18
May

The Gospel and Sickness

   Posted by: Michael Feather   in Everyday Life, Gospel

It has been a hard week in our home. The kids have both been sick, fortunately at different times. I have also been sick during this time. Pam is the only one that has escaped so far. Pray for her that she does not get whatever it is.

All of this got me thinking about the gospel in relation to sickness. If the gospel is meant to be the driving force in my life and if it is to impact everything going on with me, what does it have to do with being sick?

  1. Being sick reminds me of my dependence on God for everything. I cannot do anything on my own. I like to think I am independent, but that is folly. I need Him.
  2. Being sick brings all of my sinful attitudes to light so that I can deal with them. Nothing like feeling sick to see how selfish I am. I really am a big baby when I am sick. I hear that most guys struggle with the same problem.
  3. Being sick reminds me that I will not live forever. It reminds me that Christ has accomplished so much more than simply making people well here on Earth. He promises eternal life. I need that. My time here is numbered.
  4. My kids being sick, on the other hand, reminds me that my treasure is not here on earth. It is so easy for me to make idols out of my children; I love them so much. But when they are sick it reminds me to look beyond them to the One who has given them to me to take care of.

What do you think about concerning the gospel and being sick? I would love to hear how you seek to treasure Jesus in times like this.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 at 12:45 pm and is filed under Everyday Life, Gospel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One comment

Tim
 1 

Hi Mike, thanks for your thoughts on this subject I found them really helpful. My wife is pregnant with our first child at the moment, but she’s been suffering for the past 10 weeks with severe pregnancy sickness. It has been perhaps the most challenging thing we’ve had to deal with in our married life.

I’ve found that our understanding of the Lord’s sovereignty has been greatly heightened as time has gone on. We’ve learnt to not only pray for relief, but also or the grace to be able bear up under the strain of this trial whilst He intends it to last. We have learnt that, in line with Romans 8, He really does want to shape his people and sometimes trial is the best way to bring about significant reform.
We have learnt that to be shaped for the glory of God and for usefulness in His Kingdom is of great importance to Him.
And we have learnt to take things less for granted and, as you pointed out, to fix our eyes on heaven. This world is a veil of tears, but sometimes in our easy living it’s just so easy to get comfortable with this world. Sickness has taught us to persevere and see this world for what it is.
Our church is working it’s way through the book of Revelation and we have just covered the 4 horsemen of chapter 6. It has struck us how the pale horse aught to remind believers that death and pestilance rides forth to strike at the heart of people’s peace. We should make the most of the opportunity. As purveyors of the gospel we have a unique opportunity to make the most of sickness, both in the lives of others and ourselves.

Finally, we have been the beneficiaries of much love from our bretheren. Many have commented how it has impacted their lives that one of the members of the church has been absent for so long. I’m sure the Lord has plans and purposes for the church as well as the individual in all this.

Spiritual growth seems to be the net gain and putting theoretical knowledge to the test of real practical christianity!

Thanks again for your thoughts, they were really encouraging to me.

To the glory of God our Saviour.

July 15th, 2010 at 3:40 am

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