I'm confident anyone with a keen eye for the obvious has noticed there has not been a newsletter from TDS Ministries for the months of July, August or September. This was not due to a three month vacation in the Bahamas.
On July 16th of this year I was diagnosed with a detached retina on my left eye and was informed I needed immediate surgery if the eye was to be saved. I had the surgery three days later and with that I was plunged into the most painful experience of my life. The healing process involved eight weeks of pain, nausea, fatigue, and weight loss. I lost thirty one pounds in the first seventeen days.
During the first four weeks the pain and nausea was so intense I could do nothing but hope and pray. The next four weeks I lay too weak to do anything but reflect on the possible reasons for this trial. These last two weeks has been a slow gradual return to the race God has called me to run.
The ministry of deliverance which God has called me to and my normal human tendency would naturally cause me to assume the devil was responsible for this attack. However, one scripture which came back with recurring frequency and compelled me to meditate on, was the passage from Psalms 23:2 which says,
The portion I felt was a Rhema (quickened) word to me was,
While I would never have classified this trial as green pastures, I was definitely made to lie down for a season.
As I sit here writing and reflecting on the experience my final conclusion is the same as the Patriarch Joseph’s when his brothers asked him to forgive them for the evil they had perpetrated against him. His response to them was,
"You meant it for evil but God meant it for good
to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
That’s what I am telling satan. You meant it for evil but God meant it for good. He brought me through it and I believe much was accomplished when He made me lie down. Now I’m back and I’m in your face satan.
Look for part two of the newsletter on Mpd soon.
A Fellow Warrior,
Jess
