A few weeks ago I broke out in a rash everywhere. It freaked me out. I itched and felt weird and tingly. Most of all I was afraid. I didn’t know what had caused it and was worried it was something terrible.
I did what you should never do.
I looked up every kind of rash online.
I had to do a group presentation the next day with a team I had never met before. I was stressed.
Add stress, 98˚ weather, and an itchy, unexplained rash to the concoction, and you have a challenge ahead of you.
After several visits to the doctor, blood tests, a skin biopsy, we think it is an allergic reaction to an antibiotic I took the month prior. But, it was more than a week into it before they gave me steroids to get the rash and itching under control.
Aside from discomfort and worry, I just felt bad.
My pleasantness took a nose dive.
My concentration dissipated.
My productivity plummeted.
I couldn’t work out. I wasn’t going to add more heat and sweat to my skin. I couldn’t cook. My husband saved us and fed us!
The Difference That Health Makes
Once they started me on medicine that made me feel better, my whole world changed.
I stopped worrying.
I started focusing again.
I felt happier and more accomplished.
I know everyone around me was thankful I was feeling better.
This was a specific situation. Hopefully it is behind me and nothing else will come of it.
But, it is another example of how I see so clearly now the value of my health. It seems obvious and you may say that you already know this lesson.
Why Do We Choose to Make Ourselves Feel Bad?
If that is so, then why do we as a society lead such unhealthy lives?
Why is obesity rampant in America, especially with our children?
Why do we look for the closest parking space we can find?
Why are all of the fast-food businesses still thriving?
Why do we drink too much alcohol?
Why do we allow stress to guide our lives?
The medical industries cost us billions and billions because we are reacting to what we do to our bodies. Not always. But a whole lot.
Each choice we make to not brush our teeth, not give up that dessert, to drink a soft drink instead of water, to sit on our couch for ours rather than move our bodies…these are all choices…something we can absolutely control…and they accumulate to us feeling bad.
I don’t always make the wisest choices about my health. And I have some really bad habits to break (i.e. ice cream).
But, God continues to show me the contrast in my life when I don’t have health compared to when I do. He allows me to see the consequences of my poor decisions.
They are heightened right now and so I want to share this with you.
God’s Plan For Us is For Our Best
Choose to change your habits now. Choose to pursue your health proactively.
“Your body is a vehicle you need to get around the earth in, and if you destroy it you cannot go to a store and purchase another one.” – Joyce Meyer
I can quote the verses that our bodies are God’s temple. I can say we should do it because it honors God and glorifies Him.
But, just like a hundred other pieces of biblical wisdom, it is simply better for us. Much of God’s instruction is because He loves us and He wants us to have an abundant life.
There is trouble in this world. We know that. We already caused it back in the Garden of Eden. However, we don’t have to keep making things worse.
This is one that we can impact. We can choose to honor our health and treat our bodies like God’s temple, which it is. We can feel better on a day-to-day basis. We can spend less money on health care in reaction and on top of feeling bad.
We Can Choose
We can live with an attitude and a choice of health and abundance.
Illness may still come and it may take us down, but we will still feel better than the alternative in any given moment, and at least it won’t be the types of illness that are self-inflicted.
“You were bought with a price. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.” – 1 Corinthians 6:20
As always Sue.. great post. As we age, we almost all experience some degradation of health, but exercise, eating and sleeping properly, and managing stress sure helps.
You make a good point, in that our attitudes are shaped to a great degree by how we feel; and it’s honoring to Christ that we do the best we can to stay healthy and active.
I’m sharing this on Facebook.
I always enjoy reading your blogs, Sue!
This one hits home, especially since right now I’m getting into the Paleo diet/lifestyle, trying to heal my digestive system of the last ten years of IBS and GERD. I ditched Nexium a few weeks ago, but still have a long way to go on the road to feeling better and having more energy.
Thanks for the reminder to be mindful of those choices I make that still fall through the cracks (like indulging in too many sweets, and skipping exercise). It really is an investment in ourselves and the impact we can make for God’s kingdom!
Thanks Barbara! It is always a 2 steps forward and one step back story for me. As hard as I try, things still happen. I try to remind myself that God has already overcome and keep trying….I am working on the two steps forward right now!
Thanks for sharing your story. Thought provoking.
Amazing how our own worry can create unnecessary anxiety. “Be anxious for nothing…” “Be still…” “Fear not…”