Focus Friday: Let's Focus on Health

I'm getting sick.

It stinks.

I thought I was going to make it all the way through this winter without the coughs and other respiratory complaints I heard from many of my friends in recent weeks. I got my flu shot and washed my hands a ton. We spent time with Erin in Germany while she was sick with a cold and I didn't get it. Friends at church were kept up at night by terrible coughing spells and I didn't get it.

The past few days I felt it coming on. Just a slight tickle in my throat and the urge to cough once in a while. I thought maybe I was going to make it without it turning into anything substantial, but today it finally hit. My throat is sore, I'm coughing more, and my nose is just starting to run. I can feel it in my chest and my voice is getting deeper.

I'm going to bed early (well, early for a Friday night, anyway) and I'm going to drink lots of water and hope it doesn't get much worse.

As I slowly started feeling sicker throughout the day, I felt discouraged. I don't want to be sick. But, I also felt grateful in a way. At least I haven't gotten sick so far. We're already halfway through December and I haven't been sick once. I thought of all of the people I know who have been really sick with colds and flu. I thought of people who have gone through surgeries, some minor and some major. I thought of many people who have had to go through cancer, some got better and some didn't.

Our health is something we often take for granted until we don't have it. Let's spend some time today being grateful for the good health we have had. If we are sick, let's pray for healing and keep our focus on God while we go through the illness, whatever it may be. Let's pray for those who are fighting both temporary and chronic illnesses and ask God to help people know that He is with them through whatever challenges they are facing as they suffer with poor health.

I'm off to bed. I pray that everyone has a happy, healthy weekend.

"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say." (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)

Are you healthy or sick right now? How can focusing on God help us to get through times of illness with a godly attitude and not give up hope?