A Fragile Gift

You do not know what will happen tomorrow.  For what is your life?

It is just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away 

(James 4:14)

Good health is a fragile gift which we generally take for granted until it is taken away.  And how quickly that can happen.  A lump, a growth, a bad lab report, a stroke, heart attack or dementia.  An accident, surgery, broken bone or other debilitating conditions can occur at any moment, robbing us of the quality of life we have known.
 
Few families have been spared the heartache associated with diminished health.  When this occurs, plans, hopes, and desires becomes secondary.  Matters previously considered important become immaterial.  Time, money and energy must be diligently guarded.  Strength, in its limited supply, must be conserved and used wisely lest there not be enough for vital functions.

Success is measured in smaller calibrations so that completion of one step of a task may bring a sense of satisfaction that only the whole thing would have given in healthier times. Activities that had been done without conscious thought now require all the courage and determination that can be mustered.

Attitudes must also be adjusted to new lifestyles.  Otherwise debilitating emotions such as fear, shame, regret and guilt will exact too large a toll on physical strength.  Personal goals and achievements, worthy as they may be, must be pursued in accordance with the price they exact.  Relationships, like other priorities, quickly fall into categories of those too costly, and those valued at any price.

Unwanted changes often are accompanied with “whys?”  “Why did this happen?”  “Why to me?”  “Why here?”  “Why now?”  “Why in this way?”  Such questions are natural, but human reasoning alone can never grasp the infinite plans of our loving God.

Acceptance comes most readily as a matter of faith in, and surrender to, His greater wisdom and knowledge.  Even in brokenness there is value; like pieces of broken glass, skillfully crafted into stained glass arrangements that glitter and gleam, sending dancing rainbows in every direction.  Or the grain of sand which becomes an oyster’s pearl; the pressure which turns mud and straw into bricks, or the heat that separates alloy from precious metal.

Reading and claiming the many promises found throughout God’s Word help still the haunting “whys”, making explanations unnecessary.  The ensuing sense of peace that follows is far more enabling than mere physical prowess. 

                                It is all Yours, Lord:  what I am, what I have, what I do;
                                but in my haste of living, I forget it belongs to You.
                                The breath, the strength of living are loaned but for a span;
                                generous gifts extended by Your loving, generous hand.