Typhoid Mary

I am not a good patient. I hate being sick. I have been down the last three days with a horrible cold/upper respiratory thing and its not even winter yet. This does not bode well for things to come.

Generally speaking I am in good health and don’t often get sick. But when I do I don’t like it – I don’t suppose any one does. I have no energy. Everything aches and chills. I have no appetite and all I want to do is sleep. But who can sleep when you can’t breathe?

As far as patient etiquette goes I’m rather whiney and like my pillow fluffed and orange juice refreshed on a regular basis. Alas, as I live alone the whining falls on deaf ears, those of my dog, and the fluffing never happens. It’s a good thing this happens only once a year. (Knock wood.)

But this got me to thinking. What about Jesus? Remember when we were discussing Him becoming man so He could explore and experience everything we went through? Well, I don’t recall Him ever being sick. There are references to His suffering but nothing directly to His being ill.

I don’t recall Him ever succumbing to infection or breaking a bone or getting a cold. I’m sure He did. He was human after all and He spent His time around a lot of grubby, sick people. In any event, if He ever did get sick I bet He was a star patient. No complaining. No whining that He had the chills and a headache. He probably got out of His sick bed to fluff the pillows of others and get them more juice. (Trying to make me look bad.)

The closest time I can think of when Jesus would have been sick is when He wandered about the desert not eating or drinking for 40 days. I’m sure He was hot, hungry and pretty weak. At the end of those 40 days Satan tempted Jesus by telling Him to turn stones into bread so He could eat. Jesus resisted and told Him no one lives only on food but also lives on the Word of God. Satan tried to tempt Jesus two more times while He was weak and vulnerable. Both of these times Jesus resisted again and Satan finally left Him alone and then “the angels came to help Him.” (Matt. 4:1-11).

When I am sick and feeling really lousy with fever and body aches my defenses are down. I am apt to say Yes to just about anything to make the pain go away or agree to something because I’m doped up on cold meds. And that’s when I’ve been sick for 2 days. Jesus was without food and water for 40 – 40! That’s crazy. I would have been turning every rock I saw into bread and a bucket of water.

Even when in sickness Satan doesn’t take a day off. In fact, that’s when he’s most likely to strike with a vengeance. I know that’s when I started to think of all the things I should be doing and wasn’t, etc. My guilt creeping in and taking over instead of just letting myself have a couple of peaceful days to rest and recover.

Jesus’ desert story is a good reminder for me. Even when I’m weak, He is strong and if I resist Satan’s attempts to distract me “the angels [will] come to help” me and I’ll be fit as a fiddle in no time with no need to whine.