Articles
The Blessings of Sickness
I couldn’t write this when I was sick. Honestly, if someone handed this to me when I was sick I might have thrown it on the ground. If you’re ill right now, this isn’t written to make you feel better or to minimize your pain. However, looking back from this side of the sickbed I realize there are blessings to be found even in illness.
1) Sickness reminds us of our dependence on God. Sometimes in all the hustle and bustle of doing and accomplishing, we forget God is the one who sustains us. In our arrogance, we think we can handle it all! “Their inner thought is that their houses are forever and their dwelling places to all generations; they have called their lands after their own names. But man in his pomp will not endure; he is like the beasts that perish.” (Psalm 49:11-12). Sickness reminds us of our mortality, that we are like the beasts that perish. It forces us on our backs so the only place to look is up.
2) Sickness slows us down. Have you ever thought to yourself, “Life is just too busy! I just need to slow down a little,” but it never happens? You find yourself rushing from one task to the next because you think the world will end if you take a break. Sickness shows us the world won’t end without us for a week. It really is okay to miss work or put off appointments until later. God, who rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:3), designed us to need rest too, but sadly we don’t always know how. Sickness forces us to rest; it’s our body’s way of hitting the emergency brake.
3) Sickness helps make us more grateful for our health. They say you don’t appreciate what you have til it’s gone. That’s certainly true of health! Once you lose it, all you can think about is how wonderful it was to not be shackled to the bed, to breathe clearly, to not be coughing or throwing up, to have energy! Some of the lament psalms were about sickness: “My heart throbs, my strength fails me; and the light of my eyes, even that has gone from me. My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague; and my kinsmen stand afar off.” (Psalm 38:10-11). When the psalmists were delivered, they rejoiced and glorified the Lord! What a blessing for God to design our bodies to bounce back so sickness is only temporary! Now let’s go use our health to His glory!
4) Sickness helps us empathize with those who have chronic illness. It’s an awful truth, but some people don’t get better. If we think being sick for two weeks is bad, what about our brothers and sisters in Christ who have struggled every day for years with poor health? Sickness puts us in their shoes and reminds us there are people suffering who need our love, compassion, and care. Let’s use our health to be a blessing to them.
