Oh, my face is going to explode!
Have you ever had a sinus infection that left you in so much pain that you thought you would not make it through the night? I have and let me tell you that I did not think that I would be able to endure the agony. However, I did recover, but not without a trip to the doctor and the right medications.
"What in the world does a sinus infection have to do with hope?" Well, everything! My sinus infection helped me to see exactly what happens when we are in a trial and what we need to do in order to have genuine hope.
When my sinus infection began I had some very minor symptoms. I was sneezing occasionally and thought that it was from something in the air. Then I had a minor cough and my throat began to hurt. I thought I just needed to drink some hot tea, get some sleep, use a humidifier, and take an over the counter medicine. After all these thing will help! I continued to go on with my life thinking I was fine. 
Things did not improve, but I kept thinking that if I just kept adding the medicine , the humidifier, and the hot tea it would eventually get better. It did not get better though! One night I went to bed and woke up crying because my face felt like it was going to explode. That was when I realized that I waited too long to get help and that I was faced with hours before I would be able to call the doctor. I honestly did not think I was going to make it throughout the night!
That night as I was in my bed I could not fall asleep because I hurt so badly. I could not move because when I tried to move I hurt even worse. I felt paralyzed and I just wanted the pain to go away. It hurt so badly that I wanted to go to the Emergency Room, which probably would have been a great idea, except for the medical bill that would have followed.
In the morning I saw my doctor and she diagnosed me with a sinus infection. I don't usually get sick so she explained to me why my face hurt so badly. When the sinus cavity is inflamed it creates pressure on your ear, your eye, and even on the nerves of your teeth. This pressure often creates intense pain. I find it interesting that those parts of the body are so interconnected that they all experience pain from the inflamation that is centrally located in the sinus cavity. Is this not just like ourself? We cannot compartmentalize our problems as they too effect every area of our life. 
In order to remedy the situation my doctor prescribed me an antibiotic and a steroid. I needed both in order to experience relief. She advised me that I would not feel instant relief but that it would take about 2-3 days for the pain to get better. I am happy to report that my face is not throbbing. There is still some pain, especially when I overdo it. However I am on the mend.
What I learned from this experience is that it is a perfect example of how we often approach problems in our life. At first we are prone to deny them. We hope that they will go away on their own. We do that until we cannot ignore the situation any more.
For a time we might think that this approach is working, but just like that sinus infection, the trouble is only brewing under the surface. There will come a time when the situation explodes and the problem will be much bigger than it was initially.
When the situation explodes, it is precicely at that point that we are faced with a choice. That choice is to do nothing and go on as we are or to seek help. In the case of life problems we need to seek help, not from a medical doctor, but from the Great Physician. God is that Great Physician. He has laid out a plan for us, a plan full of hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
God wants us to come to Him for advice and "medicine". First we need to go to Him in prayer and then seek advice in His Word. In prayer we can lay our burdens on Him and He will not only pick up those burdens, but He will also either give us strength or carry us through. 
In the Bible, God offers a blueprint of how we should live. However, it is not enough to just read the Bible. We also need to act on what we read. For instance, we are told that in the multitude of counselors there is safety. (Proverbs 14:4) We cannot keep that solely as head knowledge. That would be like going to the doctor and getting a prescription but leaving it on the counter and never taking the pills. We need to seek out those counselors, just like we need to take our pills. This requires action on our part. If we do not apply His Word, we will never see the fruit that will come from it.
We also need to continue to follow through. My sinus infection was not cured instantly. It took a couple of days to get better. That is how it is with our problems and trials. They will not be fixed as soon as we fall on our knees before God and start applying His concepts. It will take some time and continued action on our part. Keep perserveering and you will be rewarded.
We all have seen the warning on that prescription bottle - "Finish all medication unless otherwise directed by prescriber." Yet, how many times do people start to feel better and think, "I don't need to finish that prescription." They stop taking the medicine and more often than not the symptoms return, sometimes even worse than they were in the first place. Don't be like that person when dealing with life's problems. Keep on trusting God, praying, seeking His counsel, and acting on it. Only then will we become who God wants us to be and only then will we have genuine hope!
Are you experiencing a "sinus infection" moment in your life? If so, seek out the face of the Great Physician. When you feel like you can't make it through another day, He will gently lift you up and carry you through. Read His Word. Learn what His solutions are for life's problems. Don't stop there, apply that knowledge and start living what you know to be truth. 
If you have gone through a difficult circumstance, encourage someone else who may be going through a similar situation. God will use you to to help ease that person's burden and you will be living out the commandment to bear one another's burden. In the end you may be the one God has chosen to help another person. 
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