The Plan A For Thriving In Illness

Well, you know, most of us have an expectation of having a healthy and being healthy in our lives. And we live in a country, and we live at a time, when medication, antibiotics, medical technology is absolutely amazing. We can address things that, really, 100 years, 150 years ago, would not have been possible to address, whether it's being able to have things like organ replacements, even simple things like cataract surgery, hearing aids. Really, the quality of our life can be greatly improved through these medical interventions. And even with serious disease like cancer, diabetes, there's things that can be done to help people have a better quality of life if they're suffering from something serious like diabetes, or even be able to address cancer. And people can become cancer-free. Certainly, some forms of cancer are harder. We had a situation earlier this year in Lomé Togo, where our deaconess, 46 years old, was diagnosed, and she was dead within four weeks. And, you know, it was just a very serious situation.

But in many cases, these things can be addressed. And when we combine living in this sort of miraculous time in terms of technology with our reading of Scripture and the promises that God has given us of healing, and indeed we know that by Jesus' stripes we are healed, and we can claim that promise of healing, we have a tendency to think that God must heal us, that God must guide the doctor to do the right things in the surgery, that God must intervene in whatever situation we might be facing, whether it's physical or mental or emotional. And if He doesn't, somehow that would sort of delegitimize the promises in some way. But must God always heal? Must God always provide sort of a guidance into this technology that allows these sort of procedures that we might go through to come out in the right way? You know, depending on our current health condition, the answer to that question can range anywhere from academic to, frankly, terrifying.

I mean, if you're feeling well right now, and you don't really have a medical condition, you're thinking, okay, well, you know, yeah, I can imagine that this could be difficult. But if you have a medical condition, if you have cancer, if you're going to have an operation sometime soon, the thought that God is not going to intervene, I mean, that can create a lot of anxiety. That can create a lot of concern. You know, I've had paratyphoid fever, and I've had hepatitis, and I've had a measles echo 16 virus that, you know, I lost 30 pounds and wondered if I would make it. And I mean, many of you have been through a lot of difficult health circumstances.

We could talk through. Many of you are going through difficult health circumstances right now.

And in my case, God has been merciful. God has been merciful, and He has healed me, and He has guided these situations, and I have made it through to this point. But in the future, if He doesn't, well, what does that mean? How do I feel about that? And if you're listening to this message right now, and you have a serious physical or mental ailment, like cancer, or diabetes, or PTSD, or any one of a number of things that we've read about in recent prayer requests, right? I mean, you read these prayer requests, and we think of many of those among us here. I won't name names, but many of us among us here who have asked for our prayers and are going through a lot of difficult things. If you're in any of those situations, or if you have a loved one that is going through one of those situations, and you are going through this journey with them, you are looking for healing. You are looking for an end to the pain. You are looking for an end to the trial, and you are counting on God's grace and mercy and the promise of healing that comes through Christ's sacrifice. And if that doesn't come, then that's tough. That's tough, isn't it?

Let's turn over to Exodus 15 in verse 26, and let's read that promise, because let's just get grounded, because as we're going to talk about here, sometimes that healing doesn't come when we want it to come. And sometimes that loved one dies. And sometimes it turns out that we might end up passing prematurely, as I shared in the case of Lomé, where really our deaconess—I had the privilege of ordaining her a deaconess just the year before, really a wonderful woman who had really just set an incredible example for the congregation and then just stunningly passed away.

Exodus 15 verse 26, if you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God, Exodus 15, 26, and do what is right in His sight and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you. I am the Lord who heals you.

I read the Scripture and I have prayed this promise many times in my life. And I hope that you too have this verse marked in your Bible as a go-to verse when times are tough. This is a reminder of the fact that we need healing. But there is another verse in Scripture that stands sort of stark and cold but shares the condition that we're in as humans. And that's Ecclesiastes 3 verse 1. Let's go over to Ecclesiastes 3 and in verse 1. Ecclesiastes 3 verse 1. It says here, To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.

And what is the first thing that Solomon shares? A time to be born and a time to die. Wow. That's rough. Because that is our human condition. That is the great enemy. That is what our hope is in the resurrection. That is what our hope is in Jesus Christ's return and God's plan of salvation for all mankind. Because what is the final enemy? What is that final thing to be thrown into the lake of fire? But death and Hades itself. That final enemy.

