Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”

• Genesis 3:17-19

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

• Romans 5:3-5

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

• 2 Corinthians 4:17

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

• Romans 8:18

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

• 1 Peter 4:12-13

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

• John 16:33

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”

• Sylvester Stallone, as Rocky Balboa (Rambo did not talk much)

Okay, Rocky or Rambo, take your pick.  Both had that idea of getting hit as hard as the other person could hit and still move forward.

Bambi on the other hand is not really that soft and innocent at the end of the story as he is at the beginning.  But I use the term of “Rambo” as Mr. Tough, while “Bambi” is Mr. Soft.  You can disagree if you like.

The Scriptures above start with the curse of man in the Fall.  We are to endure pain.  We are to get our work done through painful toil.  It will never be a bed of roses, or not for long.  We are to glorify God in our sufferings.  Christ suffered and we shall also.  And the suffering that we suffer is nothing in comparison to the Glory to come.  And the 1 Peter 4 reference is especially apropos since a lot of the pain felt like an intense burning sensation – just saying.  And I am at peace.  God did so much for me during my recovery.

I had surgery a month ago.  They prescribed a controlled substance to be used as needed.  The bottle is unopened.  I did not need it.

But does that make me “Rambo”?  Not hardly.  The doctor gave me a Sitz bath, which I described in the quiz break this morning, between the questions and the Bible references.  You basically sit in a pool of warm water for 15-20 minutes.  That requires no medicines at all.  There is no restrictions as to how often I use it.  But as it turned out, I averaged about once per day, when the doctor suggested maybe between two and three times.

Since the incision was in a nasty place… Umm, I sit on it.  I could place a hemorrhoid pad or wipe and do what the instructions say not to do – simply leave it there until it quits feeling cool.  And no, it was a fistulotomy and not hemorrhoid surgery.

But then about three days after the surgery, I started taking acetaminophen, a couple of times each day.  My neck pain that I had when visiting my son in Tennessee came back.  I was making an accommodation for one pain with poor posture, leading to the previous pain returning.  I guess I was not completely healed.

So, did I slide toward the Bambi side?  The heavy-duty pain killer is still unopened.

But then as the constant mild pain became more and more irritating, and I wanted to get some work done…

The doctor also gave me some hemorrhoid cream with a numbing agent.  Oddly, for a couple of hours, it seemed that it numbed absolutely nothing, but then I had little or no pain for maybe twelve hours.

But during my convalescence, I averaged writing roughly two posts per day, a little over.  Now that was absolute Rambo, or Rocky if you prefer.  In the end, it does not matter how you deal with the pain as long as you do not get addicted to pain meds and you keep going.  And the best way to avoid the addiction is to do as I did, never open the bottle.

But praying does a lot too.

When I first sat on the toilet, the second day after the surgery, I was playing a solitaire game on my phone.  This game has three daily goals.  I have no idea what to do with the “coins” that I receive, but I like accomplishing the goals.  Besides, I was spending a lot longer on the toilet until the incisions were completely healed.  I had to do something with that time!  There was one goal that was ridiculously hard to accomplish.  It took a lot of skill, but it also took the cards falling into place perfectly, with the deuce (2) of that suit arriving near the end.  I laughed.  I was not going to even try to accomplish that goal.

Then I looked to heaven and prayed, “Oh, Lord, help me today.”  I paused.  “Oh, Lord, please, do not misunderstand.  I have no need in achieving that one goal on a silly game.  I need help with the pain.  I need the intestinal fortitude to keep working, pain or no pain.  I will do nothing that makes matters worse.  I will take breaks as I need them, but please, Lord, help me.”

I went back to playing the game that I had started.  And as the game was about two-thirds dealt, I realized that the spade suit of cards was shaping up to achieve that “impossible” goal.  I got the three of spades on the next flip of the cards, and then the deuce of spades with the next flip.  I had accomplished the goal without even trying.

I looked back to the heavens.  “Lord, I love your sense of humor.”  And from that moment on, I KNEW that God had my pain control well in hand.  If He gave me something that I said was of low priority, how much more would He handle the tougher stuff.  After all, I could not portray Bambi or Rambo without the help of God.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.