Are You Suffering?

Hello Emmanuel,

So hopefully I’m on the backend of the flu.  I got the ‘b’ strain this year.  Last year I got the ‘a’ strain.  While variety is the spice of life, I don’t think I’ll take the chance of getting the ‘c’ strain next year (even though there is no such thing… yet), so I’ll likely be getting the flu shot come next Fall.  I shared this with the nurse at the Little Clinic--which I’m convinced is named such to make it look like suffering from the flu is no big thing—and she looked at me as if to say ‘duh’.

So now Kim is getting paranoid, thinking she is getting sick.  It certainly is a possibility.  Pray that it isn’t the case.  Poor kids.  Not much fun in our house lately.

So do you ever have those days or weeks when you just feel like you are in survival mode?  Physical sickness can do that for you.  I know that a big part of me just wanted to get through worship with voice intact.  My sermon delivery is never at its best in such circumstance, but that’s why it’s called ‘survival mode’.

How do you get through those times when you don’t feel that thriving is an option; when it’s all you can do to get through the day in one piece?  And maybe it isn’t because of a physical illness.  Maybe it is because of a spiritual sickness?

It’s generally easy to identify when we are physically sick (i.e.102 temp, sore throat and congestion).  What if survival mode is because your spirit is suffering?  Do you know when that is the case?  Have you ever felt hopeless?  Unfulfilled?  Not at peace?  Restless inside? 

Consider getting back in touch with God.  I’m not necessarily talking about tasks of being religious like going to church or being in a Small Group.  I’m talking about getting serious about what God wants you to do (which includes being part of a church…. Really being a part).  Being a disciple who is only in survival mode isn’t God’s intentions for you.  He wants you to thrive; to fill a purpose; to reach others; to love others; to hope for others.  If He wanted you to just be a survivor, then He would’ve just died for you, saved your soul, and left no instructions on how to move forward.

We all have our moments when we just want to get through our day.  However, if that is your big, overall picture on life, then I’m here to say that something isn’t right.  Make it right.  Tell God you want to live for Him and He will show you a path.  You may or may not struggle with that path, but it won’t be a path of survival.  It will be a path of purpose.  God didn’t make you to just survive.  He made you to do something for Him.

Now I need to go check the medicine cabinet…. Just in case Kim needs to just survive this week.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe