Spiritually Sick

As the cold weather is creeping upon us I wanted to discuss a topic that’s been cooking in my head for the last few months. I wanted to share a little story with whoever is out there and willing to listen.

This year was the first year in my life that I’ve gotten so sick- a sickness that was ignored. Many of us battle with a cold every year…Well I usually don’t get sick ever. In fact, its been years since I’ve been bed ridden from a sickness. It all started with a sore throat one morning as I woke up in need of a drink of water- as the week progressed that sore throat turned into swollen glands and a cough.

As I drank my dayquil during the day and nyquil during the night I tried to ignore the reality that my body was fighting a sickness. In fact, I thought…pshhh my body is resilient to anything- making a snarky remark to my wife about how I never get sick for longer than a few days…….Well that sickness turned into 2 weeks, as i continued to drink my medicine I slowly started to realize that this sickness would not go away on its own. Being the stubborn person I am I refused to visit the doctor. However, this cold turned into a low-grade fever and my whole body started to ache. I began to get nervous- could I have gotten pneumonia? Was I being that reckless? Don’t people die from pneumonia?

Oh boy- these questions began to eat me mentally- so I caved and went to a local walk-in clinic. As they decided to check for every humanly possible disease- I mean who cares, right? Its not like I don’t have insurance….Wait I don’t..(influenza test, x-ray of lungs, hepatitis A, B, C, ….etc)….Lets just say I shortly realized why I don’t go to doctors…I went in for simple cold I felt like I become their personal lab rat.

Nevertheless, As I was being examined and the doctor checked me out- he asked what have I been taking to help with my sickness? I told him everything…vitamins, probiotics, antibiotics (My mom gave me hoping it would help), and medicine like dayquil and nyquil. After a long visit and 100 tests later the doctor informed me that I had a viral infection and not a bacterial infection…..So the entire time I was taking all these pills and antidotes I wasn’t making anything better only worse- in fact, he said the only way you can cure a viral infection is with two major steps: Rest and hydration.

Who would’ve thought? Like I spent an entire day and depleted my bank account to hear someone tell me I’m sick and there’s no solution other than sleep and drinking water….Quite honestly, I was a bit irritated- relieved of course that I wasn’t dying from hepatitis A or B (hahaha) but irritated.

The reality was- the reason I became so sick was because I chose to ignore it…I was clearly sick and instead of seeking help- I started to self medicate and ignore the signs (it was hard to admit it)…even if these signs became more prominent as the virus became stronger and started to effect many parts of the body. First the throat, then the tonsils, then the lungs, then the remainder of my body…..

My life incident is no different than my spiritual life…In fact, God was so creative that he made our spiritual health very similar to our physical health. Often times we forget how truly important our spiritual health is- sometimes it becomes to late….we become spiritually sick. This usually starts from very minor signs..this can be us getting into a fight with a church member…That leads to not attending church…which eventually leads to breaking contact with God all together.

Being spiritually healthy is hard work- it will not happen if you handle it like I handled my cold (carelessly). It takes dedication and consistency. It takes work- meaning you will have to be constantly fighting your own ego to maintain your spiritual metabolic levels at normal (Metabolic: its a test they do when they check your blood for white blood cells and other things).

In fact, in the last several months I have not only been fighting a physical sickness but also a spiritual sickness. As I was driving down the road the Holy Spirit compelled me to turn on Harvest (Greg Laurie’s channel- a great preacher). The sermon that was being broadcast was on criticism. In fact, this was the second time I had heard the topic in the last few weeks. I felt the Holy Spirit convicting me as I continued to listen.

I have to admit that after I recently got married I have been consumed by all the distractions of life (work, friends, social outings, etc..) I have left very little room in my life for God. In fact, I noticed that this has essentially started to effect many many aspects in my spiritual life. For instance- my patience for people has become short, my trust in anyone is minimal, my opinion of others is rash or harsh…..I am quick to judge and become controversial and even angry, I started distancing myself from people and places- definitely not the fruits of the Spirit.

I know many of you are thinking- whats wrong with any of these things- they’re human responses? Well the truth is- everything. We as Christians are called to be in control of ourselves (our tongues, our opinions, our language, and our behavior).

32 Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city (Proverbs 16:32)

28 Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control. (Proverbs 25:28)

19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,

20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. (James 1:19-21)

These are just the few spots from the many that addresses self-control and self-discipline. You see- a spiritual sickness in our life starts with the devil (like a cold virus) infecting us spiritually- usually starts from small things. This may be through a form of manipulation towards some sort of sin. But the most common way is to use the root of all evil (our pride) to infect us spiritually. Some of us know we are prideful- but simply do not notice it….this may be because we are either severely spiritually sick- on the verge of spiritual death, or we were never born again Christians to begin with.

By the doctors orders- this was the only solution to guarantee a speedy recovery and not get pneumonia which can lead to physical death. Similarly- the only true solution to our spiritual recovery is done through: daily repentance through prayer- which will allow you to stay hydrated spiritually through the Holy Spirit and constantly examining ourselves and our lifestyle through the eye of God and not the world.

14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Often times sin can infiltrate our lives like a thief in the night- and because we are not cautious and we do not guard our spiritual welfare like a bank protects its assets we are spiritually compromised. If we buy safes to guard our most expensive jewelry and use banks to store our money? Why are people so careless with their eternity? Is not infinite security a better business proposition than temporary satisfaction?

Whatever you may be going through in life- remember that almost all earthly sicknesses have a cure. Therefore, all spiritual sicknesses have cures.

Its easy to become bitter, its easy to be mad, its easy to condemn someone, its easy to plant hate in your heart towards others (all of which are the start to a serious spiritual sickness). Its harder to recover from spiritual pneumonia than a spiritual cough. That’s why its important to address the sickness before it turns terminal.

Many of us think that everyone around us is the problem- its never us. I even noticed that I was starting to become infected with this way of thinking. I started to blame others for my problems and faults…I found imperfections in everyone. Its easy to be critical….its easy to attack others. Humility is like a rare ruby red diamond- its so scarce but when you find it its value exceeds all else.

We often do not even notice how easy it is to become hostile by nature (meaning it becomes part of our normal behavior)…..we get so used to it that it not only becomes hard to stop- it actually becomes part of our character. At which point it becomes nearly impossible to maintain a consistent relationship with God…therefore leading to either lukewarm Christianity or to a ungodly lifestyle.

This may happen in real life or through social media- this may happen with friends or family. This may be a mild spiritual cough- or a serious spiritual infection….avoiding it will only make things worse and eventually lead to spiritual death…

Jesus is the cure….simple as that.