I Know I Should Be Grateful, but . . . Health Problems - Denise Pass
I Know I Should Be Grateful, but . . .
Well here it is the month of gratitude and I am grateful to be getting the Shame RX blog back up and running after a much-needed reprieve. In this series, Shell Singh and I will be hitting on areas of shame in our lives that inhibit gratitude. What is it in your life that causes you to focus more on your lack of worth than on God’s goodness? Even in the hard places, we can see God’s graces. When we are tempted to say, “I know I should be grateful, but…”, we can insert “but God”. Gratitude is not true gratitude when it is obligatory. But when it springs up in the midst of what seems like thankless circumstances, authentic gratitude brings God glory.
I Know I Should Be Grateful, but . . .
Curling up in my bed, the groans could be heard in the next room. At least I hoped they could be. A girl has got to get sympathy for all this pain. Not to mention the shame and embarrassment of having to back out of obligations because of being sick. And why shame? Because sickness makes us feel weak. We are not superhuman, after all.
Sickness can really cause a lot of discouragement, too. Little by little as we are eager to feel better, we can become ungrateful people who expect to always be in perfect health if we are not careful. We just want to be rid of the suffering and the shame that goes along with the suffering.
I could not count how many times I have been sick in my life. There is a degree of shame felt with that statement, too. I had a proclivity to getting sick easily and used to joke about it to try and lessen the shame I felt.
“I’m in the 1% of the population . . . whenever they say something happens to 1% of the population, I duck…”
But being sick does not have to steal the gratitude that is due to God whether we are healthy or not.
I Know I Should Be Grateful, but . . .
I have learned that being sick is an indicator of a need for rest and recovery, not a need to feel embarrassed or discouraged. Perhaps being sick reminds us of our need for God. And. for that I am truly grateful.
Health problems are not an indicator of our worth. May God grant you peace whether healthy or not. You are loved! May all be will with your soul at all times! In Jesus’ name!
“Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” —3 John 1:2
