Series: Stewardship
Category: Core Seminars
Detail:
Stewarding Poor Health PRAYER
Introduction
Good morning! Last week, we looked at God’s purposes for health. By God’s grace, most of us are healthy…but sometimes we’re not. And sometimes we’re not for a long time. Yet even in these difficult circumstances, God has still called us to be stewards. So what does it mean for us to steward poor health? We’re not really talking about what it means to care for someone else’s poor health; although, that’s important too. No, we’re really asking what it means to steward our poor health—yours and mine? That’s what we want to consider this morning.
Now before we begin, I just want to acknowledge that many members in our church struggle with poor health, maybe even for some of you. It could be a chronic illness, a disability, a serious disease like cancer, mental illness. It might not be noticeable. It might be kept confidential. It might even be denied. Whatever the case, God is still the owner of our health and our bodies, and so we need to know how to be a faithful steward when our health is good but also when our health is not good.
“Stewarding poor health” sounds strange, doesn’t it? Why is this important? [Poor health/death affects us all in a fallen world; the world’s answer is self-centered (e.g., euthanasia); it’s difficult to sometimes know how to live before God when in pain]
Well, these are some of the things we want to talk about this morning. So we’re going to start by considering where poor health comes from, and then we’ll see how God might use poor health in our lives. Finally, we’ll think about how we can be faithful stewards in these difficult times.
Where Does Sickness Come From?
In the beginning, God created us without sickness. Genesis 1:31 says that creation “was very good”. It was a picture of complete perfection. But then in Genesis 3, the first man Adam sins, and God curses the world. It’s this sin and the resulting curse which are at the root of the brokenness we see in the world around us. In your handout you’ll find a passage from Romans 8. Paul writes:
19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Why is the whole creation groaning? Why are we—those indwelt by the Spirit of God—groaning? It’s because of sin. How it goes with man is how it goes with the rest of creation. But that’s not the whole story, is it?
Look back at verse 20. It says, “For the creation was subjected to futility.” Who subjected creation to futility? God did! Okay, so we’re getting a fuller explanation. Sickness didn’t just come from sin, but from God’s curse on man’s sin. So then why did God subject his creation to this curse? Verse 21 tells us—so it “will be set free from its bondage to corruption.”
What’s going on here? God’s good, isn’t he? Why is he messed up in something like this? Well, to understand this we need to look back at Genesis when God was creating everything.
In Genesis 1:27, we read that God created man in his image, both male and female. Then in the very next verse, God gave Adam and Eve some very simple instructions. “God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it… ” (Gen. 1:28). They were to fill the earth with God’s image, and there were two important ways to do this. First, by making lots and lots of images of God by having children. And second, by subduing the earth. They were to make the whole earth like the Garden of Eden where God placed man and dwelt with him. I think we see this command fulfilled in the prophecy of Habakkuk (2:14): “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” God is amazing! So make his name known everywhere ! Fill the whole world with his glory!
Now, with that command in mind—fill the earth and subdue it—look what God does in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve choose to sin. In verse 16, God curses Eve’s ability to bear children. He curses her relationship with Adam. It says that her “desire” will be for her husband. That same word is used in Genesis 4:7 when God tells Cain that sin’s “desire” is to have him. That’s a desire to control. And Adam will “rule over” her, not in a benevolent rule but an unloving one.
For Adam, you see that the task of subduing the earth is also frustrated. Verse 17 says, “In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.”
So now we can better understand what Paul meant in Romans 8 when he said that creation “will be set free from its bondage to corruption.” We were made for family, relationships, and work—God hardwired this in us when he made us to glorify him throughout the world. But now that man sinned, our temptation now is to find our fulfillment in these things instead of God. People do this all the time. But by cursing the very things he commanded, God is helping us to see that these things will never satisfy—nothing will—only God. By his curse, God—in mercy—is leading us back to himself. Amazing, isn’t it?!!!
God’s good in his judgment, and he’s also good in his mercy. I wonder if you’ve ever thought of the curse in Genesis 3 as God acting in mercy? It’s in his mercy—because of sin—that he subjected this world to his curse so that its brokenness will never satisfy. It’s like what God chastises Israel for through the prophet Jeremiah, “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jer. 2:13). This emptiness is intended to drive us back to him—the Fount of living waters. In that sense, when Ecclesiastes describes life under the curse as “meaningless”, that’s by design because the most loving thing God could have done once sin separated us from him was to ensure we would not find meaning in anything but him.
All that has some very important ramifications for how we face times of poor health. John Piper put it well in his blog post called “Don’t Waste Your Cancer.” Here’s what he wrote:
“It will not do to say that God only uses our cancer but does not design it. What God permits, he permits for a reason. And that reason is his design. If God foresees molecular developments becoming cancer, he can stop it or not. If he does not, he has a purpose. Since he is infinitely wise, it is right to call this purpose a design. Satan is real and causes many pleasures and pains. But he is not ultimate. So when he strikes Job with boils (Job 2:7 ), Job attributes it ultimately to God (2:10) and the inspired writer agrees: “They . . . comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11 ). If you don’t believe your cancer is designed for you by God, you will waste it.”
We need to stop thinking that our goal is to “get through” the hard times so we can have our life the way it was before. Instead, we must begin thinking that our goal is to accept what God’s given us and act—with the eyes of faith—knowing that it’s good for us. Remember, we’re stewards. We trust our Master and follow wherever he leads us.
