Healings #7 and #8:
IMPAIRED DIGESTION, I AM INSTRUCTED…
Jer 17:14Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
This healing resulted in my decision to wholly rely on Jesus for any unusual disorder, disease or sickness. That is, I either lived or died. Either Jesus does what He says He does or I’m out of here…. Also, it refers to any disorder or injury or sickness that required invasive or lengthy medical procedures. I had just watched my mother almost tortured to death by seemingly constant medical programs and procedures in an attempt to keep her alive. She ended her life completely focused on doctors and what they could do to keep her alive. I was with her when she died. She had taken a small apartment across from the Victoria hospital in order to be quickly available for medical attention in an emergency. She was not doing well and called me, asking if I could come from the mainland to spend the weekend with her. The nurses were on strike at the time and her doctor had advised that if there was an emergency not to go to the hospital as there was no staff available to take care of her. She was given morphine to take at her discretion if she had a problem. My mother was too concerned of becoming drug dependent and would not take the meds. I was with her for several days. She was not feeling well at all and expressed that she thought she would die soon. I don’t know why I couldn’t believe she would die, she was only 67 years old. My husband and I had recently even purchased a house with a nice bright, spacious walk-out basement suite and adjoining garden where we had planned to have our parents come and live when they were ready. It was all too late.
On the third day of my stay with my mother, I slipped out to do a little shopping. As I came from the grocery store there was a man sitting on the sidewalk playing a violin. I stopped and watched him for an uneasy moment. My Grandfather, my mother’s father, had played the violin and it was quite strange to hear considering the circumstances. I slowly loaded my groceries into the car and left. I was actually nervous about returning to the little apartment after listening to the violin. I was concerned that it was a sign that my mother was no longer with us.
When I entered the apartment I went straight to the bedroom and found my mother stiffened on her back clutching her fists. Her eyes were open staring at the ceiling. She had obviously died in pain. No one was with her when she passed. I approached her bedside, closed her eyes and embraced her, telling her how sorry I was and how much I loved her. My very best friend had just died and I could do nothing to save her. I miss her even today. T.I.M.E….
A wonderful, merciful thing happened after I returned home. In a dream I was with my mother in her apartment, but there was an adjoining room where all my family members were gathered also to be with her. She had not died alone, nor was I alone. I awoke enveloped in a peace.
Later, when I developed the digestive problem, I remembered how my mother had died, having such hope in her doctors and hospitals. She had even allowed her triple bypass surgery to be recorded for university classes, hoping she had contributed something meaningful to others. Now, I was the one faced with a multitude of medical procedures in an attempt to discover what had happened to my stomach.
The symptoms and procedures:
At the beginning, I noticed I developed a sudden little, but sharp, pain in my chest, like I was having a heart attack. I recall the first time it happened: I was actually in church and noticed a sudden sharp little startling pain. I didn’t say anything to anyone as I was having a problem with my digestion and thought it was likely gas built up under the heart. Literally, a gas pain. However, this symptom became a signal—I would awake in
the night with the same symptom and begin to erupt with gas and chest pain. This continued for hours, generally about 4 hours. I would get up and go outside and walk up and down the sidewalk for hours in the night. I could feel when it subsided enough that I could return to my bed and sleep for several hours before my day began. I consulted my physician, a young doctor with little experience yet. He thought I should take tranquilizers, stating that I was likely under emotional strain. No thank you doc! I did not take brain pills. I liked a clear mind at all times. This horrible thing continued at night, but now it interfered with eating any foods. I sometimes went for several weeks without eating in order to avoid the painful symptoms. As soon as I ate a meal it all rose up again, keeping me awake for days and making it impossible to eat anything substantial. Perhaps I was able to drink juices or something, I do not recall.
More doctors. Just a couple of procedures that brought me to the decision of either I lived or died, either Jesus healed or He didn’t. I was not going to be tortured to death like my mother. And I sincerely meant it. The last couple of doctor’s exams: I was brought a large milkshake glass filled with a thick pink substance that I understood was barium (?) and told to drink it. Then I was ushered in to the x-ray room strapped to a slab by my ankles and tipped on a 90 degree angle, (upside down) and x-rayed, resulting in no diagnosis. Not fun. Then I met with a bowel specialist and had a nasty little invasive procedure performed, resulting in no diagnosis. Not nice… The final straw came when my specialist informed me that they would have to take a camera in through the bowel and investigate what was happening. NO THANK YOU! That was it!
Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise Jer 17:14
There was surely a sudden shift in my faith that I could make such a decision. Remember, the Lord visited me, no one led me to Him or had me say a special prayer. I had been walking with Him for a number of years. I learned to know when He spoke to me. He did not disappoint. A rhema word, at last!
After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Hoseah 6:2
I drank, literally, gallons of antacids of various kinds, constantly seeking solutions and trying to figure out what had happened to my digestion, what worked only temporarily and what exacerbated the situation. Now all that mattered was God spoke to me that He was going to heal me. By Jesus stripes I would be healed. Amen! Now I could rest and watch for the opportunity to respond to His amazing promise. It would happen very soon. I had now suffered almost exactly 3 years. It is recorded in one of my journals the exact day it started and the exact day I was healed.
I had arranged to go to my family farm to have a visit with my father. I had not slept for 24 hours. I awoke Sunday morning and decided I would attend church This church was established some years earlier when my husband and I joined our pastor for 2 years traveling back and forth for a church planting, which all began in my parents living room. My mother was still an amazing cook and always prepared generously for all who traveled with us. What an honour to have a “church planting” in my family’s home. It remains alive and prosperous today, almost 45 years! Another amazing story….
I have heard your prayer, and I have seen your tears. I will certainly heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the House of the Lord 2 Kings 20:5
I was early for the service which is normal for me. I like to sit alone in the sanctuary before people arrive and worship the Lord in silence. Often there is worship music playing or the musicians are rehearsing and I sing along with them. Anyway, as I sat alone a lady came up and asked if I would like to join their pre-service prayer meeting. I was honored and we moved to the back room joining about 4 others. The pastor asked each one to pray for someone that needed the Lord’s help, then he came to me. All I told him was that I wasn’t sleeping well. He prayed, we returned to the sanctuary and joined the service.
I left for home the following morning, taking one of the BC Ferries back to the mainland, a 3 hour trip. I quickly fell asleep, something I never do when traveling anywhere. I awoke just as we entered the terminal. That felt good. I hadn’t slept so sound for years. As soon as I arrived home I went straight to bed and slept for 3 days!!!! I got up absolutely 100% healed! Amen! Jesus, we give You all the praise and all the glory! Amen.
If you are wondering where my husband was during these times I traveled about alone, he was a regional manager for a large Canadian lumber distributor and was often gone to the east coast for 3 or 4 days at a time. Things returned to normal for us once more. Bless the wonderful works of Jesus, our Lord, Savior and Great Physician!
I would like to talk about several other points here but will wait for another post: rhema words and why I seemed to be just healed from one thing and another arose….
Oh, yes, I did discover what the doctors had not considered. Within the year it was necessary to take an antibiotic for a respiratory infection (Now I contracted flu the same as a normal person, the once a year flu season). No one had ever told me that one should drink a full glass of water with an antibiotic. Thus, I was popping the pill with only a small sip of water. With the severe recuring sinus infection that I shared earlier, I had been on meds repeatedly for about 3 months. THUS THE DAMAGE TO MY STOMACH! I once again had difficulty digesting! This led me quicky to research and investigate natural remedies. I found that it was very necessary to restore the stomach digestive enzymes and flora. (Hope I got that right.) Anyway, over a period of time I learned to drink at least 8 oz of water each time I took a med AND eat and a LARGE meal with each tablet, and I was now taking acidophilus while I was on antibiotics. This soon became my routine when taking drugs! Needles to say my weight control was difficult to maintain as for some reason, after a week of eating high fatty foods I found it difficult to go back to a small diet. LESSON LEARNED!
DRINK LOTS OF WATER WITH YOUR ANTIBIOTICS AND TAKE AN ACIDOPHILUS & BIFIDUS DIGESTIVE AID BETWEEN MEDS (If you take the acidophilus with your meds, the antibiotic will just kill the millions of little helpers!)
8. I AM INSTRUCTED: coming Mar 14/23