"...there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me,.." [2Cor12:7] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...so I was having another bad "pain-day" the other day. Over 18years ago, as I trained a co-worker on a forklift, he accidentally bumped the rack and [50 boxes] 1,250 pounds of frozen poultry dropped on top of me from about 11ft over my head. The impact carried me 10ft across the aisle and down to the floor crushing me against another fully loaded pallet. My entire upper body was shoved and pinned against a pallet on the first-level rack by a remnant of over 600lbs of boxed frozen poultry; which remained intact because of the plastic wrap which is used to wrap the boxes together several times before transporting. Several co-workers rushed to my aid cutting the thickly-layered plastic frantically from all sides to free me from the crushing weight which lay across my lap and crushing my body...
Long story made short [most all worker's comp stories are long -am I right? :/ ]... ...most of the the joints [called facets] in my low back were fractured, my hip had been dislocated at the spine [popped back into place on-scene, “OUCH!!!”], at least one vertebrae in my thoracic region had a visible vertical crack on the MRI, my neck and low back sustained torn ligaments and a spinal cord stretch injury from hyper-flexion when the boxes fell on my head and from my dislocated hip,.. ...and 18+ years later, my PCP thinks that as a result of spinal cord contusions etc. from the crush injury, I have developed Fibromyalgia.
I was remembering the pain sensations I was experiencing a few days ago [and typically regularly, I might add]... ...sometimes it feels like electrical shocks in various limbs and/or in my spine, sometimes, in different places, it feels like vibrations [like a tuning fork deep beneath the skin], and sometimes I feel sensations like electrically charged water running through my spine [-- an *extremely* tingly and painful sensation], or sometimes it feels like lightning bolts shooting down either of my legs,... ...but the sensations that really got me thinking were the ones that felt like deep penetrating bites, and/or like branding irons, or like pinches, pokes, punches and/or kicks.... ...these sensations brought to my mind the words of Paul who said that his "thorn in the flesh" was a "messenger of Satan **sent to buffet** him..."{KJV} ...some have proposed that Paul's "thorn in the flesh" was possibly failing eyesight or some suggest even a routine heckler(s) whom regularly “harassed” Paul. -But neither of those suggestions sound like being "buffeted" to me... ...some days, for me, it does feel like getting a "beat down" [-such is the normal day to day plight for those of us whom suffer from chronic pain]. Personally, I am entirely convinced that Paul was describing a chronic pain condition which he sustained from all the physical abuses he encountered{stonings etc.}...
Albeit, Paul spoke of his frailty in a positive sense, stating that God is glorified in his own personal weaknesses/limitations... ...Paul essentially says that God’s strength is powerfully manifested through personal limitations.
Anyway, I am convinced that Paul was metaphorically describing his own chronic pain condition which also caused a degree of limitations for him...
...so then, here's the moral and reason for my post: Regardless, of any limitations and/or suffering that is *allowed to pervade our daily living{*see Job 23:14/1Cor 10:13}; we should purpose within ourselves, as Paul did, to turn it into glory for God{see also 1Cor10:31}. When others see God's strength within us; our joy and hope despite our suffering; as we rely upon His grace to sustain us, they will want to know how it is that we have so much hope and joy despite our sufferings{compare 2Cor 1:3-4}... ...it is then that we can share with them the “reason for the hope which is within us"{1Peter 3:15} -which reason is: The good news of-- 1) God’s coming kingdom upon Earth where there is no pain, no suffering, nor death{Rev21:1-5}; and 2) how, through faith in Jesus -God's Messiah- one can be permitted to enter this kingdom when it comes.
...so I was having another bad "pain-day" the other day. Over 18years ago, as I trained a co-worker on a forklift, he accidentally bumped the rack and [50 boxes] 1,250 pounds of frozen poultry dropped on top of me from about 11ft over my head. The impact carried me 10ft across the aisle and down to the floor crushing me against another fully loaded pallet. My entire upper body was shoved and pinned against a pallet on the first-level rack by a remnant of over 600lbs of boxed frozen poultry; which remained intact because of the plastic wrap which is used to wrap the boxes together several times before transporting. Several co-workers rushed to my aid cutting the thickly-layered plastic frantically from all sides to free me from the crushing weight which lay across my lap and crushing my body...
Long story made short [most all worker's comp stories are long -am I right? :/ ]... ...most of the the joints [called facets] in my low back were fractured, my hip had been dislocated at the spine [popped back into place on-scene, “OUCH!!!”], at least one vertebrae in my thoracic region had a visible vertical crack on the MRI, my neck and low back sustained torn ligaments and a spinal cord stretch injury from hyper-flexion when the boxes fell on my head and from my dislocated hip,.. ...and 18+ years later, my PCP thinks that as a result of spinal cord contusions etc. from the crush injury, I have developed Fibromyalgia.
I was remembering the pain sensations I was experiencing a few days ago [and typically regularly, I might add]... ...sometimes it feels like electrical shocks in various limbs and/or in my spine, sometimes, in different places, it feels like vibrations [like a tuning fork deep beneath the skin], and sometimes I feel sensations like electrically charged water running through my spine [-- an *extremely* tingly and painful sensation], or sometimes it feels like lightning bolts shooting down either of my legs,... ...but the sensations that really got me thinking were the ones that felt like deep penetrating bites, and/or like branding irons, or like pinches, pokes, punches and/or kicks.... ...these sensations brought to my mind the words of Paul who said that his "thorn in the flesh" was a "messenger of Satan **sent to buffet** him..."{KJV} ...some have proposed that Paul's "thorn in the flesh" was possibly failing eyesight or some suggest even a routine heckler(s) whom regularly “harassed” Paul. -But neither of those suggestions sound like being "buffeted" to me... ...some days, for me, it does feel like getting a "beat down" [-such is the normal day to day plight for those of us whom suffer from chronic pain]. Personally, I am entirely convinced that Paul was describing a chronic pain condition which he sustained from all the physical abuses he encountered{stonings etc.}...
Albeit, Paul spoke of his frailty in a positive sense, stating that God is glorified in his own personal weaknesses/limitations... ...Paul essentially says that God’s strength is powerfully manifested through personal limitations.
Anyway, I am convinced that Paul was metaphorically describing his own chronic pain condition which also caused a degree of limitations for him...
...so then, here's the moral and reason for my post: Regardless, of any limitations and/or suffering that is *allowed to pervade our daily living{*see Job 23:14/1Cor 10:13}; we should purpose within ourselves, as Paul did, to turn it into glory for God{see also 1Cor10:31}. When others see God's strength within us; our joy and hope despite our suffering; as we rely upon His grace to sustain us, they will want to know how it is that we have so much hope and joy despite our sufferings{compare 2Cor 1:3-4}... ...it is then that we can share with them the “reason for the hope which is within us"{1Peter 3:15} -which reason is: The good news of-- 1) God’s coming kingdom upon Earth where there is no pain, no suffering, nor death{Rev21:1-5}; and 2) how, through faith in Jesus -God's Messiah- one can be permitted to enter this kingdom when it comes.
