The Good Thing About Being Sick

I should have known. While Lynne was suffering from being sick, I remember thinking, "Man, I don't seem to get sick very often." Right then, I should have known that I was going to get sick. It seems to be the same thing that a lot of people are suffering from right now - not horrible, but not fun either.

But, there's a least one good thing about being sick. When I'm sick, I feel weak and vulnerable. I don't like the feeling, and I don't feel it much when I'm well. But when I'm sick, I come face-to-face with the reality that I'm not indestructible, that I am needy, that I cannot protect myself from all harm. I have to face the facts - I'm not bulletproof. I must ask for help.

I ask for help often during any given week - but not because I am unable to take care of myself, but because I want to accomplish many things or I want to involve someone else in ministry or any number of reasons. Rarely is it because I'm too weak. Being sick forces me to ask for help because I can't do something for myself.

That's the kind of humility we need in order to receive help from God - the help we need for salvation, the help we need with our sin, the help we need with our spiritual growth, the help we need for every aspect of the Christian life. We cannot come to God with a swagger and "ask" for His help while sporting the attitude that we can really take care of most of this ourselves. We must come face-to-face with the reality that we are too weak to be what God wants us to be, to be perfect, to be sinless.

When I'm sick, I'm less proud and more apt to ask for help out of need. I need to remember that humility when I come to God and ask for His help. I need to realize that I am in fact that needy before God all the time, even when life is going pretty well. I cannot be the Christian I want to be by having enough "health" within me. I am weak and sick and needy when it comes to being a follower of Christ. Being sick teaches me the kind of humility I need in order to ask for His help.