Monsters in the night....

Monsters in the night.....

With this hand surgery, comes the opportunity of taking powerful painkillers...the first few days, it seemed a necessary thing to do and then optional and finally just a choice...at first they worked really well and took away the pain as well as helping me sleep through the pain.   Then, there was a subtle change and they made me have bad dreams...so at that point the OTC ones were better and the powerful ones were put away....voila,  No more fighting monsters in the night....those monsters are not really very restful...

 A long time ago, when our children were little, my husband and I made a choice not to serve or drink alcohol beverages.  All of us, at some point, get to make that choice and we did what we felt God was leading us to do, but this is not necessarily the calling that everyone has...for me, it wasn't a difficult choice...every time I have something with alcohol in it, I get sick. But, at the time, it meant more than that, it was a decision between my husband, myself and God..a vow..and we stuck with it all of our married life. We felt in the place that we were, we would or could make others stumble in their faith...

Romans 14:21
It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.

 Those monsters reminded me of that decision...as pain relief is one reason for wine and was used medicinally in the Bible.

Luke 10:34
He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.

But for some, with much use, those monsters return with the wine...

Isaiah 28:7
And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions.

Proverbs 23: 19 Listen, my son, and be wise,
    and set your heart on the right path:
20 Do not join those who drink too much wine
 
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
    Who has strife? Who has complaints?
    Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine,
    who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red,
    when it sparkles in the cup,
    when it goes down smoothly!
32 In the end it bites like a snake
    and poisons like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange sights,
    and your mind will imagine confusing things.
34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas,
    lying on top of the rigging.
35 “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt!
    They beat me, but I don’t feel it!
When will I wake up
    so I can find another drink?”

 There are so many other references to wine in the Bible. It's connection with wealth, Jesus turning the water to wine, etc... But the monsters really reminded me, personally, of our commitments made years ago, how they affected our life..how they still do...I never want to be a stumbling block in anyway to others....

Thank You, for Your word, how it affects our lives on all levels...it is so real, so living, so instructing, so loving, so teaching, so pertinent...