Migraines are headaches on steroids.  There doesn’t really seem to be anything that takes them away completely.  You can try to catch it at the onset and have some success with medications, caffeine, or essential oils but these things don’t hold it off for long.  The pain of a migraine takes over your entire body.  It affects your head, stomach, sinuses, eyes, intestines, brain, and much more.  The migraine invades your life in a way that causes your emotions to be intense, resulting in anger, sadness, depression, doubt, and isolation.  The result of experiencing this invader is both physical and mental weakness.  What is this thing called a migraine?  Is it an invader from another planet?  Is it an instrument of Satan?  Is it an entity that exists outside of us?  No, no and no.  The migraine is part of a sin-cursed world where we experience unpleasantness in this life as a result of sin.  So how do we handle something that is totally out of our control?

In the last 20 years of my life I have suffered from migraines.  They started out very few and far between.  There was one thing even the few and far between had in common, the headache began during the night.  Over the years I have tried to find solutions.  I went to my doctor (more than once and a couple of different doctors), chiropractors, a naturalist doctor, friends with advice, the internet, medications, vitamins, minerals, oils, and, above all, prayer.  There have been no solutions to my problem and as I have gotten older these migraines occur more often.  Needless to say I get very discouraged because they definitely get in the way of how I want to live life. This background brings me to last week.

On Thursday morning at 2:00 am, I woke up to a throbbing head.  I went into the “catch it” mode by going to the kitchen and turning on the coffee maker.  I drank a cup of coffee cooled by two ice cubes, put my essential oils behind my ears, and put muscle cream on my neck.  This procedure sometimes helps to relieve the headache pain but not this time.  At 4:00 am I was miserable so I took a tramadol.  This medication helps sometimes but not this time.  I knew by 7:00 am that I would not be going to work because I was nauseous.  Then came the vomiting, which didn’t relieve the pain, either.  My husband was caring for me during this time and held me as I broke down and sobbed because of the pain.  He wanted to help so he began to research the internet.  He made a few trips to the store to get a variety of things to try and help me.  There was an herbal tea and ginger root just to name a couple of things.  But nothing stayed down so I broke down again.

It was a long day and night of being weak and out of control.  I tried to pray but the only thing I could utter even in my mind was, “please take this away”.  On Friday at 5:00 pm, the headache subsided and I felt no pain.  I was very weak and tired.  It wasn’t until Sunday that I felt more myself with energy to spend.  It’s hard when you want to help and you can’t and it’s hard to be in pain.  My husband and I were in those places for those two days.  What is my take away?

There will be times when a person can’t help!

You will find yourself with someone who is suffering and the desire to fix the situation rises in you.  You open your toolbox of ideas to find something that will surely help the situation but you keep coming up empty.  There may be times when you say things nonchalantly without real thought as to how it will be received.  “Don’t worry! It’ll be fine.”   “All things work together for good.”  “Just trust the Lord.”  “God is good.”  While there is truth here, it is not what the sufferer needs.  The sufferer needs compassion, which my husband displayed as he held me while I sobbed.  There was nothing he could do and really nothing I wanted him to do but have compassion for me at that moment.  Jesus displayed compassion so often, but especially on the cross.  He looked out at a crowd who was suffering in their sins and weren’t even aware of it.  He was suffering as a result of their sins and yet he said, “…Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  Luke 23:34  Show compassion as Jesus did!

There will be times when control is out of my hands!

During this last headache episode, I had no control over the pain.  My efforts didn’t work to bring about relief.  The pain was so bad that I couldn’t even think.  I had no control of my thoughts and could hardly put any thoughts together.  It’s so true that God is always in control.  Nothing can be taken from Him and His purposes can’t be messed up.  The truths I know about God are precious to me but I couldn’t even control my thoughts enough to think on them.  This is true weakness.  Paul says, “…For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10b  This is a true statement but the strength is not mine, it’s God’s.  The amount of pain, lack of clarity, lack of control, or emotional distress doesn’t take away from God’s strength.  He displayed his strength as he helped me to endure.  Endurance was very heavy on my mind but, the truth was, without God’s strength I couldn’t endure.  I’m not in control but I can trust God who is.  The Lord God says, “…My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.”  Isaiah 46:10b  Let God be in control and learn from him!

Do I want to have another one of those headaches?  No!  But God may allow another one or many more in order to show himself as my compassionate, in control Lord and Savior.  One day there will be no more pain and that will be GLORY!!