Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Proof Positive..God Supplies My Needs

Yes, that's me under the blankets and the dark glasses! My latest photo session....at the dentist office Tuesday! Blankets to keep me warm and glasses to protect my eyes from flying debris. Proof Positive that God supplied my needs yesterday morning!

You see, it's like this. Last week I had a dental checkup and Dr. Gill discovered I needed a crown on tooth #5 right away. And....since I have this horrible problem with my blood pressure being way too high at the dentist's office, she prescribed some little white tablets for me to take for anxiety before I came. "Take them the night before and again one hour before your appointment" she told me. That was five days before I would come back for the crown that she told me that. Five days that I would worry and fret about having to take those tiny white pills. Did I mention that I am terribly afraid of taking any kind of new medicine?? Well, I am! So for days that consumed my mind. What if this happened? What if that happened? What if? What it? Where was my faith?

I turned to my Bible and began to read from Philippians 4: 6-7 "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. and the peace of God , which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Yes...that's what I needed and longed for...the peace of God to keep my heart and my mind.

I shared my weakness with several of my friends. I asked my ladies Sunday school class to pray for me. I admitted my faults and failures to them. And you know what? They started covering me with prayer! Joy...my blogging friend in Canada....wrote and told me I had left out a very important verse in Philippians 4. That I should back up and include verse 5 which says "Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand." The Lord is at hand! The Lord is here! Right where I am. And I guess I was ignoring that fact. I immediately added verse 5 to my reading.

Then I backed up more and added verse 4 "Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, Rejoice." That was some important advice God was giving me! Rejoice! Don't be so scared and concentrated on the negative. Focus on the positive. Know that God is with me. Don't be so worried about everything but pray and thank God for being near!

I had so many sweet friends call me, send me encouraging emails, and text me. The youngest lady in my Sunday school class came to me after class and hugged my neck, telling me she knew exactly how I felt and would be praying for me. Also the oldest lady in my class told me she had trouble taking medicine but that she would just pray and ask the Lord to bless it and then put them in her mouth and swallow. What a blessing this was as these ladies opened their hearts to me. They risked showing their own vulnerabilities in order to encourage me!

All day Monday I could think of nothing else except the clock ticking down toward 7:00 p.m. when I had to take the first dose of the medicine. I tried to stay busy to keep my mind off it. I read the Bible. I prayed. I even went and picked up the DVD's from our last year's Bible study of Beth Moore's Esther and re-watched Session Four which was all about fear! At 7:00 p.m. on the dot I took that tiny white pill in the palm of my left hand with a glass of water in my right hand. I bowed my head and asked God to bless that medicine, to let it do me good and not harm, and thanked Him for allowing this way for me to get the much needed dental work done. Then I put that sucker in my mouth, got a gulp of water and down it went. Half-way to victory now!

For the rest of the night I stayed busy watching Beth's video or talking on the phone. I had a lot of phone calls. Many more than usual. That was a good thing. It kept my mind occupied.

Tuesday morning I followed directions and took the other two pills an hour before my appointment time. By the time we arrived at Dr. Gill's office I was a little sleepy but other than that feeling fine. First job was for her assistant Jackie to take my blood pressure. Still high. I snuggle under the two blankets she puts on top of me to warm me up and try to relax. In ten minutes or so she comes back and checks b/p again. Still high. I'm beginning to worry a little. And of course you know what worry does to your blood pressure! ha Jackie puts a neck roll under my neck and tells me to just keep "chillin out". I pray. I know so many of you are praying for me! I know God is near!

After several times of checking my b/p and it's still too high, Dr. Gill suggests we try the gas and see if that will help. I've not used the gas before since I had a bad reaction over 25 years ago to it. But I'm ready to try it so she puts the nosepiece on me and turns the gas on really low. It does seem to help but not enough to get the pressure down to her safely levels. What a disappointment! I wanted SO badly to get this dental work done! They take the mask off and we talk for a few minutes, getting ready for me to go home...empty. I turn to Jackie and say...."Could you please just check it one more time?" They agreed. When the reading was done Jackie smiled and picked up the machine so Dr. Gill could see it. Right on the dividing line! Dr. Gill's reply..."Let's DO it!!!" I was so happy. So thankful. I KNEW that I was surrounded by many, many prayers of friends and that God was supplying my needs.

Some of you may have been laughing your way through my story. I know...it's a hoot. You may never have any problems going to the dentist. You may not fear flying. You may not fear being alone. You may not fear speaking in public. You may not fear taking tests. But there is SOMETHING you fear I'm pretty sure! And I just want to tell you today that whatever it may be, God is great than your fears. He is greater than MY fears! He's a great God! And I'm so thankful I'm His child!

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4: 19

Many, many thanks to all my prayer warrior friends! I love you so much!

Marilyn

11 comments:

Lelia Chealey said...

This is awesome Marilyn! Thank you for the reminder to trust God with all of our fears.

Bro. Rick said...

I am the same way, my blood pressure goes up automatically no matter what kind of dr's visit I go on. I just don't like dr's or medicine. Dentists is the worse. I had a bad experience with a root canal years ago and just the smell of a dentists office makes me sick.

I had to overcome the fear with the help of the Lord. I still have that feeling every time I go, but I still overcome each time by prayer and quoting some of the same promises in Phil. 4. I like the part about where the "Lord is at hand". That is great.

Praying for you and the family as you lay your sister to rest. His grace will be sufficient I know.

Rick

Leah Adams said...

Your transparency is a blessing, Marilyn. We all have fears of something or someone. Until we are willing to admit them, we are not ready to move past them. I'm so proud of you.

Leah

Lisa said...

I've missed visitng your blog and am glad to be back reading and catching up. You never fail to bring a practical application of the Word to an everyday life experience.

Rejoicing with you as God supplies ALL of our needs. What a mighty God we serve.

Blessings ~ Lisa

Runner Mom said...

Oh, bless your precious heart! Is our God just awesome? His timing was perfect. So glad that you're doing ok. I'm picking up Austin in 15 minutes to go back to the dentist for his recheck from last week's surgery--which went great! I'll keep you in my prayers!
love you!
Susan

Peggy said...

Great! I hate taking medicine as well; I can tell as soon as it is in my system.
I am happy that you were able to get it done.
With Love,
Peggy

Jennifer said...

That is awesome Marilyn!!! I will share this with the staff if you don't mind! It is amazing what prayer can do! So thankful that we have the line of communitcation straight to HIM~~~

Much love,
Jennifer

Cindy said...

Marilyn, isn't it comforting to know that our Sovereign God cares about every detail in our life, even our dentist appointments and our fears.

Thank you for sharing your fears and your victory in Jesus for overcoming those fears.

Cindy

Yolanda said...

I am so very happy, like extremely, that you are through this on the other side, seeing God's faithfulness. NOTHING IS TOO HARD FOR HIM, and HE IS IN THE SMALL as well as in the large. LOVE YOU!

Alene said...

Girl - I needed this! I need to go to the dentist soooooo bad and I am afraid. I'm going to have to raise my courage and read those scriptures over and over that you gave us. Thanks for sharing your journey. I know I'm not alone now. Praying for you.

The Loveless Family said...

Your right, we all have something that scares us. My husband pokes fun at me because my biggest fear is birds! I freak out if one flies within 100 feet of me. But if I ever have to go into a house to be a witness (the ONLY reason I would enter such a house) and I find a budgie flying around, I will remember your post!