Being Well When We're Ill

This is the title of a book by Marva Dawn, recommended in passing this summer when I met a friend for breakfast. I brought it back with us and picked it up a couple of days ago, ironically, while I was doing a nebulizer treatment for my sinuses. Yes, we have been back less than a week, and I am already succumbing to the poor air quality.

The title of her book is chosen very purposefully. It is not Feeling Well When We're Ill. Or Doing Well When We're Ill. "Nonetheless, it is possible for us to BE well by the grace of God, for spiritual wellness is a sheer divine gift." Last fall as I experienced many successive infections without reprieve, I struggled with this. Does it seem to you that so much of your own estimations of how you are doing are based on how you feel? When you are spending all your waking energy on simply remaining physically functional, do you feel close to God? What if you are sick and have no energy to read your Bible or even talk to the Lord? Does your relationship with Him feel dependent upon what you are able to contribute to it?

I think of my friend Lynn, who is fighting breast cancer. Or my grandmother who experiences chronic pain from fibromyalgia. Can they "be well", even when pain and exhaustion envelop every waking moment?

Our prayer lists are often peppered with requests for total healing. It is not a bad thing to ask God for healing, and He is certainly capable of it. Yet this book explores a deeper scenario. There is a place of hope and wellness for those with losses that cannot be recovered. By her personal experience and masterful understanding of the Scriptures, Marva Dawn offers to guide us there. Want to join me in reading it?