Some Trials Need Help

When we bought our older house two years ago, there was a major feature that helped close the deal. The back of the property bordered a private, wooded lot with lots of trees, brush, and wildlife. My wife and I had always wanted to look out the windows and see nature, so we were hooked.

There is a chain link fence which runs the length of the property. It needs to be trimmed 2-3 times per year because of the thick brush on the other side. That usually fills 2 lawn bags with grapevines, weeds, and sumac…yes, poison sumac.

One of these trimming sessions happened two months ago during an extreme Michigan heat wave. It was so hot that I wore only gloves and a short sleeved t-shirt…big mistake. This allowed that poison sumac to rub against my forearms repeatedly as I cut and shoved it into the lawn bags. What started with mild itching that night soon turned into a maddening ordeal.

My forearm became raw, blistered, and inflamed within a week…and it swelled by about 50%. Given a pipe, a can of spinach, and an anchor tattoo, I could have passed for Popeye.

My dear wife insisted for a week that I go to the clinic and get it addressed…I opted to wait for it to improve. But it didnt get better, it just stayed raw, itchy, and swollen. Finally, the Lord told me it was time to call in the big guns. I knew it was time to address the problem…my wife was grateful for that decision.

I visited the Quick Care clinic by our house where the surprised doctor told me I probably had an infection. He gave me a powerful steroid shot and slathered medicated cream all over my arms. I was given a prescription for oral steroids (Prednisone), an oral antibiotic, and a heavy duty cream to apply to the rash.

That did the trick. After a week there was marked improvement, and after two weeks the rashes were basically gone, though they did leave scars.

God gave me a spiritual application. When we’re trimming the overgrown sin from our lives there is often resistance from the devil and especially our flesh. Sometimes, the battle is too much to bear alone, and we need to call on others to help us.

There is great value in a mentor, a Pastor, a friend, or an “expert in your struggle” who can come alongside and give you needed aid and guidance. Some battles are too much to bear ourselves…we’re only human after all. Asking for help is not a sign of weak faith, it’s a sign of wisdom.