First, I want to make clear that I fully believe in Faith healing, anointing the sick with oil, prayer cloths, speaking words of healing, not claiming illness that you're not even sure you have, etc., etc. But now that I have established those facts, I'd like to go on & give credit to the people who have lived for years with excruciating pain, deformity, lack of mobility & many other forms of human suffering, and yet they have worked on for God, praised God & given God all the Glory through it all!! God bless the tried & true soldiers, the blood-bought & redeemed cildren of God!
I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), which is the crippling kind of arthritis, when I was only 16 yrs. old - over 40 yrs. ago! I probably had it for a good while before that, but we rarely went to doctors. We lived by Faith. I, literally, cannot remember a day without pain. I have lived with it, dealt with it & learned to cope with it through my teen years & my entire adult life.
It took many years for my body to get to the shape it is now in, & I did a great deal of living in that time ... some things that others may only dream of doing. I graduated from high school in '72 with honors & got a full scholarship to college. I dropped out of college & got married in March of '73, but have no regrets. I gave birth to two beautiful healthy babies, Angie (Aug. of '76) & Chris (Dec. of '78)! We have been through a lot, but we've weathered the storms. Praise God!
I went back to college at EKU when my children were small (by help of grants, work study program, Mom as a free babysitter & the help of Almighty God); participated in a mock UN seminar in NYC, New York in April of '82 - where I was fortunate enough to actually give a speech in the General Assembly room at the United Nations building; studied overseas the Summer of '83 (only time I ever got a school loan) by being accepted into the KIES proram at Murray State - studied 1st half in Paris & 2nd half in Nimes, France, toured Loire Valley, spent 2 weekends in Amsterdam, some time in Granada, Spain, sailed by Rock of Gibraltar, visited Casablanca, Morocco, stayed couple days on French Riviera & visited Monte Carlo, Monaco (to name barely a few). I've been to 7 foreign countries, 3 continents & 19+ states. Sad to say, I didn't get a degree because of shifting back & forth between majors! FYI: don't be indecisive if you want to ever graduate with a degree! Lol. But a few yrs. ago, the Alumni office contacted me & informed me that, due to the huge amount of credits I have, I'm officially an Alumni of EKU! Having my name in the Alumni book with my daughter, Angie - who has a Bachelor's in Health Care Administration, Class of '99, makes me feel pretty good! And, I thank God!
With God's help, I've never given into RA & never let it control my life. I hiked, danced, traveled (me, Mom & my children went a lot of places - the Smokies, Dollywood, Gatlinburg, Cherokee, NC, Opryland, Grand Ole Opry, Disney World, Daytona Beach, Gulf Of Mexico at St. Petersburg, etc.)! We had picnics, went shopping, driving around to look at Christmas lights & just did any kind of good clean fun that we could think of & afford! Me & the children went to movies, ball games, watched TV, played cards, had sleepovers, ordered pizza - every time we could, & loved listening to music till we all fell asleep! Such wonderful memories!
As my RA worsened, I simply adjusted to it & kept on keeping on. I've had 30+ surgeries, mostly orthopedic. MEPCO Home Health has taken care of me since April of '92 - personal care, heavy cleaning & laundry. I went from running & walking on my own to walking with a cane, then a walker (after falling with leg bent under me & getting full impact of body weight while getting out of shower), then being able to stand & pivot for transfers & now to sliding & transferring - cannot stand at all (left knee's so bent my left foot can't even touch ground when right one does)! Through all this time & all the events I described above - remember, I already had RA alive & active in my body! Although I wasn't visibly deformed through much of it, I still had the pain, stiffness & swelling. Some people, at times, imply that since I'm in a wheelchair, I don't have the will power & Faith it takes to get up out of it & walk. But, they don't have a clue as to what all I've been through & done, where I've gone & what God has given me the strength to accomplish in my life. Some, seemingly, don't even acknowledge the good God is still using this frail little body to do for Hia Glory. But, now is not the time to discuss all this. I'll work on, for my day will come!
It's now time (& not so easy a task) for me to try & take all the above & make it somehow fit in with my title, "When We Work On For Jesus, No Matter What!" I can easily use my own illness & 'dis'abilty when taking on this topic - because I know, beyond a doubt, what God has done for me, is doing for me & will continue to do for me till the day He calls me Home! I have had to be a realist, through it all, in order to survive & keep my sanity, for the most part, in tact. Lol. (By the way, a good sense of humor is also a wonderful survival tactic! Remember that.)
I'm going to try & finish this very lengthy blog with a text I did in response to 1 that stated we should never claim a disease, that all we need do is speak healing & disease will leave: "I've lived w/ [RA] it, dealt w/ it 4 over 40 yrs. I know nt 2 say I hav a disease b4 I know it & speakin healin works. God has healed me many times & I praise Him thru my poetry, testimonies, songs, card ministry, etc. There's a lot 2 be said 4 those who hav an illness & praise God anyway, n spite of the circumstances. Each time I sing, I testify 2 the fact that medically it should be impossible, but the One who created us all allows me 2 sing 4 His praise & Glory! ... there comes a time we must face reality & decide 2 make the most out of the cards we've been dealt. I know I'll get a complete healing n God's time. Till then, I'll work on, do His will [the best way I know how] & giv Him all the praise & Glory!" I truly don't unerstand why some believe in this new philosophy that thinks just because we're Christians, nothing bad will ever happen to us again.
His Holy Word doesn't promise us that we'll live on a bed of roses, once we accept Christ as our Savior & become blood-bought, born-again children of God. (None of Bible quotes aren't meant to be ver batim.) The Bible tells us that: it rains on the just & the unjust. Old Bro. Job says: though He slays me, yet will I trust in Him. Paul writes of a health problem he has ... 'a thorn in his side' (I believe) ... that he must live with & cope with his entire Christian life!
What if Job had listened to his wife & cursed God & died? He'd still be burning in Hell today! What if he had said, "After all the good I've done, & then You let Satan do all this to me! Well, I'm not going to take it anymore! I quit!" He would have missed out on all the good blessings God bestowed on him - after he had so faithfully endured & passed the test! Paul turned his illness, persecutions & suffering around & used them into a praise unto the Lord, saying: "I can boast only of how weak I am & how great God is to turn such weakness around & use it for His Glory!"
I'm very proud & glad to see all the Christians who are prospering (& using it to help others less fortunate) & for all the ones who are healthy & strong (& are traveling around the globe to preach the Gospel to people who have never heard about Jesus) ... work on, brothers & sisters, while it's day, for night will soon come when no man can work! My greatest regret is that I didn't work harder for God while I was younger & physically stronger, but we can't go back & rewrite history. We can only go forward, taking with us all the baggage & life's lessons, both good & bad, that have helped to mold us & shape us into the person we are today.
From outward appearance, I'm a frail little woman, but praise be to God, He has endowed me with awesome inner strength that gives me ability to do the tasks He's given me! He lets me smile & sing & say a kind word, even when my body's wracked with pain! With His wind 'neath my wings, I can soar to new heights & do the things which are 'medically' impossible! For with Him, all things are possible! Coming through many years of illness, trials, pain & persecution, has taught me valuable lessons: (1) how to face reality head on, deal with it, conquer it & move on - knowing my God is greater than anything in this world; & (2) how to use what I've learned to help others who may be going thru similar trials of their own. When we find out all we have is God, we understand & realize that all we need is God! At times, I get so Homesick for Heaven!
To God be the Glory! Safe in His arms - With much love, Susie
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