×

Getting Sick May Serve You Well.

As is I am sure is common in other places, we have experienced one of the longer, more intense spells of illness in recent memory. Here in Omaha, Nebraska sickness is being passed around like dollar bills. Our church family and our immediate family have also been greatly impacted. Even I, though not normally prone to getting sick, have come down with multiple viruses.

In recent weeks, while afflicted, some truth hit me like a surprise flu: I am generally very healthy. This is a tremendous blessing. In a world full of bacteria and sickness we get along pretty well. What’s more, we are not guaranteed health. Therefore, what we do get is a blessing.

In this we can be greatly helped amid the sickness by fostering a biblical worldview. Let me give you 3 particular ways:

  1. Realize afresh the blessings of health instead of griping about being sick. This is not our default reaction. We seldom celebrate health with the same intensity that we bemoan illness. When sick take the opportunity to thank God for and remind yourself of the blessing of health. We don’t deserve it. We broke the world. Health is a good gift of God.
  2. Remind yourself that illness should increase your longing for a new body. You don’t just want to get well, you want to be new. Everything from sniffles to strep to the flu should remind you that you are weak, frail, and in need of some serious remodeling. Don’t sell yourself short by longing simply to be healthy, long for newness!
  3. Find joy in the truth that Christ suffered for your full restoration. This newness is not automatic and it is not cheap. It is by grace and purchased by the doing and dying of Jesus. Our Savior conquered every sin and it’s consequences. This means that every ounce of hope is anchored to every second of Christ’s agony. Never forget that you are not nearly as miserable as Christ was made for you. And you will never fully exhaust the cup of blessing that Jesus has earned for you.

Call it, “Don’t waste your Flu” or whatever. The point is these physical trials are intended to sanctify us. They are not an excuse to empty  our theology and be a grump. Let them lead you again to the truth that you are living in a broken world while awaiting a new world.

LOAD MORE
Loading