From www.assistnews.net - by permission
PANCREATITIS ATTACK LEAVES WRITER REFLECTING ON GOD’S LOVE
Feeling John Ashcroft’s Pain
By Mark Ellis
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
CAPISTRANO BEACH, CALIFORNIA (ANS) -- I prayed recently for a deeper experience of God’s love, and a few days after my prayer I found myself being rushed into the emergency room with pancreatitis, the same malady recently suffered by Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Hooked to an I.V. in my left arm, I couldn’t take anything by mouth for five days. I felt as if I was being sifted like wheat. (Pictured: Mark and Sally Ellis).
Beyond the severe abdominal pain accompanying pancreatitis, which some compare to labor pains, the experience of not having any moisture on your lips, mouth, or tongue begins to feel excruciating after several days. The doctors would not allow swabs, ice chips, or even a ‘swish and spit,’ because of their strict orders that the entire digestive system be shut down.
God suddenly had me on a forced fast far beyond any fasting I attempted on my own in years past. Those attempts suddenly paled in significance.
In the midst of my medical trial, God’s love touched me. As I was being wheeled into the emergency room my last request was for my 17-year-old son to call our prayer chain at church. Little did I realize how far that chain would reach, as I began to learn of people throughout the U.S. praying for me.
Many churches in Southern California were praying as an organic network developed through friends at various churches and word-of-mouth. There were cards and visitors and offers of meals and rides and errands to be run for our family. I’d never been in the hospital before, and never been on the receiving end of such an outpouring.
There was a phone call from my sister, who happened to be visiting South Dakota. She hadn’t yet learned what I was going through, but felt God prompting her to call me. She then got several churches praying for me in South Dakota.
There was a call to my hospital room from a woman in Louisiana—a complete stranger—who heard the prayer request via the ASSIST News Service and felt prompted to respond, because she once suffered a life-threatening bout with pancreatitis herself.
Then there was the call from a single mom who I had prayed for many times before. She endured a serious car accident which left her mentally and physically disabled, and had supported herself and her son for years from various assistance programs. Now the tables were turned and she was praying for me in the most heartfelt and compassionate way.
I began to weep when I saw God’s answer to my prayer--His love displayed so visibly and so tangibly through the body of Christ.
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If you read this because you just don't understand a "fiery trial" that you are going thru, be encouraged by 3 chapter 1:2/4s on God's good intents & purposes for you in ANY circumstances
2 Corinthians 1:2/4, James 1:2/4 & 2 Peter 1:2/4
Well worth reading, over & over
Very briefly, put together, God wants to use our trials & problems, etc to draw us closer to Him, to develop the character of Christ in us, & to comfort us, & strengthen us - (cum forte = with strength) - so that we can pass on His comfort to those in any knid of trouble
From talking to many, it seems that God invariably brings us into contact with those going thru worse, & it is when we see how God uses the lesser pains we have been thru to comfort, cheer & strengthen someone going thru worse, that is when we find we can look back & actually thank God even for the bad times, because He has brought such good from it
God bless!
Ian
PANCREATITIS ATTACK LEAVES WRITER REFLECTING ON GOD’S LOVE
Feeling John Ashcroft’s Pain
By Mark Ellis
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
CAPISTRANO BEACH, CALIFORNIA (ANS) -- I prayed recently for a deeper experience of God’s love, and a few days after my prayer I found myself being rushed into the emergency room with pancreatitis, the same malady recently suffered by Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Hooked to an I.V. in my left arm, I couldn’t take anything by mouth for five days. I felt as if I was being sifted like wheat. (Pictured: Mark and Sally Ellis).
Beyond the severe abdominal pain accompanying pancreatitis, which some compare to labor pains, the experience of not having any moisture on your lips, mouth, or tongue begins to feel excruciating after several days. The doctors would not allow swabs, ice chips, or even a ‘swish and spit,’ because of their strict orders that the entire digestive system be shut down.
God suddenly had me on a forced fast far beyond any fasting I attempted on my own in years past. Those attempts suddenly paled in significance.
In the midst of my medical trial, God’s love touched me. As I was being wheeled into the emergency room my last request was for my 17-year-old son to call our prayer chain at church. Little did I realize how far that chain would reach, as I began to learn of people throughout the U.S. praying for me.
Many churches in Southern California were praying as an organic network developed through friends at various churches and word-of-mouth. There were cards and visitors and offers of meals and rides and errands to be run for our family. I’d never been in the hospital before, and never been on the receiving end of such an outpouring.
There was a phone call from my sister, who happened to be visiting South Dakota. She hadn’t yet learned what I was going through, but felt God prompting her to call me. She then got several churches praying for me in South Dakota.
There was a call to my hospital room from a woman in Louisiana—a complete stranger—who heard the prayer request via the ASSIST News Service and felt prompted to respond, because she once suffered a life-threatening bout with pancreatitis herself.
Then there was the call from a single mom who I had prayed for many times before. She endured a serious car accident which left her mentally and physically disabled, and had supported herself and her son for years from various assistance programs. Now the tables were turned and she was praying for me in the most heartfelt and compassionate way.
I began to weep when I saw God’s answer to my prayer--His love displayed so visibly and so tangibly through the body of Christ.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you read this because you just don't understand a "fiery trial" that you are going thru, be encouraged by 3 chapter 1:2/4s on God's good intents & purposes for you in ANY circumstances
2 Corinthians 1:2/4, James 1:2/4 & 2 Peter 1:2/4
Well worth reading, over & over
Very briefly, put together, God wants to use our trials & problems, etc to draw us closer to Him, to develop the character of Christ in us, & to comfort us, & strengthen us - (cum forte = with strength) - so that we can pass on His comfort to those in any knid of trouble
From talking to many, it seems that God invariably brings us into contact with those going thru worse, & it is when we see how God uses the lesser pains we have been thru to comfort, cheer & strengthen someone going thru worse, that is when we find we can look back & actually thank God even for the bad times, because He has brought such good from it
God bless!
Ian
