Inky man , I feel for you.
I turned 65 this summer. I hear ya about not having ambition to do stuff like I used to. And I hear ya about not getting the same amount of sleep as I used to. But I got a couple of stories to tell you, that I hope perk you up.
The first is short but (ohchit I forgot the word I wanna use; like poignant but not). It's my kidney-stone story.
When one of them buggers decides to move, I found it pretty painful. You see I'm a pretty healthy guy, and not of my will, but by God's will (different story). So when I get a pain, right away it's the worst pain I ever had. And so it was with that ripper-stone. I thought something inside me had exploded and death was imminent.
Anyway I woke up the wife and we set out for the hospital, in the middle of the night, which is a 25 minute ride. TWENTY-FIVE friggen minutes. So I'm rolling around in the back of the Escape trying to find a comfortable position and there ain't one. Now there is no debilitation that goes with this pain, just MONSTER pain. So, we get there and I walk into the reception area as if I was like a 30 year old, except moaning and groaning. And the receptionist/nurse thinks I'm stabbed but no blood ; well I don't know what she's thinking but she sure ain't on the same page as me. So I tell miss slow-as-mollasses,I-need-your-health-card, date of birth,etc, yadayadayada, I tell her I think something is ruptured inside me and I need a doctor to cut it out or KILL-ME-NOW, cuz this pain is too much! So along saunters a man in white coveralls and says he needs to do a scan to see what's going on inside me. Oh geez how long is THIS gonna take. But first he gets a nurse to stick me with needles.
Settle down Mr. he says; we put some morphine in you, and that will make you feel better.
Hot dam. that needle wasn't in me long enough to perceive and I was all better, send me home I'm OK now.
Settle down Mr. he says; We still need to scan you. So he sits me down in a wheelchair and off we go to the scanner. After a million minutes, oh he says, it's about 7mm. What is says I? You have a kidney stone migrating from your kidney to your bladder. What ? Is that all; you mean I'm not dying? No Mr. just a kidneystone. And there are six more that I can see.
So by this time I have been here more than an hour, maybe 90 minutes. And the morphine maintenance drip is making me drowsy, well that and the fact that it's still the middle of the night, and I am extremely relieved to know that my healthy self is not gonna die tonight.
So they wheel me into a room where I can sleep it off, buuuuut there's no such thing as sleeping in a hospital. Then I find out the liquids they have been jamming down my throat, and up my arm, have a reason...... to make me pee! and flush that jagged pos killer-stone into the cup they provide me with, saying I'm sorry Mr. you can't go home until you birth that stinking 7mm rock thru your little tiny.............. uretra,lol. See I bet you thought I was gonna say something else.... didn't you.
Anyway I tried to sleep between all the peeing, but when the sun came up, the **** was in the pail,and I could finally go home..... and yes to work, both of us; the Mrs. drove again.
Ok now here's where it gets interesting.
I confessed my faith in the Son, to God in 94, and came out of that fog in about 2000, and out of the next fog about 2010, and finally started getting with the program in about 2014. I'm a healthy old fart, but not the brightest Christian that was ever born again. It took me 20 years to figure out that the church did not have my best interests at heart..... and neither did any televangelist. And it took another 3 to 4 years of serious study to find out how to get and keep, my soul on the narrow path that leads to eternal life. The stone came in about 2016.
Ok that's the intro.
So I knew that God wants to heal His children. So why did God not answer the fervent prayers of this old fart when I thought there was no greater pain EVER, than this stinking stone? Come on, can you guess? Well the Christians make up all kinds of excuses, for unanswered prayer. They perish for lack of knowledge, (yeah I know, different application, but same ending). Before Jesus left, what did He tell His disciples? He said GREATER WORKS than these will YOU do...... YOU do.
Connect the dots with me: When God Almighty YHWH departed the face of the Earth, He sent Jesus. God is no longer on the Earth.
After His Resurrection and about 500 other people came up out of their graves with Him, Jesus could not leave until the Holy Spirit came down to Earth, like 50 days later at Pentecost. Then, upon the arrival of the Spirit, Jesus ascended to sit at the right hand of His father. Jesus is not on the face of this Earth.
Only the Holy Spirit is.
But before Jesus left, He GAVE His disciples the POWER to do greater works. Greater than what? Greater than: Healings..,Feeding,Regrowth of limbs and eyes, and Miracles like raising the dead. What? Well you'll have to read about it......
Well it turns out that I am a disciple of Jesus now, He knows AJ!
So when I was begging God to take the pain away, I shoulda been commanding the pain to be gone MYSELF !!
But hang on is it really that simple?
Yes and no.
You see, Jesus took to the cross, all our sicknesses, diseases, and infirmities. I believe that with all my heart. Why do you suppose I am 65 and in full health, if a little overweight? You might say cuz it's in my genes. I cannot argue that, but you have to know that on my Mother's side,( and physically speaking I most resemble her), on her side diabetes runs strong with no exception; everyone gets it............ except me. On Daddy's side, heart attacks are common, as is cancer. Almost every one dies by one or the other. I am surrounded on all sides by sickness, disease and infirmities..... yet none touch me.I am older than most of my ancestors were when they expired. Why do you suppose this might be?
I'll tell you why, cuz Jesus took those sicknesses and infirmities and diseases to the cross. All the ones scheduled to kill me, Jesus took so I wouldn't have to. And Jesus changed my genes.
I know what you might be thinking...... AJ's a crackpot. I can't argue that either, I'm just a guy who has learned to read the Bible, and believe what it says.
I'm none too bright about anything in particular, so if God says do this, that, or the other thing, then I just go do it. Cuz the reward is worth anything I have to do or give up.
Back to the Holy Spirit; why is He here. Well the Bible says He wanders the earth listening for the word of God to be spoken, and to perform it. So it would seem all I have to do is extract the Words of God from the text, and speak them over myself, and the Holy Spirit will see to it that the Words of God will not return to God void.
But why do I believe?
Well that leads to the second story.
But first, Ink, I don't know where you are in your Spiritual walk, and it's really not my business to ask. But I gotta tell you, that God is not willing that any should Perish. And the verse means essentially that God wants EVERYBODY to come to receive the "power to become a Son of God", which is what we the Believers, will be known as, in the New-Kingdom; namely Sons of God.
But He gives to everyone the FREEWILL to choose; death or LIFE. And no-choice at all, is already a death choice. With God, there is no in-between; you're either for Him or against Him.
Therefor choose LIFE.
Once you are on God's side, you have access to all the promises, the blessings, and the Loves of YOUR Creator and of your savior, called Jesus the Christ.
You wanna hear the second story?