Illness is such an annoying thing. Whether it’s a 24 hour bug, seasonal allergies, cancer, or chronic pain that even medication can’t fully get rid of, illness is never fun. In many situations, people just have to live with it. My aunt jokes about all her “new normals” as she gets older. Part of getting older means developing more problems. Most people don’t call me old, but even I have to be more careful about what I eat or do than I did ten years ago. Illness, injury, and pain are a consequence of sin in this world. But what else does the Bible say about illness?
Psalm 6
King David, who wrote most of the early psalms, lived through a lot of problems. He survived wild animals as a young shepherd and fled for his life from a man he considered his friend (Saul) many times. He lived through many battles, winning and losing them. He had to flee from his own son who tried to take his thrown, killing the father to get it. Between all that trouble he lived the most luxurious life of anyone in his kingdom since he was the king. David lived old enough to have pretty bad health problems. Yet somehow he died still devoted to God. Living that life full of ups and downs yet trusting God to always be on his side gave that shepherd the experience to create beautifully worded poems of trust to God.
Psalm 6 is listed as one of the psalms of repentance, but it talks about pain. David starts out asking God not to punish him since he’s already in pain. He then continues asking how long until God will heal him.
There is no begging for healing or groveling, simply a confidence that God will certainly heal David in God’s time. If this was a psalm of repentance, then David knew that his physical and spiritual pain would end when God ended the punishment. Psalm 6 ends with David’s surety that God is already ending his suffering. David’s reaction to his pain was confidence in God’s healing. Paul had a different situation.
Paul’s reaction to illness
In 2 Corinthians 6: 7-12, Paul says that he was given a “thorn” in his flesh. I don’t believe the early church ever recorded what his torment was, but it’s clear that Paul knew it was sent by God. Three times he “pleaded” with God to have his pain removed, but God said no. God had a plan for Paul’s pain, so instead of ranting against God, Paul simply accepts it and “delights” in it as a reminder that God was working through Paul.
How did David and Paul both react?
They both prayed about it. David prayed with full confidence that God would take the pain away in God’s time. When David was healed, he praised God. Paul prayed that his torment would be taken away, but praised God for not taking the torment away. Paul knew that his pain had a purpose in God’s plan and gladly accepted the burden God would help him with. In 2 Corinthians 1: 3-11, Paul explained that God gave them “more than we could endure” earlier in their travels. God did it, not to crush them, but in order to make it clear that God was helping them. Paul’s life was full of reminders that Paul was nothing more than a person. He needed God’s help for all the miracles and even basic survival in some drastic situations that Paul wound up in during his travels.
So how should we react to troubles and pain? Pray to God about it, in full confidence that He will hear and answer our prayer. Then go on with our life, trusting that He will do what is best, through the doctors He has given us or without them. If He heals us, awesome! Add it to our list of things to thank God for. If His answer is to wait for healing or that our pain is part of His plan, remember that He will always help us with any burden He gives us. It’s much easier said than done, but worth the effort. I still struggle with gracefully accepting troubles and pain, but I try to remember that God is shaping me as I should be. Sometimes the hard memories are even more important to helping others than my happy memories are.
