Four Things We Learn from Being Sick

I absolutely hate being sick. I hate feeling unproductive. I hate feeling weak, miserable, and generally "icky" (that's a highly technical medical term).

For whatever reason, God has chosen to leave difficult things like sickness in this world, even though He could easily end all sickness. So what might be His good purposes in allowing sickness to continue? I can think of four things I have learned from times of sickness.

1) When I am weak, He is strong. In my pride I may think I can do it all by myself. Sickness reminds me that my own strength has limits. This means I need to rely even more on God, who has no limits to His strength. The Apostle Paul explained this lesson in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

2) Rest is a good thing. Our tendency is to drive ourselves 24/7. I have a hard time going to bed at night because I still see so much that needs to be done. I'm not very good at consistently taking a Sabbath, either. But God designed us for rest, and commanded us to observe the Sabbath. God designed us for work and also for rest; we harm ourselves if we neglect either of these.

3) This world is not my home. When I am sick, I cease to be comfortable in this temporary body on this temporal earth. I begin to look past the temporal to the eternal: for me as a Christian, that means eternity in heaven, where there is no more sickness (see Revelation 21:4). Being sick jolts me out of my comfort zone and I begin to long for heaven, my real home.

4) Sin has widespread consequences. I'm not saying that I get sick because of my own sin, but in general terms, sickness is in this world because of sin and its global consequences. Sin is serious, and when we see this, it helps us be more determined to say "No" to sin. We are all touched by the worldwide effects of sin, including sickness, pain, and ultimately physical death. Again, this helps us long even more for heaven and the end of the power and presence of sin. We have a glorious future ahead of us when we have placed our faith in Jesus Christ, who conquered sin and death (see 1 Corinthians 15:53-57).

When I am sick, I try to focus on wonderful truths like these. I encourage you to do the same.

God-Honoring Discontentment

I have to admit that I am often very discontent. And this isn't really a problem.

You might ask, Why? After all, don't the Scriptures tell us to be content (see 1 Timothy 6:6 and Philippians 4:11)? Yes, they do. Indeed, we are to be content with what God has given us. And I am.

But I still live with major discontentment. In fact, it's a God-honoring discontentment. I am not content with a lot in this world.

• I am discontent when I see the faults of political systems in countries around the world.
  

• I am discontent when I see injustice everywhere.

• I am discontent when I learn more about evil practices like abortion and human trafficking.
  

• I am discontent at the filth that is so easy to access on the internet.
  

• I am discontent with the sinfulness in my own heart, and the countless times per day when I dishonor my Lord or hurt people that I love.
  

With these things I should be discontent! It is a God-honoring discontentment. These painful aspects of our world serve as constant reminders that I was made for heaven, and this world is certainly NOT heaven. My discontentment with this world helps me long even more for heaven.

• God has wired me to long for His perfect justice, so it is right that I should not be satisfied with anything less than that.
  

• God has wired me to care about all the people who are created in His image, so I should be upset when people are treated like animals (as in human trafficking) or are killed without any defense (as in abortion).
  

• God has wired me to hate sin, even though it still entices me. I should be upset by the rampant sin that is all around me, as well as the sin that is in my own heart.

Dear Christians, while we remain in this world, we should be discontent with the things that dishonor our Lord. But instead of criticizing these things or the people who do them, let us work to show God's light to a world that is full of darkness. And let us remember that one day all the pain of this sin-sick world will melt away when we see Jesus face to face.