Welcome!

‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” ~ Revelation 21:4

Welcome to the inaugural post for my new blog, TwentyOne4 ~ A Christ-Centered Devotional for People with Chronic Pain.

The name for this blog comes from Revelation 21:4. "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." This is the verse said at almost every funeral, and certainly for people with chronic pain, it brings an often-tearful hope that one day, we will not have to suffer in these earthly shells.

This blog is being launched the Friday before the start of the 2013 Holy Week. Certainly Christ experienced chronic pain -- perhaps not physically (except of course for the events of Holy Week), but He did feel deep compassion for those He touched and made whole, or spoke over and healed. He cried, He held, He loved.

Sometimes I ask in prayer, "Jesus, will you please heal me?" The answer usually always comes back in some sort of Scriptural reference. Lately, its been 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God."

God may not take away the excruciating back pain I experience, or the stiffness and soreness from fibromyalgia, but I know this: if I didn't have chronic pain, I would not be doing a chronic pain devotional blog. I would not have joined an online support group for sufferers of chronic pain. People who do not live with constant, agonizing pain cannot understand or appreciate what sufferers live with on a daily basis. I believe God has given me the spiritual gifts of discipleship and encouragement, with a God-given penchant for writing, along with physical limitations to do His work. I believe He wants me to serve Him by encouraging other Christians who have the distinction of living with chronic pain.

We have this hope, then, made only through a relationship with Christ, of knowing that when these earthly shells die, we will get completely healed Resurrection bodies. As wonderful as that is though, that is not the best thing. We get to be with Jesus.

This is not a reason, though, to give up the fight. God put us here for a purpose. So what do we do? We eat healthy, we exercise the best we can, we advocate for ourselves in the medical community, we dive deeper into His word, we interact with others and be the Light and Salt as Jesus commanded us. We don't interrupt the work God is doing in our lives and of those around us.

TwentyOne4 then, is a devotional of hope. Welcome ... I look forward to this journey with you.

~ Terrie

(c) 2013 Terrie McKee