OUCH is not the best word to define my PAIN last weekend.
With a bucket of sunflower seeds in my hand, I was walking up the slope of my backyard towards the bird feeder when a wasp flew between my left foot and the flip flop I was wearing.
My foot came down on the wasp, and his stinger went into the arch of my foot.
I’ve never been stung by a wasp. So despite my previous blog about fear, I have never feared wasps. Now I have a healthy respect for the venom in their sting.
I tried many remedies: baking soda, apple cider vinegar, soaking my foot in lavender water, but my foot would not be comforted. Sharp, prickling pain radiated throughout my whole foot.
But what I learned from the circumstance is not …”avoid wasps.”
My lesson was the impact physical pain has on my mental welfare. (And I have a HIGH pain tolerance)
Weary of the pain, I took a Tylenol and went to bed, hoping a nap would help me escape. When I woke up, my foot still pulsated and I could not put weight on my foot.
I gave up the idea of yard work, but no leisure activity could distract me from the pain.
All I could think about was… the pain.
Like a prima donna, pain took center stage, nagged me throughout the weekend, refused to be ignored.
So tell me, how do people live with chronic pain?
How does someone get up each morning knowing nothing has changed, and perhaps never will?
I knew my foot would improve. I just had to rest, and be patient especially when the next day came and my foot still throbbed.
But a wasp sting is nothing compared to the chronic pain resulting from surgery, back problems, or side effects of chemotherapy.
PAIN also describes grief which can incapacitate someone.
Revelations 21:4 offers hope. “He (GOD) shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain…”
But until that future day comes, this blogger wants to know….
- How do you endure chronic pain?
- How do you find emotional strength to carry on?
- How do you rest in God’s promises in the midst of battle fatigue?
Do you know?
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Even In This 
This made me think of those with “emotional” chronic pain…its good to know that God is the healer of all pain! I know His power is mighty and His understanding immeasurable. Praise to my Lord!!!
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Cathy, you are right. I know people who can’t get over the death of a loved one, or a divorce. Mental pain/grief nags them every day. I think the real issue isn’t how to manage the pain so they can live a fairly normal life, but how can they live without giving up hope. Hopelessness is a pit of despair. And my next blog will address that subject.
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I forgot to sign in….so it says anonymous…I’m Darla from Montana and post my husbands stories at http://www.kaarre.wordpress.com.
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Darla, I’m sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis. Especially since your family has already experienced your husband’s chronic pain. It’s one thing to encourage others, and another to deal with our own pain. Thank you for sharing. I know several people who live with chronic pain, and this wasp sting’s ongoing pain allowed me to peek inside that window and wonder how I’d deal with something far greater on a daily basis. “How do you rest in the pain” is a question I’ve been asking people, and will hopefully learn something I can pass along.
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I was just recently…within the last two weeks….diagnosed with Degenerative Disk Disease and am learning day by day how to live with chronic pain., I too have a high pain tolerance but it is so easy to talk about and be consumed about the ‘new’ pain adventure I’ve been given. I rest more often, am more aware of what aggravates the pain and avoid those things, I exercise with a physical therapist, pray alot and get lots of support from my husband who has had two back surgeries and lived with the pain for 12 years. I’ve never had to deal with it before….except to encourage and love my husband. You raised a very good and at this moment a timely question!! Have a blessed day.
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