heart attack

Numbers for health

Optimal Operating Conditions – Live your Healthiest Life

Posted on by Michelle Fritsch, Pharm.D.
Numbers for health
Know your optimal operating conditions

What are your optimal operating conditions? How often do you change the oil in your car? How warm/cool do you keep your home? How often do you change your furnace filter? When do you change your car’s tires?

I find we tend to be more aware of these guidelines for our cars and homes than we do for our bodies. Perhaps it is more clearly communicated how to care for your car or your home.

Most people find a temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit to be comfortable. Your car’s tires were designed to perform best when driving at the speed limit. You car’s oil is designed to lubricate the moving parts of your engine for 3500 miles (up to 7-10,000 if synthetic).

Our bodies have been designed to operate BEST within certain parameters. Do you know the numbers that will help keep you most healthy? Here are a few.

Your Best Numbers for your Heart

Why are your blood pressure and pulse checked every visit to your doctor? It is because there is an optimal range to help your heart stay in top performance.

Pulse 60-90 bests per minute

Blood pressure under 140/90 without being dizzy

When your heart beats in this range, it is able to fill with the right amount of blood with each beat. It can also send out to the body the right amount of blood with each pump. If your heart pumps too slowly, there might not be enough blood per pump to get enough to all of the other parts of the body. Similarly, when the heart pumps too fast, each squirt is just a small amount of blood rather than a full load. Those small quick squirts don’t get enough blood throughout the body where it is needed.

When your blood pressure is too high, it makes your heart work extra hard. Think about a body builder gradually increasing his muscle mass. If he tries to lift too much weight all of a sudden without working up to that weight, he is likely to hurt himself. He could even rip or harm a muscle to the point his weight lifting days are over. When your blood pressure shoots up quickly or it stays high over time, you move from a strong heart muscle to an injured heart muscle. A heart attack is destruction of part of the muscle wall. Once part of the heart is no longer working correctly, the rest of heart has trouble doing its work. It has to compensate for the wounded part.

Your Best Numbers for your Sugar

At least yearly during your physical, your doctor checks your blood sugar. Sugar (technical term glucose) is essential ‘food’ for your cells. Now, sugar doesn’t just come from eating sugary, sweet food. It is the result of your body breaking down other foods into usable cell ‘food’. There are a lot of other ways the body stores, releases, and breaks down sugar. Also, insulin is what helps that sugar ‘food’ get into the cell. Your body works best when your sugar is in the optimal range, and you have the right amount of insulin to keep it in that range.

Blood glucose 60-110 mg/dL if you do not have diabetes. (Your goal might be a bit higher if you have diabetes – talk with your doctor).

A1c (glycosylated hemoglobin – this gives an indication of your blood sugar over the last 90 days)

4-5.6% if you do not have diabetes

5.7-6.4% your doctor will talk with you about ways to make changes with your diet and exercise to avoid diabetes

less than 6.5% goal for well-controlled diabetes

just over 6.5% for some people with diabetes

– your doctor will help decide your best goal

When your blood sugar is too low, you get dizzy, shaky, sick to your stomach, you sweat, and it is hard to think clearly. When your blood sugar is too high, it causes damage throughout your body. Uncontrolled blood sugar can lead to poor kidney function, blindness, and loss of feeling in your hands and feet and other parts of your body. Also, type 2 diabetes is linked with high cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and being overweight.

Your Best numbers for your Weight

Your weight is also checked with nearly all doctor visits. Extra weight is hard on a lot of parts of your body. It creates more work for your hips, your knees, your ankles, and your feet. You are more likely to have diabetes. There are more cells to feed, beyond what your body was intended to feed. Your risk of heart attack and stroke go up. Your risk of falls goes up.

Your ideal weight is linked with your height. There are two best ways to determine if your weight is in a healthy range. One deals with your total weight. The other pertains to where you carry your extra weight.

Body Mass Index (BMI) – you can calculate your BMI here. It is based on your height.

Your BMI should be between 18.5 and 24.9

Waist Circumference – see this link to learn how to measure your waist circumference.

Women should be less than 35 inches

Men should be less than 40 inches

Can you live with numbers that are outside the normal range? Yes, you can. There will be consequences, though. When we live outside of the optimal range, systems don’t function as efficiently. They don’t operate like they were designed to operate.

Note, medications can help with these numbers. And, in all of these circumstances, our daily choices are also important to maintain optimal operating conditions. What we eat, how much we sit, how we exercise, and how we control our stress are also important in staying in these goal ranges. So, you have a lot of ability to help control your numbers!

