If you grew up in the church during the 80s and 90s, you are perhaps familiar with Integrity's Hosanna! Music and the variety of worship songs written and made very popular during that time. My mom was a church organist and played the piano as well, so I'm familiar with the vast majority of them. Words set to music have a way of sticking with you, don't you think? That can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what you allow into your ears!
There is one song that keeps coming back to mind lately, and it's based on Psalm 20:7, where it says, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord, our God." It was one of those dramatic, pulsing songs where you repeat the same simple lyrics a number of times into a grand crescendo, I suppose in order to appreciate the gravity of the words and make relevant application to one's own life. I didn't love that particular style of song, but I had a sense, even in my youth, that those lyrics - that scripture - really meant something.
Where are you putting your trust?
While I don't know of anyone trusting in the might of horses and chariots these days, I'm certain we have all, in some way, shifted our allegiance to other more contemporary representations of strength, safety, and security. And sadly, it isn't the Lord. I could take this assertion in a number of different directions, but I'm going to hone in on just one.
Friends, we are far too trusting of the medical system. It's where too many of us are putting our hope. Not the individual people, mind you, but the system itself - what some refer to as the Medical Industrial Complex - this nameless, faceless monstrosity of a system that has put so many in bondage and been elevated to a place of near-worship. If the Covid years taught us nothing else, I hope and pray people now have an understanding of just how destructive a force the medical establishment can be when given power it was never intended to have and has no authority to wield.
When I was pregnant with my second child, I was told by the experts that he was missing part of his brain and "might not be compatible with life," if he survived long enough to be born at all. They asked if I wanted to meet with someone to arrange termination of the pregnancy. I told them absolutely not. I was polite and gracious to them on the outside, but in my mind, I was silently declaring, through tears and clenched teeth, "You might be the expert, but you're not God." I'm so thankful my heart and mind (not to mention my son) were protected during that extremely difficult season, so that I did not fall prey to the fear-mongering or inadvertent lies thrust at me from every angle.
In the years since then, I've had a number of similar conversations with health professionals of all kinds on behalf of my children, my parents, and myself. I get a little smarter and more confident each time, now that I can recognize the pattern and understand that I'm fighting "spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms," and not well-meaning individuals. These are all good people, skilled at what they do, but they are trapped in a system that only teaches them how to identify a symptom and match it with a medication, a surgery, or a standard protocol. Very few of them know, or have ever been told, that the body is so very wise and created to heal itself, given the right environment and inputs. God designed us that way!
I'm not saying we were meant to live forever in these earthly bodies, or that we will never face sickness, pain, or injury. Certainly not! I'm simply saying we have become content to live far below the vibrant life God intended for us and far too eager to run to the folks in white coats to relieve us of pain that is mostly self-inflicted. We know this is true if we sit quietly with ourselves and God's Word long enough.
We've forgotten our first love, and it shows.
If we live within God's design, with a healthy respect for his natural laws, I believe we will experience a vibrant life. Not a "perfect" life, but a rich and wonderful one, free of most modern diseases. On the other hand, if we stiffen our necks with pride and cling to our rights - getting the things we want (junk food, alcohol, social media, a packed schedule) and clutching tightly the things we think we deserve (luxury, ease, immediate gratification) - I personally don't believe God is under any obligation to bless us with good health or a long life. He can, and he often does, because He is gracious and kind and merciful, but He isn't bound to tolerate our self-indulgence or our decision to trust in the wisdom of men rather than Him.
I hope you'll spend some time meditating on these thoughts. Are you trapped in the medical system? Does your life revolve around medications and doctor's appointments and constant nagging physical symptoms that rob you of joy and meaning? Ask God to show you a better way. I know He will!
Comentários