On being sick

I am not a good patient. And isn't it interesting that the word for "a person receiving medical care due to illness or injury" is patient? There is a key in our very language to what God might be accomplishing during times of illness.

I have never been able to believe that God does not allow his children to get sick. But I live in Tulsa, OK, one of the charismatic capitols of the world, and the airways are full of the idea that a Christian immediately and always has access to immediate healing. Every time I catch a cold or a stomach virus or develop an infection, I pick up the healing question and start batting it around--it's like a ball that doesn't quite respond to the way I understand gravity.

I have a friend who serves God in a very difficult part of the world. The climate is hard on her, and she is under a great deal of stress in what she does. She becomes emotionally exhausted and sometimes physically ill. From where I sit, in the comfort and ease of the United States, I think DUH, girl, your environment is harsh. But from her perspective, she wonders why, if God called her to serve, she is unable to do so on certain days. Surely she is failing him?

For some reason, I began thinking about the apostle Paul. Church people argue a lot about Paul's health. Galatians says that he was sick when he first preached the gospel to them, and 2 Corinthians speaks of a "thorn in his flesh" which could mean a variety of things. Those passages aside, we know that Paul suffered beatings & other physical calamities that would have left him bedridden, recovering. What if he had spent that time berating himself for not being out in the marketplace, preaching to the Gentiles? What if he saw himself as a failure for not being ON 24/7? That's kind of a funny picture, isn't it?

When Paul said in Philippians that he had learned the secret of being content in all situations, he was speaking about finances, but I think we can extrapolate. Paul knew that the Kingdom of God doesn't only advance in direct, fierce battle. The Kingdom also advances within us, in all of our heart choices. When we allow God's peace to reign in us, when we follow our Savior with our whole heart in worship and adoration, no matter what our circumstances, I think we are triumphing over evil.

Graham Cooke made the statement that God often allows in his wisdom what he could prevent in his power. Maybe, all across the planet, the Lord would like to hear his children praising his name. Some of us are in prison; some of us are sick; some of us are living out great victories; some of us have just fallen (again). And all of us are singing to our God and Father, singing about his wonderful goodness. If there is a war waging between good and evil, who would be strengthened by such a chorus of praise? Who would rejoice in our being patient?