livelifeartfully.blogspot.com
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What has a loved one or friend done for you when you were hurting that touched your heart?
Beautiful reminder of how blessed we truly are.
Thank you, Shari! I hope you are having a good day today.
I love your positive note about thinking about your blessings.
Some of the special things friends have done for me when my pain or discouragement are hot are: Pray for me there and then, on the phone, in one of our homes,wherever; come over and helped my with my chores: provided a compassionate, non-judgmental listening ear or shoulder to cry on; given me a warm hug.
My hubby sometimes empties the dishwasher for me, which is not easy for him because of his health issues.
Thanks Jennifer. May the Lord continue to bless you, your hubby and your two dear little girls.
Thank you for sharing, Beth! It helps so much to know we are not alone.
Jennifer: I totally agree!
Hello everyone, my friend was lead to this site by the Holy Spirit on my behalf. She watched helplessly as I suffered in agony from Fibromyalgia , (Arthralgia) Degenerative Arthritis,Spinal Stenosis, herniated disk, bone spurs, Spondylitis ,Chronic Fatigue ,Anxiety. I am also Diabetic, due to large doses of steroid injections into my spine and large does of steroids administered after the removal of my Thyroid to reduce the amount of keloids in my vocal cord area ( I am African American and we are prone to excessive scarred tissue or Keloids after surgery or just a typical injury))with Hypertension, Coronary Artery disease . As if this is not enough, the Drs have not been successful in finding any medication to alleviate the pain ( I am allergic to codeine and synthetic codeine), Have gone through different pain management programs without much success not to mention they are very expensive and I just could not afford the out of pocket expenses to continue.
I came to this site over a year ago and was very surprised to find that I was not alone.I felt as if there was a place for me where others are like me and I can take the mask off. I am very tired of trying to make others understand my situation and tired of defending myself. I was so alone and alienated even where family is concerned. I became very ill and depressed and did not come back to the site until this morning after having a bad encounter at church on yesterday. being told that lingering sickness is an indication that you are not desperate enough and apparently not sick and tired of being sick and tired, which is why you have not received a healing touch from Jesus. It was a general message. but it is a small congregation and there is only one other person there who has similar as well as numerous afflictions as I do, so took it as a personal blow.. I am so hurt and devastated and ashamed before the congregation. I love the Lord and I really do have a close and personal relationship with Him. It is only by His grace and mercy that I am able to continue on this journey. So I was led back to this site this morning and after reading many of the articles and watching the videos. I have been helped tremendously ,our Father is an awesome God ,He knows exactly what we need. Thank you, everyone of you for being brave and vulnerable enough to share your stories . Please keep me in your prayers and I will do the same for you all..Thank you all for allowing me this opportunity to share my story and if you took the time to read all of this stuff
, then I am blessed that you cared enough to sow your time ..May God richly bless each of you