Being Ill and Being in Christ

This morning i feel like a king. You know that feeling you get when you're recovering from being sick, and it's the feeling of being well again that shows you how ill you were in the first place. Just to be able to sit at my desk and not shiver, while wearing a coat in 90 degree weather is about the best feeling in the world right now.

Getting sick three days into the new school year is pretty awful timing. My first two classes with the new 11th  grade Bible class, i'm sure, were pretty ordinary. I'm not sure how much excitement and passion about the Word and about Christ i communicated to them. We're in a busy season at church too, as our AWANA programme gets ready to start again, and a couple of big teen and church-wide activities on the horizon. Like i said, this was a terrible time of the year to get sick.

It's a frustrating thing isn't it, illness? It cuts right to the heart of our human pride. I missed church last night, and it was good to remember that the preaching of the Gospel doesn't actually depend on me. The teens went in the adult meeting and were fed well. It's good to remember that things don't depend on me. Trinity did fine before i showed up, and it will do fine long after i'm gone. Illness 1-0 Pride.

Being ill reminds me that i'm not as strong as i think i am. Even though this was only a 48 hour bug, or whatever it was, it taught me that i'm not all that much. When you come home early from work and fall asleep at 3pm, it's hard to maintain a superman image. I'm glad for that. Glad to be reminded how weak and fragile i am, glad to be reminded that it's not all about me, and my abilities.

Finally, as sat alternating between shivering and sweating, feeling like i was coughing up an internal organ, i looked forward all the more to a world without sickness. Christ bore my sins, and my sickness in His body on the cross. My inner sickness is far more serious, far more deadly than my outer. Being ill this week reminded me of that. Reminded me that as seriously as i took overcoming physical sickness, i should take my inner sickness far more seriously. Being ill this week made me glad for the great Physician, and for that, i'm thankful!