Anticipation can be a good thing. On the other hand, it can be a very bad thing for us.
After an extended time of sickness, I'm finally getting back on my feet and feeling mostly human again. I let myself get stressed out the last quarter of 2013 and have paid the price for it. And did the worrying get me anywhere? Of course not. So silly of me to think any human can do a single thing that will change our situations.
In my case, being overly concerned about keeping my word to others led to me protecting my personal word and reputation at the expense of my health. While keeping your word to others is of great importance, especially as a Christian, one can cross a very fine line into trying to control what is uncontrollable, taking over what is God's responsibility alone, trying to do what He would do without Him in the equation. That's when the enemy of our soul creeps in, causing us to use our last ounce of strength without the renewal that comes when God is involved. We allow our stamina, strength, and tenacity to be completely sapped, letting only weakness, illness, and even death to take their place in our physical bodies.
Such was the case for me. I hardly ever get sick, but when I do, it's usually a long-drawn out process to get healthy again. I began feeling malaise and weakness around mid-January. I doubled up on my supplements and tried getting much more sleep than I usually do. But just when I'd start feeling a bit better, I noticed that my over-all well-being would again get zapped, leaving me a bit depressed and very tired. My prayers felt like they were bouncing off the ceiling.
Then around the 2nd week of February, I began with a full-fledged coughing and sinus infection (I'll spare you the nasty details), which eventually turned into Bronchitis and a bacterial infection in my nose. I remained in bed (or on the sofa) for a full two-weeks while Bobby took over my household and chicken responsibilities, made sure I was fed and warm, and played full-time nurse for the entire time I was ill. He was a tremendous blessing, to say the least.
I was doing all my usual homeopathic remedies, which usually work just fine, anticipating a shorter, milder cold. But I finally realized that what I had was a really bad bacterial infection, and surrendered to Bobby taking me to the emergency room to get some antibiotics. Now, you KNOW I was bad off if I got some antibiotics!
Diagnosed with Bronchitis, I was given a five-day dose of a Z-Pack and on the second day I could already tell the difference it was making. On the fifth day, all but a bit of a runny nose was gone. I was anticipating being able to assume some of my regular chores again, but my stamina was still almost nothing - trying to sit up for a while was still such an effort that I would sleep for another couple of hours. At least, my dogs sat and slept with me during the whole ordeal, never leaving my side for a moment except to eat and go out.
As of last night (Sunday, February 16), I felt well enough to attend evening church and even managed to play for worship. Being there with other folks seemed to energize me and I even stayed up a while after church and dinner to watch my favorite TV show without falling asleep. So, I'm finally on the mend and glad for it all to be over with.
While we all get sick from time-to-time, I know without doubt that this time was due to allowing myself to become overly-stressed over a situation where I had no control. Normally, I'm a pretty easy-going person, but I had anticipated a certain outcome and set my face like a flint to make sure it happened the way I had planned. Even though those plans were to make sure others were happy with the outcome, I tried to make it happen by my own will, not God's. Trying to make up for human error with human solutions is much like putting spit on a broken cup and expecting it to hold together while you drink. It is an exercise in futility.
So, hopefully I've learned my lesson. As God's Word says, the troubles of today are sufficient for us to handle - right here, right now. We don't need to anticipate and try to guess the path we'll take; God will take care of those things for us. We only need to be concerned about the circumstances of today. And even then, we should put them all in His capable, strong and willing hands.
Here, You take them, Jesus. I've got better things to do.
After an extended time of sickness, I'm finally getting back on my feet and feeling mostly human again. I let myself get stressed out the last quarter of 2013 and have paid the price for it. And did the worrying get me anywhere? Of course not. So silly of me to think any human can do a single thing that will change our situations.
In my case, being overly concerned about keeping my word to others led to me protecting my personal word and reputation at the expense of my health. While keeping your word to others is of great importance, especially as a Christian, one can cross a very fine line into trying to control what is uncontrollable, taking over what is God's responsibility alone, trying to do what He would do without Him in the equation. That's when the enemy of our soul creeps in, causing us to use our last ounce of strength without the renewal that comes when God is involved. We allow our stamina, strength, and tenacity to be completely sapped, letting only weakness, illness, and even death to take their place in our physical bodies.
Such was the case for me. I hardly ever get sick, but when I do, it's usually a long-drawn out process to get healthy again. I began feeling malaise and weakness around mid-January. I doubled up on my supplements and tried getting much more sleep than I usually do. But just when I'd start feeling a bit better, I noticed that my over-all well-being would again get zapped, leaving me a bit depressed and very tired. My prayers felt like they were bouncing off the ceiling.
Then around the 2nd week of February, I began with a full-fledged coughing and sinus infection (I'll spare you the nasty details), which eventually turned into Bronchitis and a bacterial infection in my nose. I remained in bed (or on the sofa) for a full two-weeks while Bobby took over my household and chicken responsibilities, made sure I was fed and warm, and played full-time nurse for the entire time I was ill. He was a tremendous blessing, to say the least.
I was doing all my usual homeopathic remedies, which usually work just fine, anticipating a shorter, milder cold. But I finally realized that what I had was a really bad bacterial infection, and surrendered to Bobby taking me to the emergency room to get some antibiotics. Now, you KNOW I was bad off if I got some antibiotics!
Diagnosed with Bronchitis, I was given a five-day dose of a Z-Pack and on the second day I could already tell the difference it was making. On the fifth day, all but a bit of a runny nose was gone. I was anticipating being able to assume some of my regular chores again, but my stamina was still almost nothing - trying to sit up for a while was still such an effort that I would sleep for another couple of hours. At least, my dogs sat and slept with me during the whole ordeal, never leaving my side for a moment except to eat and go out.
As of last night (Sunday, February 16), I felt well enough to attend evening church and even managed to play for worship. Being there with other folks seemed to energize me and I even stayed up a while after church and dinner to watch my favorite TV show without falling asleep. So, I'm finally on the mend and glad for it all to be over with.
While we all get sick from time-to-time, I know without doubt that this time was due to allowing myself to become overly-stressed over a situation where I had no control. Normally, I'm a pretty easy-going person, but I had anticipated a certain outcome and set my face like a flint to make sure it happened the way I had planned. Even though those plans were to make sure others were happy with the outcome, I tried to make it happen by my own will, not God's. Trying to make up for human error with human solutions is much like putting spit on a broken cup and expecting it to hold together while you drink. It is an exercise in futility.
So, hopefully I've learned my lesson. As God's Word says, the troubles of today are sufficient for us to handle - right here, right now. We don't need to anticipate and try to guess the path we'll take; God will take care of those things for us. We only need to be concerned about the circumstances of today. And even then, we should put them all in His capable, strong and willing hands.
Here, You take them, Jesus. I've got better things to do.
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