As we step through this period of 50 days from the days of unleavened bread to the day of Pentecost, we step into a period where Jesus told his disciples that he would send the comforter.

That's what he said. He would send the comforter. His spirit to comfort us. And I've always found it interesting, that translation. When I first, I was a little kid reading the Bible, I'm like, God's going to send me a blanket. I mean, I really thought that. I don't know. Why is God going to send me a blanket? I guess I need a blanket. But that's what we have. We have a comforter.

And you can almost imagine, and maybe you've seen little kids, maybe you were one of those little kids, and you carry your blanket with you. You carry your blanket. And why do you carry your blanket? Because it feels good. It kind of calms you down. It feels good to have that blanket with you. It's kind of strange. This word paracletos, we've studied before. It means counselor. It means helper. It means advocate. But it's translated comforter. And I think in English, it's so interesting that we have this thing called a comforter that we sleep in, and it just makes us feel more comfortable, more at ease. And God is going to send the comforter. And I think that is very encouraging because He is going to send His Spirit to comfort us. And why would we need to be comforted? Well, because this human condition is difficult. Because Ecclesiastes 3, verse 2, exists for us. It doesn't exist for God the Father. There is not a time to be born or a time to die for God. But there is a time to be born and a time to die for us. And He knows that. And He knows that that that stark reality is in front of many of us. Sometimes many of us who have lived a long life look at that, and it's still hard, but many of us who have not lived that life look at that and go, well, that's too soon. You know, my dad died at 46. That was hard for me. That was very hard for the family. That's not the time to die. My wife and I went to Verdun, which is one of the great battles of World War I. There were 1,380 people who died every day for 300 days. Every day, 1,300 men were killed. Over 300 and whatever it was, 40,000 people in 10 months. Those men were 18 years old. They were 19 years old. They were 17 years old, right? They were 25 years old.

And that's too young to die. And that goes on every day. That goes on every day. There are wars and conflicts all over this country. There are shootings now, right, that we hear about. And that exists. And God sends us the comforter. Today, I want to talk about how we cope, indeed, how we thrive in that environment. How we cope and how we thrive with illness, with physical afflictions, with mental afflictions. How we make sense of the promise of healing in Exodus 15 with the reality of Ecclesiastes 3, verse 2. How we maintain hope in the face of uncertainty and how we feel and how we can deal with this terrible physical condition that we're in. We'll look at the what the Apostle Paul writes about, what he shares about, about this physical condition.

We'll talk about the importance of anointing and being anointed. And we'll look at situations in the Bible where people had physical ailments and how they dealt with them. And finally, we'll look at three ways of actually coping and, as I said, indeed thriving in physical affirmities. You see, because for most of us, the plan A, the plan A with physical infirmities or mental challenges, is healing. Okay, that's plan A. It's over, it's done, I move on with my life. That's plan A for most people. But I argue that that's actually not plan A. And so that's the title of this message, the plan A for thriving in illness. The plan A for thriving in illness. I think the scriptures make clear that a certain level of physical suffering is the nature of this physical life, and it is part of the spiritual developmental process. Let's start by going to 2 Corinthians 4 in verse 7, and let's read how Paul describes our physical life here at this time, how he was processing, as we'll see, these things himself as he dealt with many physically challenging situations. 2 Corinthians 4 in verse 7. 2 Corinthians 4 in verse 7. It's kind of breaking into the thought, and reading Paul is sometimes a little bit challenging because he tends to have this almost stream of consciousness where he moves from one topic to another, making reference to the other one. But in verse 7 he says, but we have this treasure in earthen vessels. And so to understand sort of what he was talking about before, he talked about how we have this treasure of hope, of a future life, of understanding who and what God is and what Jesus Christ did for us. We have this treasure, but we have it inside this physical body.

