My wife and I have been blessed with good health during our thirty years together. We’ve had some minor procedures, bumps and bruises, and our share of illnesses and viruses, but nothing that put either of us out of work for an extended period or caused an avalanche of medical bills. Our kids, too, fared pretty well, with their own ailments and issues that have affected them, but not to the extent of the sorts of diseases and disabilities that plague so many.
Some of my friends have not been so fortunate. Car accidents can impact a skeletal system in the blink of an eye, leaving a lifetime of pain. An adverse reaction to a routine medical procedure can trigger a host of problems that require treatments of varying duration. Unthinkable diseases can strike when life appears calm, when all the right choices seemingly were being made. Through no fault of their own, my friends have had their lives shaped by health issues. For whatever reason, God dealt them a different hand, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason for it.
Even if you were to completely discount the financial resources that my friends have had to allocate towards healthcare issues, the ripple effects of poor health have impacted their lives in ways that I haven’t had to consider. Time spent in hospitals, doctors’ offices, and therapy. Mental energy spent worrying about health, healing, and loved ones. Reduced opportunities to do most everything else, given the need to live within the limits imposed by underlying health issues. What is normal for them is so far from my normal that it is impossible for me to fully understand, even as I try to wrap my mind around it.
Yet what is most remarkable about this is that most of my friends who are living lives that have been largely defined by these medical issues don’t spend their time complaining about their circumstances. They don’t rejoice in their suffering, but in the midst of their suffering, they are able to rejoice and give thanks. Even though they look around and see folks like me who have none of the struggles that they face, they aren’t paralyzed by jealousy or filled with anger. Sure, they get hit with waves of sorrow, but they don’t seem to live in those low moments. Instead, they have continued to find hope and joy wherever it may be in their lives, giving them the ability to persevere even in hardship. The sort of setback that might drag me down for a week is something that they shrug off. Unable to turn to physical comfort as the focus of their lives, they find things that are deeper and longer lasting, living out their faith. My friends have understood the limits of what people can do, and the unlimited abilities of the God in whom they trust.
Too many of us who have enjoyed the blessings of good health haven’t fully understood that God is the one who is ultimately responsible for our strength, and that has impacted our relationship with our Creator by giving us a false sense of self-sufficiency. My friends with health struggles operate under no such delusion, and they are so much richer for it in the measures that truly matter. I wish ill health on no one, but I do pray that all of you will recognize the roll that God has played in your lives, whether you have been blessed with good health or have struggled through health challenges. Some day that will be abundantly and undeniably clear to everyone, but blessed are those who live every day of their lives aware of this simple and profound truth.
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron