Faith & Meniere’s Disease

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18 NIV
https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/psa.34.18/2922

Many Meniere’s sufferers might be wondering why I seem to post more bible verses on page, instead of information on the disease. But believe me, it’s all connected.

  1. Because of Christ: I was able to find the right doctors that worked with me to control my Meniere’s.
  2. Because of Christ: My fears & anxiety of having another severe vertigo attack are gone. When I start to feel uncomfortable I pray.
  3. Because of Christ: I felt need to help others. God had me suffer so bad for a time so I can give advice & hope.

No matter how bad things get, just remember you are not alone in the fight with Meniere’s.

God Always Comforts

Have you noticed that the best source of comfort is someone who has struggled with pain, sorrow, or loss? That is one reason why God offers His followers the gift of comfort, so that we can, in turn, give it to others. Yes, God sometimes allows tragedy to enter our lives, but He never intends for us to go through difficult times alone. Once we have — by God’s grace — gone through a dark time, God calls us to offer comfort to the hurting people He puts in our path. Often that comfort is our mere presence, not “right” words.

Our willingness to share the kind of comfort we have received reflects both our knowledge of our good God and our faith in Him.

And whether we are receiving or offering comfort, we can rely on the greatest Comforter of all, the Holy Spirit. Given to us by God, the Spirit is continually with us, willing to guide and empower us as we come alongside hurting people. Yes, our Redeemer-God is at work when He uses the comforted to comfort others!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. — 2 Corinthians 1:3–7

From http://www.faithgateway.com

Healing

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Healing

Taken from http://www.faithgateway.com

When Your Mess Becomes Your Message

Micca Campbell
September 25, 2013
jeremiah 17 14

Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for You are the one I praise. — Jeremiah 17:14
For twenty years, my brother was absent from our family because of drug addiction. Countless times, we thought he was dead; according to drug abuse statistics, he should have been. However, my brother is living proof that God is in the restoration business.

It doesn’t matter who you are, what you’ve done, or what has been done to you. God is willing and able to turn any tragedy into triumph.

After entering many treatment programs with hopes of success and end results of failure, my brother finally found the answer: Jesus. It wasn’t until he met the Lord that he experienced lasting healing and life change.

Suddenly, all things became new. My brother didn’t have the strength, willpower, or ability to free himself from bondage, but that changed when he surrendered his life to Christ. The same is true for us.

No matter what the bondage is — drugs, lust, gluttony, pride, anger, or fear — until we renounce our sickness and surrender to Christ, we will never experience freedom. On the other hand, when we are willing to give King Jesus our mess, He turns it into our message.
And that’s exactly what happened to my brother. Not a day goes by that my brother doesn’t look for opportunities to brag on God and share His message of hope.

Such an opportunity arose one evening when my sister, brother, and I met together for dinner at a local restaurant. Our server was twenty-six-year-old Tiffany. Right away, we noticed two things about Tiffany. She had a natural gift for putting people at ease, and she was very pregnant. While we enjoyed her kind service, we had no idea that God would soon call us to serve her.

It started when my sister refused to allow my brother to pay for her dinner. While my sister loves to give to others, she’s not so good at receiving. I, on the other hand, understood that it gave my brother great pleasure to pick up the check. The Lord knows I didn’t want to deny him his blessing!

Poor Tiffany found herself caught in the middle. Eager to win her over to his side, my brother said to Tiffany, “You see, I was a drug addict for years. During that time, my sisters did a lot for me. Now, I just want to bless them.”

Tiffany’s eyes widened . “You were a drug addict?” she inquired. “I would have never guessed.”

“Yes, I was,” my brother replied. “But Jesus changed all that.” Then he told Tiffany his life-changing story.

“I went from being lost to being found; from being homeless to being a homeowner; from being an employee to owning my own business; from being bound by drugs to being set free in Christ.”
Tears filled Tiffany’s eyes as we shared God’s love with her. That’s not all. Later that week, we confirmed God’s love to her by presenting her with a gift for her baby. When you and I — like my brother — allow God to turn our mess into our message, He not only changes our lives, but He changes the lives of others too.

Dear Lord, Your mercy astounds me. Give me opportunities to speak of Your hope so others may know Your goodness and salvation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

REMEMBER

No matter what your bondage, surrendering it to Christ is the pathway to freedom.

REFLECT

What steps do you need to take today to move from bondage to freedom? Reflect with gratitude on how God has turned your mess into a message that can encourage or bring life change to others.

RESPOND

Go for it! Write out your story of surrender and ask God to provide opportunities for you to encourage others.

POWER VERSES

Luke 19:10
Ephesians 2:8–9

An Amazing Story About Prayer & Grace

Meniere’s Disease is a terrible unseen disease that million have. But I live it I remind myself that God will take care of me. Hope this story I found will touch your heart as it did mine.

God’s Grace is All We Need

Max Lucado
August 10, 2013
Taken from http://www.faithgateway.com/gods-grace-is-all-we-need/

God’s grace is not a gentle shower washing away the problem. It is a raging, roaring river whose current knocks you off your feet and carries you into the presence of God.

Heather Sample suspected trouble the moment she saw the cut on her dad’s hand. The two had sat down for a quick lunch between surgical procedures. Heather spotted the wound and asked him about it. When Kyle explained that the injury had happened during an operation, she suddenly felt sick to her stomach.