Please contact us at Meds MASH to learn more about how to stay in your optimal operating conditions! You can reach us at 410-472-5078 or www.medsmash.com/contact.

BIBLICAL APPLICATION

Our body will function best when it can operate at optimal numbers. God designed our bodies and these healthy parameters. God has given us optimal operating guidelines for our spiritual life, too.

This struck me hard this week while I was reading Numbers. [I’ll admit, I don’t love reading some of the Bible chapters like Numbers. They can be dry and tedious. I have accepted the challenge of reading the Bible in a year. I highly encourage you to do this. You can start any time. So many insights jump out each time.]

While reading Numbers it hit me how God REPEATEDLY told the Israelites exactly what He was going to do and what He wanted them to do. He guided them with when to move, when to stay, and where to go. He provided the food while they were in the desert with few food sources. He explained before they reached each place who they would conquer and how He would make that happen.

If they had just listened, things would have been so much easier for them. That time in the desert could have been focused on worship and praise and relaxation waiting for all the wonderful things that they were promised.

Instead, they were impatient, untrusting, and impressionable. They were easily pulled away from God’s message and onto the opinions, concerns, or temptations presented by other people.

[If you’re a Veggie Tales fan, remember the peas in Josh and the Big Wall? They said, ‘silly children’ when addressing the children of God.] Silly children!

Numbers 14:11 ESV

And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?

We sit here and read about their mistakes and wonder how they could have been so dense. Through Moses, God spelled out what they needed to do in great detail. It was very clear. What were they thinking?

Then, I remember my own thoughts, actions, impatience, lack of trust, and how gullible I can be. Who am I to judge? Because Jesus died for us and removed the rules of the Hebrew Bible, our access to God is so much easier! We really have no excuse.

Galatians 3:13 ESV

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

We don’t have to obey the tedious rules and sacrifices of the Hebrew people. Christ removed all of those rules and barriers between God and us. You have a straight link to the creator of the universe through Christ. Day by day, minute-by-minute God will guide you if you just ask.

I’ve mentioned before, my day is entirely different, less stressful, more productive, and more peaceful when I give it all to Christ. So, you’d think I would do that every day. Duh! If I give it to Christ it is an incredible day. If I get into a rush, too busy, too much too do, no time to slow down, then the whole day stays rushed and stressful.

John 16:33 ESV

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

I encourage you to consider this week how God is calling you to live. How does your ready access and potential relationship with Him change everything? If you look in the Bible, we are given the exact recipe for a life of peace and love. It’s our own decisions, impatience, lack of trust, and distractibility that takes us off that path.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 ESV

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

Blessings,

Michelle

Image source: Medline Plus, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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Heart Collaterals – the alternate route

Posted on by Michelle Fritsch, Pharm.D.

Collaterals are your heart’s solution to blood flow problems. Not only does your heart pump essential blood to the body, it is also a vital muscle that needs its own blood flow. There are several arteries that provide blood to the heart muscle to keep it pumping efficiently.

Cholesterol or clots can block the blood flow in arteries. This can cause trouble anywhere in the body. It is especially troublesome in your heart. When a part of the heart muscle gets no blood or too little blood, that part of the heart muscle stops functioning, and with more time, can start to die. Any time the blood supply is cut off from any part of the body, that part of the body will stop functioning.

If your heart isn’t functioning, then the blood flow to all of the rest of the body can also suffer. So, there is an amazing solution built in.

How does the heart help itself?

When an artery providing blood to the heart muscle starts to fill up, the heart starts working on a back-up plan. Around the occluded artery smaller arteries start to form. These are called collateral blood vessels (collaterals).

As the main artery gradually narrows due to cholesterol, the small arteries (collaterals) are formed to give the blood another route to get to the muscle.

You aren’t born with these smaller collateral arteries. They are formed when a decrease in blood flow to part of the heart is detected. Then, in order to keep everything functioning normally, these much smaller arteries start to form as a bypass around the big artery. This gives the blood another path to the muscle.

I find it amazing that this back-up plan exists. I am also amazed that it starts before you even realize you have a problem. It is one of the ways that the body can actually heal itself.

How will I know if my arteries are filling up?

When you have cholesterol or plaque forming in your arteries gradually, symptoms are often feeling more tired when you exercise.   You might get short of breath doing activities that used to not bother you.

Or, you might not even know it. Some people don’t know their arteries are clogged until they get chest pain or have a heart attack. This is one reason why an annual check up with your doctor is so important. Catching these things early allows them to be addressed before anything like a heart attack happens.

If you would like to know more about how collateral arteries in your heart are formed, contact us at www.medsmash.com.

