Making the Most of Our Lives

Over the 19 years since the diagnosis of osteoarthritis in my fingers, some deformity occurred. Initially, the pain was so severe that I needed help to do the simplest things like buttoning a blouse or zipping up slacks. The worst part was being unable to pick up my grand-babies. Through prayer and wise nutrition counsel, I have had no pain or only minuscule pain if I overuse them. I continue to stand in faith for total healing. But, what a small price to pay for years of the gift of using these hands to type, write and accomplish so many things in so many ways. Such a gift to be able to hold someone's hand and lay these hands on those in need or prayer. I'll continue to use them despite looking a little gnarly. I am not complaining.

I can't complain at all, especially when I see others with even worse physical issues. I was touched by Shane Claiborne's book, "The Irresistible Revolution", subtitled "Living as an Ordinary Radical", that describes what a truly Christian lifestyle should be like based on his personal experience with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India. He wrote: "People often ask me what she was like. Sometimes it's like they wonder if she glowed in the dark or had a halo. She was short, wrinkled, and precious, maybe a little ornery, like a beautiful, wise, old granny. But there is one thing I will never forget -- her feet. Her feet were deformed. I would stare at them. A Sister explained: "Her feet are deformed because we get just enough donated shoes for everyone, and Mother does not want anyone to get stuck with the worst pair, so she digs through and finds them. And years of doing that have deformed her feet."

Years of loving her neighbor as herself deformed her feet. When people are asked about the person whose life they most admire, so often the answer is "Mother Teresa". She made the most of her life which sounds strange when we consider her life was a life of self-denial, taking up her cross, following Jesus.

Life is an extraordinary and a wonderful gift. God's Word constantly urges us not to waste this gift but to make the most of our lives. "Making the most of our lives", to some, varies from seeing the seven wonders of the world, being sure to visit every state in the union, climbing the tallest mountain, running a marathon each year OR, in the case of exhausting this body that was given us to make a difference in our world or at least to make a difference in those who God places in our lives. My bucket-list has become a shorter list these days -- because now I'm seeing clearer what "making the most of my life is really all about". Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, your love and your joy -- just maybe -- I can make the most of my life today by surrendering my will to yours.

Getting the Prescription Filled

Seventeen years ago, my fingers hurt so much that I couldn’t button my shirt or pick up my grandbabies. A rheumatologist diagnosed it as osteoarthritis, a chronic disease that, she said, could only be maintained (not healed) via drugs. She prescribed Vioxx. My husband said to me as we drove home, “Now we know the name of the symptoms, and since we know THE NAME that is above ALL names, the name, osteoarthritis, must bow to the name of Jesus. We pray for wisdom and will believe God guides us in what to do, not to just ease the pain, but for your complete healing.” He prayed those words from God's Word (God's remedy book for so much that ails us) in Philippians 2:9. We just didn't have a peace about having that prescription for Vioxx to be filled, and, it’s a good thing because a couple of years later Vioxx was taken off the market because over 60,000 patients died from taking it. (BTW, God's wisdom led us to natural supplements and the pain was gone within 90 days. All glory to God!)

I’m not advocating that we shouldn’t take medicine. Combining our faith in the healing power of God with the wisdom of the medical field can be God's way for our healing to come. When we are really sick, and beyond our faith, we may need to go to a doctor for help. If he finds an infection, he'll prescribe a remedy and write a prescription for us. He knows and expects the medicine to help us get better. He wants to help us get over the issue so we take it, then wait for it to work.

Now, think about how much God wants us to apply His Word to, not just healing our bodies, but restoring our souls and having an entire life of His abundance and success. We talk about what God’s Word says. We think about His Word. But often we don't actually “take it” and act on what it says. God, our Great Physician, has prescribed what we need in His Word. The fact is taking His prescription (or not) to love, forgive, trust, and hope (His characteristics) will determine how long we wait for success.

If we don’t know where to start, we can start with the simplest of all “prescriptions" for success. It is God’s BIG ONE – a commandment, which is sometimes difficult to swallow, but the single most important one for a life of blessing and abundance. It’s simple to remember because it basically boils down to one word: love. This one word contains the essence of all the other commandments we’ve ever been given. It says: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). That’s the prescribed medicine we need to take daily……religiously.

Learning to wait well with patience involves learning how to put into practice the regularity of living as a child of God. It means putting into practice those things we already know: • Loving
• Forgiving • Believing • Doing what God says to do.

Heavenly Father, we want to love as You love, forgive like You forgive and honor You with our hearts in every way. Use us as a testimony of grace, kindness, and love to those around us. I pray for a double portion of favor and blessing in our lives! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.