That the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. And so he's introducing this concept that it is not us. It is not the flesh. It is not our intellect. It is not our lifespan. It is not our power in this physical form, but it is the power of God that we look to. In verse 8, then, he begins to describe the physical condition. He says, we are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed. We are perplexed. And we heard a little bit about the seeing through a glass darkly yesterday. So sometimes we become perplexed at things, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed. And now he's mixing a lot of things in here, right? Because we can be struck down, right? If you've been in an accident, you've been struck down. If you have been hurt in some way by a disease, you are crushed, right? If you are persecuted for your faith, then indeed you are persecuted. And so he's mixing a lot of the physical challenges of our human condition in here. But he says in verse 10, always caring about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. And so, you know, you wonder, what is he talking about here, right? But Paul is putting a face, really, on the great trials that we go through. And how Jesus' strength in this life that we have in us can be seen in our life. We will face trials, just as Jesus faced trials, and we will look to the power of God in this life to be able to overcome those trials. And so, just as Jesus suffered and he died, so we will suffer, and eventually we will die. But we will live as he lived without hope. And we will face these things, and we will deal with them. And so, in verse 12, it says, so then death is working in us but life in you. And now he makes this transition to talk about all the things that Paul went through. All the things that those who served God's people went through that we might have life. And then verse 13, but since we have the same spirit of faith according to what is written, I believed and therefore I spoke. We also believe and therefore speak, knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound in glory. We all look to the same hope.

Whether Paul endured more on the church's behalf, which indeed he probably did, whether or not he endured more or one person endures more than another, we all have the same hope. We all rejoice in the same faith. And then in verse 16, he says, therefore we do not lose heart.

Because, in fact, we can lose heart if we're going through a physical difficulty or physical trial, or we have, as he describes himself, a thorn in the flesh. It says, we do not lose hope.

Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day, day by day, for our light affliction. Now that may be hard if you have cancer. That may be hard if you're blind. That may be hard if you can't get out of bed. But that's what Paul says, for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. This is interesting. He's actually saying, he's actually making a connection between our physical afflictions, our difficulties, and our spiritual development. He's making a direct connection between those two. This is not something that we kind of make up and say, oh, you know, that's that trial. You'll learn something from that. No, Paul says it himself. Our light affliction, which is for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things that are not seen, the things that are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. And so we look to the physical, right? We look to the things that we can measure. We look to the blood count. What's your white cell blood count? What are your numbers?

And we look to these physical things, and we want to sort of see what they are, and how are we doing? And we go in for a test, right? What's your PSA? You know, oh, it's down. Okay, it's better, you know.

Oh, it's down. Okay, it's better, you know. Oh, it's really high. Or, you know, we look to these things. We look to the things that we can see. But Paul says, no, those are temporary. We need to look to the things that we cannot see. The spiritual development that is going on through these processes. During the days of Unleavened Bread, for the last couple years, we've had really this wonderful opportunity in France to rent a home. And what we do, we rent a really big house, and what we do is we say, for anybody who wants to come, you can come and celebrate the Passover, the days of Unleavened Bread, the first day, the night to be much observed, and we do some seminars, sort of before and after. And this year, we had seminars on Friday, and then we had seminars on Sunday. And we're all together. This year, we had a five-bedroom, five-bath house with another big room next door. And then we have people who are there locally stay in their homes. And we all get together, and we all eat together, and it's just a wonderful four days. And during those conversations, we were talking with a young woman there who is having some health trials. She got married a couple years ago, and the things coming out, and she was sharing that with Maurice and me. And she was saying that how it really sort of made her think again about some of the things that had happened in her life, some of the sort of more challenging things, and how she maybe had not forgiven, maybe she had been holding on to some anger. Because even as she was getting counseling and help on some of these things, she was even being told some of these things by some of the medical profession. And how it really helped her sort of think about these things, and how she was working through this and feeling better. Paul says that we have to look at those things that are not seen. You can't quantify that, right? You can't get into it. Let's talk about that anger scale. Let's talk about that forgiveness scale. Let's talk about that animosity, and let's talk about that pain that we feel mentally and emotionally. It's harder to get our hands around that. But those are the things that really count. Those are the deep spiritual root that has to be pulled out or dealt with.

This is where the true transition comes in to what it means to be a child of God. This is what being a child of God means when we begin to see what is unseen, the things that are eternal.

