2 Chronicles 32-33

A bit more of the story of Hezekiah and his son Manasseh are unveiled in these chapters.  Manasseh did a great deal of evil, even going so far as to set up an image in the temple.  But after he was captured by Babylon and carried away — by a hook in his nose — he repented and turned back to the Lord.  And the Lord had mercy on him.

How sweet is the word mercy!  It is comforting to read how the Lord restored Manasseh and let him start over again.  It reminds me that the Lord picks me up when I fall.  All I have to do is truly repent, and He washes me clean all over again.  He restores and soothes my soul.   And the closer I grow to Him, the more I become a part of the vine…the more my mind is renewed.

I confess there are days when there is not much renewing going on in my mind.  But I have faith that God will give me grace and mercy to get through.  Tomorrow I have an appointment with a doctor who will hopefully help me figure out the strange blood test results.  I’ve already had two doctors tell me I need surgery to determine whether I have endometriosis and to remove it.  My response was to not go back to either one of them.  I kept hoping that maybe menopause will come early — no period, no pain, right?  I can deal with severe pain a couple days of month.

Well, that was before I knew about the chronic inflammation markers in my blood.  Don’t google it because it will scare you to death.  Suffice it to say that chronic, untreated inflammation leads to a host of yucky diseases, such as autoimmune diseases, certain cancers, and even coronary disease.  So.  I want it out, and my prayer is that the Lord will

-miraculously heal me of the inflammation

-give the doctor HIS wisdom

-give me courage to actually follow the doctor’s recommendations even if it means surgery

-peace for the process

I apologize for harping so much about health issues in this blog.  I meant it to be a catalog of my thoughts as I read through the Bible.  Trouble is, I have found that the Bible connects to whatever is bothering me or is making me anxious.  In a way, that’s a good thing because it helps me focus my mind on sitting at the feet of Jesus rather than on worrying about what’s wrong.  It helps me form new thoughts based on His promises…that I will be healed…that He loves me and knows me…that He is in control, and that nothing I will face this day or tomorrow or next year will be a surprise to Him.

That’s because to the Lord, I am an open book.  I can just see him wiping the ugly pages clean, making them whole again, all because of his great mercy.