BIBLICAL APPLICATION

Have you ever felt like you could no longer get to God? Or that God could no longer get to you? Have you felt like you’ve done so many bad things that there is no way God can even care about you any more? Does it feel like that path is blocked?

When we feel separated from God, we are told that simply whispering the name of Jesus can open that path. God is always there. There is nothing you can do keep God away from you or from loving you.

Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We can do nothing to earn God’s love. In fact, there is not way we can make ourselves do everything right without sin. We are all sinners. We ALL fall short of God’s glory. And He still loves us!

Titus 3:5 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

So, the heart makes alternate routes to feed the heart muscle when the main route is blocked. And God makes sure we have a CONSTANT connection available with Him. Nothing can block that path. His blood can wash over you with forgiveness; He can sustain you with peace and grace in ALL circumstances.

Blessings,

Michelle

Sugar, Pressure, and Lipids…Oh My! Metabolic Syndrome

Posted on by Michelle Fritsch, Pharm.D.

Slide1Do you have diabetes, or have you been told you have pre-diabetes? Are you overweight, especially around your midsection? Do you have high blood pressure? Do you have high cholesterol? Did you know they often go hand-in-hand? As a group they are called ‘metabolic syndrome’.

Metabolic Syndrome

This term describes a collection of medical conditions that each impacts the other. These conditions have many negative effects on your body. The primary risks have to do with your possibility of heart disease and stroke.

Risk factors

The biggest risk factor seems to be weight. Our population as a whole has been gaining weight over the last several years. As that has occurred, the number of people with diabetes has rapidly climbed. The number of people with metabolic syndrome has also climbed. Family history of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and/or high cholesterol also increases your risk of developing these conditions.

Treatment

No matter what medications are used, DIET and EXERCISE are key components of treatment. In particular, less fat, salt, sugar, carbohydrates, and overall calories can help you control this syndrome. Simple carbohydrates are foods like white bread, white pasta, sweets, honey, and fruits.

There have been many new types of medications to treat diabetes in recent years. This is great news if you have type 2 diabetes! The different types of medication help control your blood sugar in different ways. So, you might find that more than one medication is used.

The situation is similar with high blood pressure. There are several different types of medications to lower blood pressure.  These impact the blood pressure from different mechanisms. Using more than one can better lower blood pressure in some patients.

The best type of cholesterol medication depends on which parts of the lipid profile are to be treated. Which are selected is also impacted by liver function.

In addition to those medicines, often a low-dose aspirin is added to further lower risk for heart attack or stroke.

So, if you have metabolic syndrome, you are probably taking several different medications. You also hopefully monitor parts of the syndrome at home – blood pressure and/or blood sugars.

If you would like to better understand your medication regimen, please contact us at www.medsmash.com.

BIBLICAL APPLICATION

There are multiple different types of medications that approach the control of some medical conditions from different angles. Similarly, there are multiple ways to worship. In what ways do you worship the Lord?

Colossians 3:14-17 ESV

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

John 4:24 ESV

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Psalm 95:6 ESV

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

Isaiah 12:5 ESV

“Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.

Worship is so much more than going to church on Sunday. God wants you to get to know Him and to worship in multiple ways. Fully experience the glory and joy of God!

Blessings,

Michelle

Clots lead to TROUBLE

Posted on by Michelle Fritsch, Pharm.D.

Most strokes and heart attacks have something in common – CLclotOTS.

Normally blood whooshes right through veins and arteries with nothing blocking the way. The blood carries oxygen to all of the parts of the body to provide energy to keep everything functioning properly.

Sometimes a fatty diet and genes/family history and some medical conditions lead to fibrin (a protein in the blood) and fat lining the edges of the veins and arteries. Some of this can happen with no real danger.

Then other times, something occurs that takes that fat and fibrin and knocks out a chunk of artery lining or makes the surface rough. This allows platelets (a component of the blood) and fibrin to stick to the rough/injured area. As these continue to stick, the blood goes through a more and more narrow passage. Eventually, blood flow is completely blocked.

When this happens in the brain, a stroke results. When this happens in the arteries providing blood to the heart, a heart attack happens. When this happens in the legs, it is called deep vein thrombosis. When it happens in the lungs it is a pulmonary embolus.

What can you do to prevent these clots? There are several key things:

  • Stop smoking if you smoke
  • Exercise regularly
  • Lose weight if you are overweight
  • Avoid sitting for long periods of time (even if you travel, take breaks to move around)
  • After surgery or being sick in bed, get up and move as soon as possible and move frequently.
  • Lower high blood pressure
  • Eat a heart healthy diet

Take control of your future and make these positive changes so you can avoid clots.