And this is where we begin to make peace with these things in our life, with the things that God has given us. And then in verse 1 of chapter 5, he says, For we know that if our earthly house, this tent is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation, which is from heaven. If indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked, and for we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now he who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has also given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

See, God's Spirit, God's Comforter, gives us that vision that we have something greater. It's just a down payment. It's a deposit. It's just a little piece of what we're going to get later on when this mortality is turned into immortality. Therefore, verse 6, we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, and we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased, rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. If this tent is destroyed, even untimely destroyed, we have a building with God. We have a confidence and a guarantee. Now Paul knew whereof he spoke, because he himself dealt with this. Let's just go over a couple chapters to chapter 12 in verse 7, and let's read his own experience, his own trial.

2 Corinthians 12 verse 7, Unless I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.

Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times, that it might depart from me.

We think that's our plan A. I'm going to ask God, He's going to heal me, and we're going to move on.

Done. But it's more complex, it's more robust, there's more to it than that. And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

When I was in France in Africa this time, I picked up this parasite, and I felt pretty bad.

We almost canceled our trip. We had a 10-day trip in France, and it was really just a miracle, as I described how that worked out. I got up that morning, we had to get up at 4 o'clock, and we had to get on the plane very early to get to Paris, and then we were going to drive three hours, and then we were going to have a meeting that evening, and then we had a meeting the next morning. I'd been anointed, and I had just gotten the medication, and I thought, I'm going to go through with this. This scripture just came to mind here in verse 10. He says, therefore I take pleasure in infirmities. I wasn't taking pleasures, reproaches, and needs for distress as for Christ's sake, but he says, for when I am strong, then for when I am weak, then I am strong. It really came to mind because I had all these meetings. I had all these visits and various other meetings, and as I was having these meetings, I felt very focused, and I felt like God was making up the difference for what I could do. I just felt very much at peace.

Sometimes, maybe you've had that experience where you feel very weak, and yet you feel like you're focused on what you need to be focused on. If you weren't as weak, you might be a little bit more scattered. Maybe sometimes that happens to you when you fast. Maybe you've noticed that. You really become very much in the zone. I know what I'm here to do. This is what I need to do.

And you do it. It's a beautiful thing to feel that God is working, actually, to work this out, to say things that you would have not thought to have said. In our weakness, in our faith, we are stronger. Sometimes, we need a little bit of physical infirmity to get our pride and get our own thoughts out of the way so that God can do what He needs to do. Look over in Galatians 4, verse 13. We'll see another example here where Paul talks about his infirmity.

Galatians 4, verse 13. This one is really interesting. He's talking to the Galatians, and he says this. He says in Galatians 4, verse 13, You know that because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first.

That's interesting. It was because of his physical infirmity he preached the gospel.

And my trial, which was in my flesh, did not despise, you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. He was thanking them for being respectful. Now, as we're reading this, think about what this might have looked like. I want you to imagine. Try to imagine Paul probably in a house church, probably sitting there maybe there's a bunch of tables and a big room. And he's visiting and he walks in.

And he's in infirmity. There's an infirmity going on here. And what was Paul's speech like? What did his face look like? What did his body look like? What pace of speech did he have? Kind of think about that as we read this. Now, verse 15, what then was the blessing you enjoyed? For I bear you witness that if possible you would have plucked out my eyes and given them, plucked out your own eyes and given them to me. This is such a strange picture, isn't it? That he's describing an infirmity so bad that people, and they loved him so much that they themselves were looking at his eyes and seeing something and saying, we would just take out our own eyes and give them to you so that you wouldn't have to deal with what you're dealing with. Okay? So now let's go over to Acts 14 and let's see what preceded this visit to Galatia. Acts 14 verse 19. Acts 14 and verse 19. Acts 14 verse 19. It says here that then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there where he was and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and they dragged him out to the city, supposing him to be dead. Okay. What do you think Paul looks like after being stoned?

Verse 20. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derby. Now where's Derby? It's a city in Galatia.

Okay. Most scholars believe that his first trip to Galatia when he wrote about his previous visit to them was after he had been stoned. He went from being stoned to continuing his work and going to Galatia and preaching in Derby. Now, I mean, think about that. He probably had brain damage.

He probably had slurred speech. He probably couldn't find his words that he was suffering from aphasia. Right? I mean, what did his face look like? I mean, he probably had swelling.

