Is Menopause a Joke?
The moment notice came that this month’s issue of Home Cures That Work would focus on menopause I knew the angle I would take in my monthly column on the Spiritual Dimension of Wellness. However, I also knew I would be unable to restrain myself from my favorite little joke on the matter of menopause.
Where is menopause mentioned in the Bible? Answer: “…and Mary rode Joseph’s a** all the way to Egypt.” My wife said, “Don’t you dare drop that in your column.”
Hopefully, I have not alienated half my audience. If so, my apologies and I should have heeded my wife’s warning. All kidding aside, the Bible does speak to every area of life and we don’t have to twist texts like that to get them to apply.
Of course, PMS and menopause are not the same thing. Menopause is part of life. It is a transition every bit as much as birth, puberty and death are transitions.
Though we think of it as primarily a female transition, the male body has its own version sometimes called male menopause, man-opause or andropause. Changing hormonal levels are normal as the human body ages and men and women transition out of a childbearing phase or season of life.
Seasonal Changes
The season of menopause is not a disease and therefore there is no cure. Granted, there are hormone therapies that mask it, but menopause is part of our design. They only way to fully avoid it would be to die early. For sure that is no solution and we are left to seek out healthy and positive strategies to navigate this normal transition.
Dealing with change is something that differs slightly from person to person. Some people are seemingly un-phased by even major changes. Others find their world turned upside down by even the slighted change. Since humans are holistic beings, when change begins to manifest in one area (physically for example), other areas (emotionally and spiritually for example) adjust themselves to the new norm.
My wife and I are a couple years away from our last teenager leaving the house. Teenagers vividly illustrate what I am describing....
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Growing up, a holiday ritual in our home was to line all the children up against the doorframe of the dining room and mark how much taller they were since that same time the year before. My grandmother was always impressed by how tall we were getting and I can remember how proud I was the day my mark was higher on the doorframe than her mark.
Every one of us needs to sort out how we believe God is involved in the world today. Many may not admit they are Deists: they believe in God, but they are unwilling to give him credit or blame for any direct involvement in the world today. This is a theology of a God who had hands-on connections back in the beginning, or in Bible days, but today is pretty silent, leaving us to ourselves.
Because of Dueck’s book and his fascinating examples of God speaking to the world today, you can understand how my interest was piqued last fall with this headline: “Plague of Bed Bugs Found in Empire State Building.” The word “plague” triggered ... 
In general, we all find disease frustrating and can easily empathize with those afflicted and affected. However, diseases that effect children stir up a whole different set of emotions ranging from anger to zeal – anger in terms of how could this be happening and zeal to conquer.
The answer to the question, “Can God heal Fibromyalgia?” — is YES! The Bible says, “He forgives all our sins and heals ALL our diseases!” (Psalm 103:3). There isn’t one disease or diagnosis that is beyond his ability or desire to heal today. I hope that is a hopeful truth for somebody who is hurting right now.
Here are just a couple “rules” for this post and commenting. I don’t want to hear anything about turning to Buddhism for relief or anything like TM, Oprah, or anything other than Jesus and Biblical Christianity. If you suggest anything else is our hope, I’ll delete that comment immediately. Jesus is our only hope. If you are among those who’ve given up hope concluding Fibromyalgia is your “lot in life,” then I’d rather you not share that here either. If you think it’s God’s Will that you are sick, I’d rather that get discussed elsewhere also. Not here. Really, if we are unsure it’s God’s Will we have relief from Fibromyalgia we better sort that out before we even go to a doctor seeking relief. With that thinking, taking meds would go against what God wants for you. I don’t like to debate if healing is God’s will and don’t want to open that can of worms here. I just want to pray for healing for the sick and let God be God. I want to hear testimonies of the grace of God. I do know God uses suffering and that there are redemptive purposes for pain but I also know one of the reasons God allows sickness is to reveal himself as Healer.
Steve Hickey is the founding pastor of a life-giving church with over 700 members, a church planter, a trainer of leaders with John Maxwell’s organization, a police chaplain, and is very active in politics as a national voice for the unborn. He’s written several books, including his latest, Momentum: God’s Ever Increasing Kingdom (www.MomentumHandbook.com). Steve and his wife would like to pray for your specific needs and have a prayer team at the church waiting to hear from you. For more information or to submit a prayer request, visit: www.ChurchAtTheGate.com/prayer.php
As the father of seven young children, my friend is accustomed to the looks and comments of strangers out in public. Some are even brazen enough to quip things like, “Do you know what’s causing this?” My friend is quick with the retort, “Yes, and we enjoy it too much to stop.” That typically puts them in their place. My favorite line is when he tells people he has seven kids not because he loves kids so much but because he loves his wife so much. People always laugh.
Knowing that some who read this will still have their Christmas decorations up, it seems appropriate to take an inspirational approach and tie-in this month’s featured topic – restless leg syndrome – with the bigger story of this season of the year. What is manifesting in an increasing number of people’s legs – tingling, odd sensations, antsy, itching urges and discomfort – is a metaphor for a global anxiety and lack of peace. Churches and Cathedrals all over the globe just revisited the relevance of God sending one called “The Prince of Peace” to that Bethlehem manger on what became known as that Silent Night. Even to this day, to the degree we disregard Jesus, we forfeit the peace that could be ours. Jesus said,
In the New Testament, the only reference to legs is in John 19:31-33 in connection with the soldiers wanting to break the legs of Jesus on the cross. It was customary in crucifixion to break the legs of the one on the cross as additional punishment and shame, and to speed up death. Jesus’ legs were not broken which, unknowingly to the soldiers, fulfilled a centuries-old prophecy that none of his bones would be broken.
Jumping on a bandwagon is not something I typically do. Considering I’m a Christian minister and the book has sold a hundred bazillion copies, some find it hard to believe when I tell them I still do not own, nor have I read a copy of The Purpose Driven-Life by Rick Warren. My snarky side emerges at times when people inquire as to why I resist joining the crowd. One of my favorite retorts is that Jesus told us to follow him not the latest hip getting hyped.
