The Unwanted Visitor

It started out with a tickle in my throat. I immediately mixed some salt and warm water and began gargling. But by the following morning, I had a headache, a sore throat, plugged ears, and a runny nose, and in between somewhere, I had lost my voice. (My husband was very happy about that one!) I also lost my sense of smell and taste. I had absolutely no energy, and all I wanted to do was sleep, sleep, sleep, and sleep some more. Today is the first day that I am back in the "land of the living". It has been over three weeks since this unwanted visitor came and invaded my body. Not feeling too energetic, I was able to make a doctor's appointment. The end result: I had contracted a bronchial infection, and I needed antibiotics.

It is at times like these that the body just wants to rest. It just wants to lie there, drift off to sleep, and awaken to drink some water, juice, or — my favourite — ginger ale, in order to keep from becoming dehydrated. My interest in writing was waning. But it is in the quiet times, in moments like these, when not being able to do anything but just lie in bed, that we hear God speaking ever so softly, if we listen. In my case, God brought to remembrance David's beloved psalm that was written thousands of years ago and which still rings true to us today.

Psalm 23:1-6 – The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (NASB)

The funny part of this whole incident is that I had never connected my lying in bed sick and God making me to lie down in a green pasture to restore my soul, had it not been for the green bedsheets and pillow cases that I was engulfed in!

Prayer: Dear Shepherd, sometimes You make us to lie down in our beds in order to restore our bodies and souls. Thank You for David's words and for Your promise of being with us always, even to the end of our age. Amen.

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