He probably was limping. I mean, Paul was in bad shape after being stoned. He was left for dead.

And yet he continued to preach. And that's when he talks about being in infirmities. When he talks about being crushed. Right? He knows whereof he speaks. He went through that. That was part of what God allowed in his life. Right? The healing on plan A, you know, that was not the plan A.

That's what Paul went through. That's what Paul suffered. Now, before I go on to other examples of people who really dealt with some very serious physical infirmities, I want to just talk for a moment about anointing. Let's go over to James 5, verse 13. Because anointing is a critical part of our plan A when we deal with infirmities. Plan James 5, verse 13. Let's just talk a moment about the command to be anointed. It says here in James 5, verse 13, if anyone is among you suffering, let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And so if we find ourselves suffering, we should pray. And I can only imagine that what Paul must have felt like, you know, in that house, right? Because he left the next day, you know, after being stoned, right? The disciples were praying fervently for his healing, right? Could he speak? Could he even speak? He got up. Could he even speak? Was he carried? Right? You know, what was it like for him to drink water? You know, his face and his body and so forth, right? We pray. But if we find ourselves sick, it says to ask for an elder to come and anoint us.

And just as much as accepting that we'll have physical health issues and trials in this life, as Paul describes, we should also know that plan A in sickness is asking for anointing.

We should be asking for an anointing. Now, sending out a prayer request is perfectly fine, but that's not what the Bible says to do when you're sick, right? It says to have an anointing by an elder of the church. And unfortunately, too many times I've seen people ask for prayers, but not for an anointing. And being anointed is an act of submission to God, right? Talked about submit to God. It's an act of submitting to God. It's a physical outward gesture that God asks us to take part in as part of a healing process. And just as Jesus, from time to time, asked people to go to a pool and bathe or do something, he asked us to go and be anointed. And that's an important action to take. And I think sometimes we confuse the comfort that we receive from sending out a prayer request and receiving back words of encouragement and receiving the encouraging words that people are praying for us and people are with us. Because, as we know, when one member suffers, we all suffer. And that's why prayer requests are so important, because we all want to be together through this trial. We want to walk together through this trial. But that can't be confused with the process of healing. That's a process of comforting, which is good and necessary. And please keep sending the prayer requests. That's good. But that's not the process of healing. The process of healing is an anointing. And that's what God looks for us to do.

So let's look at some examples now in Scripture of people who had physical ailments. Let's go over to Genesis 27. Genesis 27 and verse 1. And sometimes we read over this and we don't even notice.

Genesis 27 verse 1. Now it came to pass, and this is talking about Isaac, who is a type of Christ. Right? There's a symbolism there. Now when it came to pass, when Isaac was old, and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, my son, and he answered him and said, here I am. We often focus on the story, but we sort of, oh yeah, he couldn't see. Well, you know, how did he feel about that? I mean, he couldn't see. Now he was, if you do the calculations in here, he was about 130 years old, likely, when this happened. And Isaac lived to be 180 years old. He lived longer than Abraham and he lived longer than Jacob. Okay? He lived to be 180 years old. So when he was 130, his eyes were so dim that he could not see. Did he have cataracts? Right? Was it just so old, right, you know, that he couldn't see? So imagine, 50 years, he probably lived his life blind. That's not easy. That's not easy on his wife.

That's not easy on his kids. He probably lived 50 years blind and there's nothing in here that talks about him asking for God to heal his blindness. Now, you know, he probably got anointed. He probably asked God to heal his eyesight, right? You know, we'll have to ask him that, but there's nothing in Scripture that talks about that. It just says he couldn't see.

And that was all part of the story here. It's kind of all part of the plan.

Go over to Genesis 48, verse 1. Genesis 48 and verse 1. Now, let's read about his son Jacob. Genesis 48, verse 1. Now, it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, indeed your father is sick, and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

So Jacob is sick, and Jacob was told, look, your son Joseph is coming to you, and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed. So he's on a bed. He's sick in bed.