For more information, contact www.medsmash.com.

Biblical Application

A clot often starts with some little thing going wrong. Either a tiny piece breaks off the fat lining of the artery or something roughs up the edge a bit. Then that small negative event grows and grows and grows until a major life-threatening event occurs.

How often does this happen in life and relationships?

Someone says something that hurts your feelings. It might be deliberate or a result of poor social skills or completely unintended. But, you take offense. Then, you start thinking about the words and you get more angry. Then you start recounting any other thing that person has ever done that could be interpreted negatively. Then you start watching this person and interpreting anything they say or do negatively. Maybe you even bring in other people to support your interpretation of the hurtful statement.

The next thing you know, that relationship stops receiving any sustaining positive input. It completely dies. Everyone walks away hurt.

Have you ever said or done something hurtful completely by accident? I recently was talking with a friend who plans to disown any relationships that didn’t reach out to support her when she lost a dear family member. I understand the hurt, especially at such a tender time. Did all of those people who didn’t reach out intend to hurt her? Or, was a mistake made? Did they not know how important that support could be? Did they not know how to support?

I’m not making excuses. I’m extending grace.

Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 4:32 ESV

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

James 1:19-20 ESV

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Let’s all try to keep our focus on love, forgiveness, and grace to bring out the best in each other.

Blessings,

Michelle

I have hypertension – so what, I don’t feel any different

Posted on by Michelle Fritsch, Pharm.D.

When your bSlide1lood pressure is elevated, most often you don’t feel anything. It is a silent condition. All medications have the potential for side effects. So many people have chosen to avoid the medications and ignore the hypertension.

So what?

If untreated, high blood pressure (hypertension) can lead to heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, and other cardiovascular conditions. It really is a big deal.

So what can you do if you have hypertension?

First, take your medicine every day as prescribed! If you have side effects or problems taking it, tell your doctor or pharmacist right away.

Second, if you smoke, it is truly important that you stop. Smoking greatly increases your risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Third, if you drink alcohol, limit yourself to 1 drink per day and let your doctor know that you drink. This way your medicine regimen can be chosen with that in mind to reduce any risks to you.

Fourth, limit your salt intake. Ideally stop using your saltshaker, rinse your canned vegetables and
cook them in fresh water, watch sodium content in foods.   Many quick and easy (heat and eat) foods are high in sodium. This can increase your blood pressure.

Fifth, maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight increases your risk for heart disease and makes your blood pressure harder to control. Losing weight usually requires a combination of healthier eating and exercise. Check with your doctor before you start an exercise routine to be sure it is a healthy one for you with your hypertension. (You can calculate your body mass index at this link.)

Sixth, control your diabetes. Many people with diabetes have hypertension and are overweight. Metabolic syndrome is a term to describe having hypertension; obesity, especially around your middle; high cholesterol; and diabetes. Having this syndrome is another risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

So, there are several healthy steps you can take to protect your heart and lower your blood pressure.

For more information, contact us at www.medsmash.com.

Biblical Application

Choices. We are faced with them every day. Sometimes the bad choices seem so much easier than the good choices.

Where can you find the strength and willpower to make good choices?

On your own, there are definite limits to what you can do. Temptations can be great. Life changes, whether your diet, your exercise, or a host of other areas, can be a source of great frustration. Words like procrastination, justification, avoidance, and defensiveness come to mind. Have you experienced any of these?

But you do have access to infinite strength and support.

Philippians 4:13 ESV

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Isaiah 41:10 ESV

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Deuteronomy 20:4 ESV

For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Rather than trying to make important changes with your own strength and willpower, turn to your true power source. Take that minute by minute journey with God leading you through.

Blessings,

Michelle

Hypertension ≠ High Tension

Posted on by Michelle Fritsch, Pharm.D.

I have Heart - NIHhad several clients who have interpreted the medical condition hypertension as ‘high tension’. They thought this was a condition related to stress. And then, several thought the condition was only present when they were feeling stressed.

How much stress is there in your life right now? How much stress is there in the world? Some of us feel stressed much of the time. Others take a laid back approach to life and rarely feel stress.

Is it true that the stressed people have hypertension and the laid back people don’t?

NO

Hypertension (also known as high blood pressure) is a medical condition that goes way beyond stress or tension. It is a complex condition that is related to our genes (which we can’t control), our environment (some of which we can control), our behaviors (which we CAN control), and likely other factors that are still to be discovered.

Because it is such a complex condition with so many systems in the body involved, there are many medications that are used to treat it. Each category, or type, of medicaion treats hypertension in a different way. So, for some people, hypertension can be controlled with one medication. For other people, it could take two, three, four, or more medications, each acting on a different aspect of the condition.

