Sick, Still

I've been sick for most of the past week.  It hasn't been fun.  But I am always reminded of the poetry line that David drops in the 71st verse of the 119th psalm of the Bible: "It was good that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your commandments."  So whenever I get sick, I try to think about what God is trying to teach me.

This time, like all times, I think my lesson is about being OK being still.  Being productive is so important in our culture, and so important to me.  And there's obviously nothing wrong, inherently, about being productive.  But it shouldn't define us.  And, if there is a short season in which we can't be productive - when we are forced to be still - and we are struggling with our identity as a result, it's an indicator that we've put too much stock in being productive, and not enough  stock in just being.

It's a subtle nuance, but nonetheless incredibly important for the health of our souls.  We lard on so many things about ourselves, which make us feel ourselves - roles we play, tasks we accomplish, a certain pace at which we go through life.  And then we're laid out by a tiny virus that turns our noses into faucets, our heads into pulsing pain centers, and our whole bodies into punching bags.  We have to cancel meetings, we're unable to think straight, we lean on some to fill in for us (big ups to my wife here!) and let down others we're used to taking care of (go watch more TV, kids!).

How OK are we with this?  How much are we able to trust that God's work continues, that He is still present in our lives, and that stillness and sickness is no less a time in which He is good?  My wife will tell me I don't handle being sick very well.  But I am ever trying to learn through it.