Now, did Jacob ask to be healed? Was he asked for an anointing? Did he ask that you could get out of bed and lead his normal life? We don't know, probably. But he was sick, and there's nothing that tells us that he got better. There's nothing that tells us he got better. We're told in verse 28 right above that he lived to be 147 years old. How old was he when he was sick? How long before he died? We don't know. Let's go to Ruth 1. Ruth 1. And in verse 1, the story of Ruth is interesting because, again, we sort of accept the context and we focus on what the lesson is, but a lot of times sickness or physical infirmity is part of the reason why things end up going in a certain way.

They're part of the story. They're a necessary part of the story. You couldn't have the confusion with Esau and Jacob if Isaac wasn't blind. You wouldn't have the situation there with the hands crossed and what was going on. The sickness and what precipitated this, and now the same thing in Ruth. Ruth 1. Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land and a certain man of Bethlehem Judah went out to Sojourn in the country of Moab. He and his wife and his two sons. And the name of the man was Alemolech, and the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Malon and Chileon. And then it says, and then Elamic, Naomi's husband died, and she was left and her two sons. So he died. And they took wives of the women of Moab. The name of one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth, and they dwelt there about 10 years. And then both Malon and Chileon also died. And so the women survived her two sons and her husband. Now was this a hereditary thing? Maybe there was some, you know, maybe there was some DNA thing that was being passed along. Whatever sickness the father had, maybe the sons had.

But we don't hear anything about, and they prayed, and they stayed up all night, and they waited for the Lord to heal. We don't hear anything about that. It just happened. And it needed to happen for this story to play out. It had to happen. It was part of what was necessary.

Let's go over to 2 Samuel 4, verse 4. 2 Samuel 4, verse 4. This is one of those little parentheses in Scripture that we just blow right past. 2 Samuel 4, verse 4. Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son who was lame in his feet. Okay. You know, he was, probably his feet was were turned in and had difficulty walking. Well, how did this happen? He was five years old. We're going to, this is the story. This is how he became lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. So the news was that Saul and Jonathan had been killed. And the news came. And everybody's in a panic and there's confusion. And his nurse took him up, right? He grabbed this five-year-old kid, right? And he's going to flee. And so she grabbed him to flee and it happened as she made haste to flee that he fell. Okay. She dropped him, right? She dropped him and he became lame. Now, that's really unfair, right? You know, I mean, you're five years old and somebody picked you up in haste and dropped you. And now you're lame.

And you can't walk properly. And you're, you know, and in this case, this precluded him from being king. He was, you know, he was in the royal family. This would have given him an opportunity. But no, he missed out on being king, right? He missed out on leading a normal life because somebody dropped him. And, you know, sometimes that happens to us. Somebody dropped us when we were little. Maybe they dropped us on purpose and it was abuse. And now we've got a mental condition because of that, right? Maybe somebody dropped us and injured us physically. And now we've got a physical condition. And there's nothing in Scripture that talks about how this man was healed.

Now there's lots of discussion about him. It's very interesting if you want to look up myth, be, bosheth. See if I say that right. It's a very interesting story about him. And David showed him a lot of kindness. We won't turn there, but Proverbs 13 verse 12 says, a disappointment or hope deferred makes the heart sick. So this is difficult. Sometimes we have suffered.

Not through any sort of state of our own. Not anything we did. So let's go to the final point.

Now that we've seen examples of health issues and the nature of our physical state, let's consider three ways that we can cope or even thrive with a physical ailment.

First thing I'd share with you is that we need to quit blaming ourselves.

You know, I know some people who feel guilty when they get sick.

I did something wrong. I did something wrong. Now, maybe we did. Maybe we did do something wrong. But maybe what we did and what ended up happening is totally disproportionate. Maybe we started some process that led to something. That doesn't mean we need to beat ourselves up constantly about that. God is just to forgive. And if we made a mistake that led to something, then God will forgive us. Let's go to John 9, verse 1. John 9, verse 1.

And let's see an exact story here.

John 9, verse 1. John 9, verse 1. Now, as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth, and his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he had been born blind? See, you know, I got sick because I sinned, or my parents sinned, or so forth. Jesus answered, neither this man nor his parents sinned, but the works of God should be revealed in him.

Maybe we have a physical element because the time will come when God will show his glory through us in some way.

The infirmity was there that God's glory might be shown.

