My Thumb
I woke up yesterday with my thumb hurting every time I tried to grab anything. It was the thumb on my dominant hand, so I noticed it right away, and it was hard to avoid the pain (have you ever tried to button a button without your dominant hand?).
I took a couple of Tylenol, a couple of times during the day. In case you don’t know, never overmedicate on Tylenol. When my mom worked in the poison control call center of a hospital, she found out there is a simple calculation involving the amount of Tylenol, age and weight that determines whether you’ve killed your liver in an overdose situation.
As the day progressed, I started contemplating what might be going on. My first thought was arthritis. I don’t have a history of arthritis, but I have family members who do and, let’s face it, I’m not a spring chicken anymore.
But it was one joint, so “Arthur” didn’t seem to fit. My next thought was gout. Our son has been dealing with a slight case of gout, and I had a bout with it in my mid-20s, so this was a possibility. I racked my memory to remember how that episode of gout was treated about 35 years ago.
Anyway, the day ended and I took some Tylenol and went to bed. This morning, while my thumb still hurts, it is much better than it was yesterday. That’s when it hit me. I was afraid – afraid of what a new pain might mean and whether I’d have to seek medical care. I remembered that, 35 years ago, when I was diagnosed with gout, a simple prescription helped my symptoms, and I was pain-free a few months later. My point is that I was afraid of the unknown even though I had some experience with what I thought was wrong with me.
“Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” - Matthew 6:25-34 ESV
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” - Psalm 23:1-6
I’m sorry I didn’t take my sore thumb to God in prayer right away. God has promised to take care of me (that doesn’t mean he’ll take away my pain), and I should bring all issues to him in Prayer. I have so much to learn.