Both were doctors. Both understood the danger of treating AIDS patients in Zimbabwe. The virus could spread through contact with a patient’s blood. It destroyed the immune system. It was incurable.

And now one of them had been exposed.

Kyle Sheets was a twelve-year veteran of medical mission trips. I knew Kyle when I was a college student. He married a delightful girl named Bernita and settled down in a small Texas town to raise a family and treat the needy. Turns out, they raised a family that treats the needy. Ten children in all. Each involved in works of compassion. As founder and chairman of Physicians Aiding Physicians Abroad, Kyle spent several weeks a year working in mission hospitals in developing countries. This trip to Zimbabwe was not his first.

Exposure to the AIDS virus was.

Heather urged her father to begin the antiretroviral treatment immediately in order to prevent HIV infection. Kyle was reluctant. He knew the side effects. Each was life threatening. Still, Heather insisted, and he consented. Within hours he was violently ill.

Nausea, fever, and weakness were only the initial signs that something was terribly wrong. For ten days Kyle continued to worsen. Then he broke out in the unmistakable rash of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, which is almost always fatal. They moved up their date for returning to the States and began to wonder if Kyle would survive the forty-hour trip, which included a twelve-hour layover in South Africa and a seventeen-hour flight to Atlanta.

Kyle boarded the plane with a 104.5-degree fever. He shook with chills. By this time he was having trouble breathing and was unable to sit up. Incoherent. Eyes yellowed. Liver enlarged and painful. Both doctors recognized the symptoms of acute liver failure.

Heather felt the full weight of her father’s life on her shoulders.

Heather explained the situation to the pilots and convinced them that her dad’s best hope was the fastest flight possible to the United States. Having only a stethoscope and a vial of heart medicine, she took her seat next to his and wondered how she would pull his body into the aisle to do CPR if his heart stopped.

Several minutes into the flight, Kyle drifted off to sleep.

Heather crawled over him and made it to the bathroom in time to vomit the water she had just drunk. She slumped on the floor in a fetal position, wept, and prayed, I need help.
Heather doesn’t remember how long she prayed, but it was long enough for a concerned passenger to knock on the door. She opened it to see four men standing in the galley. One asked if she was okay. Heather assured him that she was fine and told him that she was a doctor. His face brightened as he explained that he and his three friends were physicians too. “And so are ninety-six other passengers!” he said.

The plane could have been filled with conference-bound circus jugglers. Or tattoo artists. Or professional whistlers. But no, Heather and her dad “happened” to be on a flight with one hundred physicians from Mexico.

Heather explained the situation and asked for the doctors’ help and prayers. They gave both. They alerted a colleague who was a top-rank infectious disease doctor. Together they evaluated Kyle’s condition and agreed that nothing else could be done.

They offered to watch him so Heather could rest. She did. When she awoke, Kyle was standing and talking to one of the doctors. Although still emergency room–level sick, he was much stronger. Heather began to recognize God’s hand at work. He had placed them on exactly the right plane with exactly the right people. God had met their need with grace.

He’ll meet yours as well. Perhaps your journey is difficult. You are Heather on the flight, watching a loved one struggle. Or you are Kyle Sheets, feeling the rage of disease and death in your body. Maybe you’re failing a class or a friend. You’re so overwhelmed you don’t think you can face one more day.

You are fearful and weak, but you are not alone. The words of “Amazing Grace” are yours. Although written in the 1700s, they bring hope like today’s sunrise. “’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.” You have His Spirit within you. Heavenly hosts above you. Jesus Christ standing up for you. You have God’s super-powered grace to strengthen and carry you through.
Paul’s life revealed this truth. He wrote, “I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12:7–9).

A thorn in the flesh. Such vivid imagery. The sharp end of a thorn pierces the soft skin of life and lodges beneath the surface. Every step is a reminder of the thorn in the flesh.

The disease in the body.
The sadness in the heart.
The sister in the rehab center.
The dad moving out.
The D on the report card.
The craving to be one of the cool crowd.
The tears in the middle of the night.
The thorn in the flesh.

“Take it away,” you’ve pleaded. Not once, twice, or even three times. You’ve outprayed Paul. He prayed a sprint; you’ve prayed the Boston Marathon. And you’re about to hit the wall at mile nineteen. This wound oozes pain, and you see no sign of tweezers coming from heaven. But what you hear is this: “My grace is all you need.”

God’s grace wipes out everything else on the landscape. It is not puny but plentiful. Not teeny but torrential. Not mini but majestic. It meets us right now, at our point of need, and equips us with courage, wisdom, and strength. It surprises us in our worst moment with overflowing buckets of faith. His grace is not a gentle shower washing away the problem. It is a raging, roaring river whose current knocks you off your feet and carries you into the presence of God.

With the help of those one hundred doctors, my friend Kyle survived the flight to America and recovered from the reaction. Tests show no trace of HIV. He and Heather resumed their practices with renewed conviction of God’s protection. When I asked Kyle about the experience, he reflected that on three other occasions he has heard an airline attendant ask, “Is there a doctor on board?” In each instance Kyle was the only physician on the flight.

“As Heather wheeled me onto the plane, I wondered if anyone would be on board to help us.” God, he soon discovered, answered his prayer a hundred times over.

He stands ready to do the same for you.

God’s grace is not a gentle shower washing away the problem. It is a raging, roaring river whose current knocks you off your feet and carries you into the presence of God.