Living Through Pain

By Nina Elliott EdD ThD

If you are living or have lived with pain and wondered where God was when you were hurting, this book is for you. Maybe you have asked the question, "Does God even care about me?" If you have selected this book to read, then you have something in common with the author. You are invited to join Nina as she describes seven years of pain resulting from two car wrecks and months of rehabilitation. With a brief respite of a year, she endured seven additional years of pain and illnesses. This book reveals God's hand in difficult times, and how God sees our pain. God's tender, amazing love and compassion is revealed every step of the way. Nina Elliott retired as Associate Provost of Academic Affairs from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She also worked with Pat Summitt's Lady Volunteer Basketball team as the sport psychologist. She holds an EdD degree in Educational Psychology and a ThD degree in theology.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781644164686

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Living Through Pain

Nina T. Elliott, EdD, ThD

Copyright © 2018 by Nina T. Elliott, EdD, ThD

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New International Version Bible (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblical, Inc. (r) used by permission.

The NIV text may be quoted in any form (written, visual, electronic, or audio), up to and inclusive of five hundred verses without the express written permission of the publisher, providing the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible nor do the verses quoted account for 25 percent or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2011, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

I dedicate this book to my loving parents, Howard and Annie Thomas, who are now in Heaven.  I was raised in a Christian home, where my parents’ love and guidance helped to lay my spiritual foundation. Throughout my life, their words of encouragement and support enabled me to dare to dream, to work hard to achieve my goals and to overcome the obstacles and challenges of life. I am most thankful to my Heavenly Father, who walks every day with me.

Nina T. Elliott, EdD, ThD

Author’s Preface

The fact that you are reading this book suggests you are a person acquainted with pain. You may even be dealing with a serious debilitating condition yourself and wrestling with deep questions about your faith. Maybe you are a caregiver to someone who has a disability. Perhaps you know someone close to you who is struggling with a painful illness. If you have selected this book to read, then we have something in common. Anyone who picks up a book about pain and suffering, to learn how God sees our pain, must have a heart for understanding the Lord’s hand in hardships. Whatever the reason, I am glad you chose this book.

Enjoy!

Introduction

You have had another one of those days. You are sick and tired of being sick. It seems like you can’t remember the last time you’ve really felt well. Or maybe you are not the one who is ill but rather the caretaker for someone who is disabled.

You are about to explore one person’s journey through her experience of seven years of pain and suffering. This book will address some of the questions you may have. Why does God allow so much pain? Is God really the one who inflicted this pain? If so, how can I believe in His Word? This book reveals how I lived with one surprise after another when I was diagnosed with multiple illnesses and medical problems. One thing prevailed throughout this time period, and that was God’s presence in my life. God was never a bystander or spectator. He was a guiding light for me.

Imagine living a life where you have weathered the ups and downs of life, but always managing to get through the trials and enjoying the good times. Then without any warning, the unexpected happens. In 2000, I had a car wreck that injured my whole muscular system, injuring my back and neck. Three years later, a second wreck rendered me completely disabled by doing further damage to my back, neck, and shoulder muscles. (I was forced into retirement eleven years before I had planned to retire.) It took me about three years to fully recuperate from the second car wreck. Between the two wrecks and rehab, it was seven years before I recovered.

In 2009, I experienced the beginning of another seven-year stretch of poor health. This time, it was a barrage of sickness, diseases, and surgeries. It was never two of the same aliments, always different. I couldn’t understand what was happening to me. However, I am very thankful for my strong faith in God, even though there were times when the trials put me flat on my back.

This book is about how God not only brought me through these horrendous times, but also how He strengthen my faith, healed my body, provided for me financially, and made me into a living testimony for Him.

Chapter One

Pain

Pain is a relative term. What is painful

to one person may not be painful to another.

Pain is a relative term to me. What may be painful for one person may not be painful to another. For example, let’s say that Jane has a deep wound in her left thigh. Tim has the same identical cut on his left leg. Jane is having so much pain she is taking prescription pain medications, while Tim is able to manage his pain by using Tylenol Extra Strength tablets. For Tim, the pain was not as severe as it was for Jane.

The difference between the two persons is that Tim can tolerate more pain than Jane before the level of pain becomes very painful and severe. Some would say that Tim has a higher threshold level for handling pain.

When I had my first car accident, I experienced a form of pain that would last a lifetime. I remember the accident as if it were yesterday. On July 13, 2000, as I was exiting Interstate 40 East onto Paper Mill Road, I had come to a full stop before I could merge onto the road. A heavy-duty pickup truck rammed into the rear end of my small car. In fact, the truck rolled over the trunk of my car and almost into my backseat. When the truck hit my car, my head was turned to the left, watching for oncoming traffic to slow down enough for me to pull out onto the street. Although my head was turned to the left, my body was leaning forward toward the center of the car. Not seeing the truck moving behind me caused a big jolt to force my body to jerk forward and to the left. The seatbelt gave me a hard jerk and caused my head to bounce forward then