By: Jenifer Metzger
Jesus answered, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep
my word. My Father will love him, and we will come
to him and make our home with him.
John 14:23
I recently got a hard lesson in obeying. I have a tooth ache. The dreaded wisdom tooth my dentist has been warning me about for a couple of years now. I’ve ignored her because, well, dental work terrifies me a bit. This past weekend the tooth became infected and caused a great deal of pain. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, and I could hardly talk. I just sat there crying. I tried numbing gel, numbing mouthwash, ice packs, and pain medication. Typically, I avoid pain medication, but this pain was severe enough to take it. Nothing was working, so I took more pain medication. After a few hours the pain had not subsided, so I took more. My husband told me that he thought I had taken enough pain medication, but I hurt too bad and ignored him as I popped four more tablets.
After almost forty-eight hours of non-stop pain and many tears, I called the dentist’s after hours number. She called in an antibiotic and prescription pain medication with an added drug to help me sleep. She gave me clear instructions and I took the medication as directed. After a couple hours, there was still no relief so I took a couple more of my regular over-the-counter pain pills. I thought surely the pain would ease up and I could sleep.
Just the opposite. My stomach started cramping. It was the worst pain ever. Give me childbirth any day over what I was experiencing! My husband ended up taking me to the ER. When they heard all of my symptoms and my husband told on me about taking too much medication, they said I had overdone it and could possibly have a stomach bleed which would need emergency surgery. Oh. Great. Thankfully everything came back okay and I didn't have a stomach bleed and would not need surgery. They gave me an IV of medication to stop the pain. Once that kicked in, they sent us home.
The next day I stayed home from church and rested all day. But as medication from the hospital started to wear off, I started feel nauseous. I felt nauseous nonstop for two more days. All the effects of not following the directions on the pain medication's bottle. I could have caused myself a great deal of harm from not following those directions. Medication has clear directions for a reason.
But be doers of the word and not
hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James 1:22
God has clear directions for us too. When we don't follow His directions, we can cause ourselves a great deal of harm, even eternal death. God loves us and He knows what is best for us. He knows our future and what His plans are for us. All we have to do is follow and obey Him.
God's directions can be found in His Word. The Bible is our instruction manual. It tells us exactly what we need to know. The more we read it, the more we understand it and the closer we get to God. The closer we get to God, the more we want to obey Him. It is all a beautiful cycle when we obey God.
It's time for Share A Link Wednesday! Each Wednesday we invite you to leave a link to your latest blog post in the comments. We still desire to connect women of God with one another and encourage each other in Christ. So grab a cup of coffee or glass of sweet tea, sit back and visit a few blogs. Be encouraged and share your own stories.
Jenifer, I do hope you are feeling better and are able to get the tooth taken care of. It is so true that God's instructions are ultimately for our own good. May we be careful to follow them even when we don't understand the reasons, even when we think we know a better way.
ReplyDeleteMy post today: http://www.joanneviola.com/2020/09/be-glad-celebrate/
Ouch Jennifer! That toothache sounds awful. I hope it's been pulled by now and you are no longer experiencing pain. If you are, put two tablespoons of the best coconut oil you can find in your mouth and swish back and forth and all around for a good 20 minutes then brush. Oil pulling removes all kind of bacteria from our mouths. Google it when you have time to learn all the benefits. And yes, when we disobey God, the consequences can be as painful as your toothache. Obedience is the way to go.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe in coincidences? Find out why I don't in my latest post https://yvonnechase.com/i-dont-believe-in-coincidences/
Ouch! A pharmacist told me once that there's no pain like tooth pain. I'd rather do almost anything than have dental work done, but it helps to get it over with and not have to think about and dread it any more. I hope you can get the tooth taken care of soon and I'm glad the excess pain medication didn't do any worse damage.
ReplyDeleteI wrote this week about how love and truth and both reflected in the Bible and both needed in our lives: https://barbaraleeharper.com/2020/09/13/is-truth-or-love-more-important/.
I really hope you are feeling better now. I remember how painful it was when my wisdom teeth came in while I was in college. I begged my husband, then fiance to go buy me some real drugs and not just over the counter stuff, lol. Now, he is a doctor and makes us follow all the medication rules, haha. Obedience is so easy to talk about but a lot harder to actually do. It is inborn in us to be disobedient. When we tell a young child not to touch something, they are going to touch or die. Even though our rules had their best interest at heart. It is just the same for God He only wants what is best for us, but we still find it difficult to obey.
ReplyDeleteThis verse is so convicting to me, Jenifer! "But be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." James 1:22 Thank you for your encouraging words!!!
ReplyDeleteWe are talking about faithfulness over on the blog this week https://www.instaencouragements.com/blog/the-abcs-of-gods-love-letter-faithful