Sickness

Yesterday my little Hope came down with a high grade fever. She is sick. I should have known simply by the symptoms. She just wasn't acting right. Normally she is so happy and bubbly, but yesterday she just wasn't herself. Her eyes were swollen. Food would not comfort her. Nothing we did would comfort her. (I will say that even for a sick baby, she was still pretty easy.)

Then I started thinking about spiritual sickness. What are the symptoms that spring up in my life that point to the fact that I am sick spiritually? Right away I thought of Hope's eyes and how swollen they are. For me, when I am spiritually sick, my pride swells. I notice that I am more defensive and feel a need to protect myself. I have an estimation that I am bigger in my own eyes and more important than I should be. Then I tend to be difficult to be around - kind of like a sick baby.

Poor Hope was frustrated by my attempts to love her and make her more comfortable. It strikes me that when I am spiritually sick there really isn't anything anyone else can do to make me feel better. I notice that I am less patient with people. I tend to slip into bouts of frustration and impatience. I not only get irritable, but I can get mean - a true symptom that something has gone wrong in my heart. I am not in communion with the heart of God.

Spiritual sickness affects my ability to enjoy life. The things that typically give me pleasure are no longer enjoyable. Last night we sat down to a nice dinner and had great food. Hope is in hog heaven when we sit down at the dinner table, but not last night. She wouldn't eat anything, including chocolate ice cream. I couldn't believe it.

So what does all of this mean to me? It means I need to be paying attention to the signs of sickness in my life. I need to catch them early before they become deadly. As soon as I saw the first reading on the thermometer last night, I was afraid we were going to have to take Hope to the emergency room. Fortunately my sister is a pediatrician and only a phone call away. We followed her protocol and Hope is on her way to healing.

When the symptoms of sickness start to rear their ugly heads, its important for me to get in front of Yahweh Rapha - the God who heals. he is the great physician and only He can heal my heart. This means I must let Him in and begin to treat the things that are making me sick. I must get before the face of the Lord.

I am thankful for a God who cares so much for me and doesn't want me to be sick. He is always ready and willing to heal.