1 Chronicles 16:34
"I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. "
Psalm 9:1
"giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"
Ephesians 5:20
"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Colossians 3:17
"give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
1 Thessalonians 5:18
As you can see from the few verses that I've quoted above (all verses from the ESV-English Standard Version), I really wanna give thanks to our mighty, awesome, gracious, just and steadfast God :)
I woke up Sat morning feeling fine. However, by Sat afternoon I uncharacteristically had no appetite for lunch. (anyone who knows me well enough would be surprised :p). But I still attempted to eat something and accompanied Mum for lunch at the foodcourt near our house (she wasn't feeling too good too and stayed home to rest). I picked at 4 dumplings and told Mum that I couldn't take another bite... though I didn't wanna worry her in saying that I was feeling a little nauseous too. The cat got out of the bag though when on the short walk home, I had to do a "merlion" (vomiting to the uninitiated :p) twice. It wasn't a pretty sight.
Getting home, I knew I needed sleep. My head was throbbing and I felt a little chilly. The only catch was that I was only halfway through preparing for that afternoon's Bible Study with the Young Adults and we were venturing into the theological minefield of 1 Cor 14 that day. What was on my mind too was my music practice that same evening for my Worship Service Chairing on Sunday morning. Mum told me not to go for Bible Study and to stay home and rest but I told her that I'll see how things went. I popped 1 panadol and drifted into sleep. Woke up 2 hours later (didn't plan to sleep so long!) feeling slightly better but not all that great. However, I was determined to make it through the BS & practice. I said a short prayer and left for BS... all the while feeling a little guilty that I never really finished preparing for BS as well as I wanted.
The BS went off pretty OK though I still felt that I could have been better prepared (lesson to myself: prepare BS way, way in advance!) The unfortunate thing was that as the BS wore on, I was starting to have a fever and by the time BS ended (6pm++), I estimated that I was experiencing a 38degrees++ fever. Thank goodness Chee Ling(aka Sarah) had panadol with her (I foolishly forgot to bring some with me) and I popped 2 before going for dinner. I also felt encouraged greatly when both Jan and herself prayed for me.
Once again, I had no appetite for dinner and I just sat there while the others ate. Didn't have energy to talk too. On the way back to church for my music practice, Simon saw me in my most unflattering of moments as I "merlioned" 3 times. However, I immediately felt better after that and music practice went on pretty well. That night as I lay on my bed before retiring for the night, I prayed this prayer...
"Heavenly Father, you know I need the rest so please grant me a good night's sleep. I don't know why this sudden ailment has come upon me but I know most of all that You have allowed it. Please sustain me through tomorrow's chairing as I know you would... for finding a replacement at this last, last minute might only seek to disrupt tomorrow's service. Honour my service to you and may it be pleasing in your sight. Amen."
With that, I slept.
Woke up early Sunday morning doing my pre-Chairing practice of prayer, scripture-reading and mental rehearsals. I was feeling ok dispite the fact that I puked once that morning too. After which, I took some anti-vomitting medication and took 2 'pao's for breakfast. With that, I thanked the Lord that He brought down my fever, committed the day to Him in prayer and left for church.
In God's wonderful mercy, I felt good throughout the service (albeit the slight feeling of lethargy) and most of all, he sustained me throughout the whole day! For lunch, I was able to finish a whole bowl of fishball 'mee-kia' and for dinner, another whole bowl of macaroni soup :) and all this without any medication at all! And when I woke up this morning, the uneasy feeling in my stomach was gone... though I am gonna stay off milk for a couple more days.
At the end of it all, this was indeed God's healing at work. My humble opinion is that when we have a job to do for God, stick with it all the way. More often than not, we back out at the first sign of suffering and trouble. However, dear friends, perservere and our God will work miraculously and wonderfully :) And after everything, never fail to give thanks and to use these testimonies to encourage others as I hope that this experience of mine will :)
Hallelujah!