Second thing we can do is make peace with the pain that we have. We can make peace with it. Go over to Philippians 4, verse 11.

Philippians 4, verse 11.

You know, I hate pain. I really hate pain. When I am in pain, I mean, I want to get out of pain. I had a situation where I took my knee out of joint, you know, kind of like, I mean, I was in pain, and I just like, get me out of this pain, and there was no way to get out of pain, because I was all stranded by myself. When you're in pain, when I'm in pain, we want to get out of pain.

Go over to Philippians 4, verse 11.

If you're in a state of pain, this is a tough Scripture.

I know how to be abased, right? He was stoned. And I know how to abound.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

You know, pain is an interesting thing. You know, part of the reason we have an opioid crisis in these United States is because there was this practice for a long time where doctors were trained to treat pain. And what they would do is they would say, what's your pain level on a level of 1 to 10? Maybe you've heard that. What's your pain level? I'm at a 7. Okay, we're going to treat you for this pain. We're going to give you something for the pain. And that was part of the medical practice.

It was a whole wave. And so they would give some medication for the pain. Now, if you have a serious chronic illness where you're in constant pain, what they found over time was that they had to up the dosage to keep the pain at the 7 level, right? So it wouldn't get to the 8, 9, and 10.

And so what was happening was they were just continuing to increase the medication until they couldn't increase it anymore. And then people were addicted to this stuff. And it was causing all sorts of side effects.

And then researchers began to notice something. They would notice that sometimes people would come off their medication for whatever reason. They couldn't take it. And they noticed that the pain levels didn't change as they came off the medication. So they were taking the highest level of medication they could be in. And they were at a pain level 8. And then they came off their medication, and they were at a pain level 7. Or 6. Or 5. And they're like, how can this be? And then research began to show that actually the brain has this amazing ability to regulate pain. And that you could actually get people off medication, and actually have their pain go down at the same time.

And so there's all sorts of really interesting things that go on with pain. And making peace with pain. That is a really interesting science if we're dealing with pain. And that pain might be physical pain. It might be emotional pain. It might be mental pain. Learning to make peace with pain.

That is very hard. And that pain can be a terrible pain. But Paul said that he had come to be content. You know, I don't know how he felt after he was stoned. We'll have to ask him. Matthew 11, verse 28, you don't have to turn there.

It says, Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden. I almost want to put the word pain after that. Heavy laden with pain. And I will give you rest. I will give you a pause. I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon me and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Final thing that I would share with you is that we should not envy others who might be able to do things we can't. You know, it's very easy to fall into that. If we go to Galatians 5, verse 21, just a few verses over, Galatians 5. One of the works of the flesh is envy. Envy, it says here. A work of the flesh. You know, each of us was called for a purpose. And sometimes, especially if we're dealing with a mental illness, emotional suffering, we look at others and we go, why can't I have peace like them? Why can't I have a normal life like them? Why do I have to be going for a young person and we have suffered and we're suffering in pain?

That's different than if we're 80 and we're coming to the end of our lives and we can feel a certain envy like all these things I'm going to miss out on in my life. And that's perfectly normal. But as we deal with that envy, we have to recognize that there is a reason. We put ourselves into God's hands and God loves us and He cares for us. And we don't need to envy others because He has a special purpose, a special meaning for us.

And sometimes we put too much stock in this life and we forget that we are here for the Kingdom of God. We're here for a training for the next performance and the greater performance, a thing that we cannot see. And this life is just a training ground for that life to come. Let's conclude in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 26. It says, If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. Or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. We're fine with that as long as it's not the us that's the one that's suffering.

I'll suffer with you. No, we might be the one that's suffering, and people are suffering with us. That's part of God's plan. We are bound together, and we have to be content to play our part in the body of Christ. Jesus said, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. We look to the comforter, God's Spirit, to comfort us in trials and in sickness. This is the plan A. We look to God for healing, and we ask to be anointed that we might be healed. This is the plan A. And we recognize the human condition, and we look to the hope of the resurrection.

This is the plan A. We recognize that sometimes God has a greater purpose for our suffering, and He may not heal us at the time or the place that we choose. This is the plan A. Let us cope and let us even thrive in our physical, mental, and emotional ailments. For when we are weak, we are strong.

Thank you.