Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. (Jeremiah 17:14)

The past year has been rough on my health. Last September, my blood pressure, which had always been normal, suddenly spiked after a dizzy spell and didn’t go down for three days, prompting only my second ever trip to the ER. While in the ER, my blood pressure went up to 164/117—definitely scary territory, especially because I didn’t feel any differently. Months of appointments and tests followed that trip to the ER—appointments and tests that didn’t reveal anything out of the ordinary. Eventually, I was referred to a cardiologist who determined that my family history, rather than an underlying issue, had caught up with me. The good news is that with medication, my blood pressure is back under control. The bad news is that the medication zaps my energy and took months to adjust to, and there are still days that I struggle.

Once my blood pressure was under control, I thought it would be smooth sailing. Then, in July, I suffered a stress fracture in my foot. What were you doing? you might wonder. I wish I had a fun story to tell. I walked too much (20,000 steps that day), and that, along with the shape of my foot (with its long toes), was enough to cause the fracture. I’ve been in a boot for a few weeks. It’s been hot, heavy, and inconvenient, but I’m thankful my foot is healing and I’ll be able to shed the boot soon.

These health issues have reminded me how much I take for granted. I have always known that I would probably have high blood pressure due to my family history. And while it seemed that my blood pressure skyrocketed overnight, the fact was there had been signs—I had just missed them. I’d had another occurrence of dizziness about two months prior to the spell that caused the spike in blood pressure. I dismissed it since the spell went away after a few hours and seemed to have no lasting effects. By the time I checked my blood pressure about a month later, it was fine. However, the ER doctor told me that I’d most likely had borderline high blood pressure for a while since it had registered at around 130/80 for the last few years.

On the other hand, the stress fracture caught me completely off guard. There was no major incident—I didn’t fall, I didn’t step on or off anything. One day, I woke up, and my foot hurt. A few days later, I could barely walk. The fracture line on the x-ray was so faint I couldn’t see it without the doctor’s help. How did something so small cause so much pain?

Isn’t that like life? One day, we’re walking along, doing our own thing, and the next thing we know, something has happened to upend our lives and create enormous pain. Whether it’s the loss of someone close to us, a job loss, or an unexpected health struggle, we can ask Jesus to draw near and help us through the unexpected. He may not take away the pain, but he makes it bearable when he carries it for us.

Dear Jesus, thank you for carrying our pain. Help us to turn to you in good times and in bad. Amen.