Nothing makes you appreciate good health more than being ill. I came down with the stomach bug Sunday night, and it wiped me out. After my body finished purging, I lay in bed and thought about everything I needed to do. No one does your work for you when you’re ill, so I got up and showered. That was a bad idea. I crawled back into bed and slept for four hours, woke up briefly, and then slept for another six. So much for getting anything done.
In that brief waking, I was grateful. This wasn’t the first time I’d gotten the stomach bug, and it wasn’t even the worst I’d had it. It was the first time in a long time that I could just lie in bed and recover. My kids are out of the house. I no longer had toddlers to watch over so they wouldn’t injure themselves. They didn’t need to be driven to school, and they didn’t need meals made for them.
Lying in bed completely drained of all energy, I marveled at how I functioned in the past when I was ill with little kids. Somehow God gives us the strength beyond our capabilities. While I lay there, thinking about falling behind on my weekly word count and the blog I needed to write, I chuckled because I knew God was faithful. He’d give me the words to turn the flu into a way to glorify Him.
I remembered a scene from the movie Young Washington, where poor George, like many soldiers during the French and Indian War, fell ill with dysentery. He was still recovering when General Braddock’s army was ambushed at the Battle of Monongahela. Still weak and ill, young George Washington mounted a horse after adding pillows to the saddle, and rode to the battlefront. General Braddock had been shot and would later die of his wounds, but George rode back and forth relaying the general’s commands, rallying the remaining troops, and forming a rear guard. Washington had two horses shot out from underneath him and four bullet holes in his jacket, but remained unharmed and, with a cool head, managed an orderly retreat to prevent a complete massacre of the remaining colonial army.
One thing I can attest to and have come to rely on is that God will give us His strength when we need it. He upholds us with His righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
The flu sapped my strength. I’d been felled by a microscopic virus, but God has given our bodies an amazing way to defend and repair themselves. Our physical strength may partially come from working out and training, but our fortitude comes from God’s hand. Psalms 73:26 states, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
It’s comforting to know that when my strength fails, God still prevails.