When I Am Weak...

I’m FINALLY feeling better. Isn’t it amazing how much we take the very basic things for granted when we feel GOOD! Since Sunday afternoon I have felt like crud! I can’t breathe through my nose, my eyes water and water and water, my ears are itchy, and not just from words I hear, and the only way my throat would feel better is if I could get a bottle brush down in there and scratch it. I have a common cold.

By themselves, the eyes, ears, nose, and throat don’t seem to carry much weight in the big picture of our whole body. We don’t ‘freak out’ over a cold or respiratory infection like we would say a heart murmur, or even a broken arm. Yet these seemingly unimportant parts of me, individually, have been wreaking havoc with me all week. We’ve all suffered from colds and have experienced the “energy zap” from this minor illness. It amazes me how my WHOLE body totally succumbs to a minor cold. I bet you know where I’m going with this already, don’t you.

One of my very favorite messages from the Bible comes from 1 Corinthians 12:12-26. This is the passage that speaks directly about the “BODY” and how important every single part of the body is. Paul even reminds us that the parts that seem least important are actually very important to the whole. Paul sums up beautifully with: “So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”

This is such a wonderful analogy and so easily applicable to our lives; to see, in Christ, all believers as a body. I used to joke that I was the ‘big toe’ of a very clumsy body. Everyone knows how bad it hurts to stub the big toe. I can joke about it now, but it really helped me understand this passage clearly. Think about the BIG TOE being stubbed, over and over again. You would be hobbling from the trauma and eventually you would be crippled to the point of being forced to sit or lie down no matter how strong the rest of the body seemed.

I thought about how weakness in our body, makes us much more vulnerable to attack. I know that while we focus on healing and on the pain and misery of the ‘illness’, we are less apt to see the enemy approaching and attacking us, we are less able to defend and protect our body. I also know from lying around, the muscles weaken; it takes more physical effort to get in a shower, much less prepare for anything exerting, like battle.

Another part of my experience is seeking instant relief from the symptoms. I went to the store yesterday and I bought: Ny-Quil, Day-Quil, Advil Sinus & Cold, Chloraseptic, and cough drops, all in an effort to relieve these symptoms. Ultimately, the methods that do work, are only short lived and before I face toxicity, I have to accept the fact that this illness needs time for healing. There is NO man-made medicine for a common cold.

This week as I rest and heal, I will remember to thank God for every part of the body. I will thank God for illness and suffering so that I can remember to recognize every part of the body as He does. I am praising God that my healing and wholeness is secured by His sacrifice, by His hand.