How high is too high? The very general answer is a blood pressure over 140/90 is too high based on current guidelines. If someone has a history of heart disease or diabetes or some other conditions, your doctor might give you a lower goal such as less than 130/80.

How low is too low? Too low is not a strict number. Rather, it is more related to symptoms. If you feel dizzy when you stand or turn, have seen a marked decrease in your energy since starting your hypertension medicine, or are having trouble catching your breath, talk with your doctor.

Blood pressure that gets too high can be dangerous. It can lead to a myocardial infarction (heart attack) or stroke.

So what can you do about hypertension if you have it?

Check back next week for a ‘prescription’ for lowering and controlling your blood pressure.

For more information, contact us at www.medsmash.com.

Biblical Application

Do you have stress in your life? Do you worry? Does your mind keep you awake at night thinking about all you need to do, or the things you are worried about?

I don’t know about you, but just watching the news can increase my stress level. It all seems so out of control.

It is at those times that we can be assured that God is in control. Ultimately, God wins. This universe, all of history, all current events, and the future belong to Him.

On Sunday our pastor mentioned that you could sum up the entire Bible in two words – GRACE and PEACE. Jesus came to provide access to both. His grace and peace are with us at all times; we just need to quiet ourselves, turn our hearts and minds to Him to experience it.

Philippians 4:6-7 ESV

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 6:34 ESV

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

1 Peter 5:7 NIV

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

John 14:27 NLT

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. God is in control.

Blessings,

Michelle

Image Source:  National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institutes of Health; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Stiff and Inflexible – Arterial Stenosis

Posted on by Michelle Fritsch, Pharm.D.

atherosclerosis NIHSo why shouldn’t you eat all of the high fat foods that you want? They really do taste good. You know other people who eat those foods. So why shouldn’t you?

What can it hurt?

Your arteries are the part of your venous system that carry the clean, full-of-oxygen blood from your heart throughout your body. Your veins then carry the blood that has given up its oxygen to ‘feed’ your body and is now ready to go back to the heart to get a fresh supply.

In addition, your veins and arteries dilate (open up wider) or constrict (squeeze down tighter) based on the pressure needs in your body to keep the blood flowing. This ability to change how open they are is essential for blood pressure control, heart protection, kidney function, and more.

Arterial stenosis is a condition where those flexible, open tubes start to get thicker and less flexible. When this happens, they cannot respond to the body’s pressure needs as well. Specific areas where this thickening can be problematic is in the renal arteries (main arteries of the kidneys), carotid arteries (main arteries to the brain), and the aorta (main artery leaving the heart). This can cause quicker fatigue, decrease exercise tolerance, and increased risk of heart attack or stroke.

Those fatty foods can increase the cholesterol in your blood. That cholesterol can then ‘stick’ to the walls of your arteries making them even more thick and inflexible.

Too much cholesterol, too little exercise, smoking, diabetes, and being overweight can all increase risk of and worsen this condition.

So, making those good decisions about the food you eat, getting regular exercise, and not smoking can keep your blood flowing easily. This will keep your heart, your kidneys, your brain healthy and keep you living your dreams!

For more information, contact us at www.medsmash.com.  There you can find a short movie demonstration of a clean verses a stenotic artery.

Biblical Application

How often do we become too stiff and inflexible in our lives? Has God ever compelled you to do something, and you ignored or refused?

Have you ever had your feelings hurt and shunned the person who hurt you without trying to talk it through?

Do you know anyone who has stopped going to church or attending church functions because they don’t agree with some aspect of the service, or the people in leadership, or who sits where, or whatever reason?

Why do we get so caught up in small matters that we miss the BIG PICTURE of love and grace and eternity?

Like thickening of our arteries, sin, greed, jealousy, strife, self-interests can thicken our spiritual life-line causing us to be inflexible and obstinate.

God’s word mentions the stubbornness of us humans from the very first book.

Genesis 16:12 ESV

He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

Psalm 81:11-12 ESV

“But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.

Hosea 4:16 ESV

Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?

2 Timothy 4:3-4 ESV

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Job 36:11 NIV

If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment.

“The only way I will keep a pliable, obedient spirit in the larger decisions is to look to Him and to obey in the smaller ones.”  Catherine Marshall

Next time you’re feeling irritable and obstinate, take a minute to reconnect with the One who can keep your spiritual arteries clean and flowing. Let His love and acceptance flow unimpeded through you with prayer, time in the Bible, and fellowship with faithful people.

Blessings,

Michelle

Image source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institutes of Health; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services