Yet it can still be difficult. It’s like being told to go into a dark cave when you don’t know what peril may await you. We have to believe that God’s plans are better than ours. So how can we trust him?
III. God’s Purposes in Poor Health
Well, in his Word, God’s shown how he can use times of sickness and disability to further his good purposes. And those instances of past goodness can help us trust him for our future. So with that in mind, let’s consider four ways how God can use poor health. These may not specifically apply to your situation; we can’t expect to know what God’s up to this side of heaven. But these should be good evidence for trusting God.
That We Might Hate Sin
As fallen human beings, we have a natural bias for sinning against God. But God hates sin! And we should also. Think of Proverbs 8:13 – “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.” It’s not a matter of letting sin linger or putting up with it. No, it’s hating evil with your whole being for every second God gives us!
That hatred of sin is a good desire, but it’s in sickness where the rubber meets the road because sickness physically hurts. We not only just know the terrible effects of sin; we now experience it—with pain! It doesn’t matter what the immediate cause was, Romans 8 tells us that all sickness is the fruit of sin.
So when you encounter poor health—whether it’s you or someone else—take it as opportunity to improve your hatred for sin.
To Wean Us from Self-Sufficiency
Here’s how Paul speaks of his own affliction in 2 Corinthians 1 that’s printed on your handout:
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.
Why was Paul afflicted? So that he might “not rely on himself but on God.” It’s this God “who raises the dead!” Here we have Paul, who’s lacking in strength that he even despaired of life. And then there’s God, who raises the dead. We, like Paul, are weak. And it’s this weakness that reminds us that we can’t do it all by ourselves. We need help. We need our all-powerful God. God uses the wasting of our bodies to wean us from self-dependence. We don’t always like that though. It’s like, “God, I recognize your goodness to me in this sickness. But could you please be a little less good? I liked things how they were.” But God loves us too much to do that. He knows that dependence on him is the source of greatest happiness, even more than good health. So by faith we must believe this as well.
I think that God designs the general trajectory of life to teach us not to depend on ourselves. Think about it. A person is born helpless and then depends on their parents until they leave home. If they get married, they rely heavily on their spouse. If they have children, they rely even more heavily on their spouse! Then not long after the kids leave the home, the body starts breaking down, and they become dependent on their children. God is relentless in making his point: YOU’RE NOT IN CONTROL!!!
By depending on God, it’s not like we sit back and let God move our arms and legs like some kind of mannequin. Practically, I think this idea boils down to two basic thoughts:
When things go wrong, we must learn the goodness from Proverbs 16:9, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Living in dependence on God means that when he changes course, we’re to be content and trust that his ways are best rather than trying desperately to seize control and turn back in the direction we came from.
When things go right, we must understand that our responsibility is to be faithful, like we studied in the second week. Leave the results up to God. Living in a way that depends on God means that we’ll naturally give him the praise when things go well—because we recognize that everything comes from him. Remember 1 Corinthians 4:7, “What do you have that you did not receive?”
So often it’s pain that God uses to guide us toward a wisdom that is worth far more than the pain. Psalm 119:67 says, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.” God uses pain to get our attention to what’s good and right, just like when a father disciplines his child.
Of course, seeing this in practice is far more powerful than hearing it described. So how have times of poor health helped you, or someone you know, live more dependent on God?
Listen to how Paul describes his experience bringing the gospel to Galatia in Galatians 4:13-15 printed on your handout:
13 You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, 14 and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. 15 …if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.
It’s interesting that when Paul planted churches elsewhere, he did it by working to support himself. But the churches in Galatia seem to have come about through his dependency—not through strength, but through sickness.
Often, that’s exactly how God uses poor health. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:7, “we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” Poor health forces us to depend on others. And God uses this for our good in at least three ways:
It corrects the lie that worth is found through productivity. Remember, we’re evaluated as stewards based on our faithfulness, not productivity. That’s a hard lesson to learn, isn’t it?!! God often uses sickness and disability to remove our pride and sense of self-worth based on what we can do. Remember, God doesn’t need you to accomplish what he wants. But in his good pleasure, God’s given you work to do in order to show off his work in you. As stewards, it doesn’t matter how much we do as it does in who we’re doing it for.
It creates an opportunity to glorify God by depending on others. You might call this the “ministry of dependency.” It’s sad to see a once-strong person act like they don’t need help when they actually do. They’re obstinate because they can’t stand having to depend on others. It’s almost like they don’t understand God’s grace. But as we saw earlier, Paul seemed to accomplish far more in Galatia by depending on others in his sickness than he could’ve done in his health. When you depend on others, you give them the opportunity to glorify God in their service to you. And your dependence models contentment with God’s will. You might end up serving them far more than they serve you. You can even be an example of godliness that’s hard to see when you’re healthy.
It encourages the faith of others. Watching God deliver your body—or seeing your faith work itself out, even if God chooses not to deliver your body in this world—is exactly what someone else needs to strengthen their own faith. And when you stand before the Lord in heaven, the difficulty of your struggle will pale next to that faith, which Peter says is of greater worth than gold.
In fact, I wonder if you’ve noticed how many of the Scripture references that we’ve quoted these past two weeks have been from Paul’s letters in the New Testament. There are 66 books in the Bible, and we’ve mostly focused on a very small portion of them. Why is that? It’s because Paul had such a hard life! He was sick, he was beaten, he was close to death. And through those experiences, his letters overflow with gems of wisdom that come from affliction. His dependence on God is a source of great strength to us.
Poor Health Makes Us Long for Heaven
At the beginning of this class, I described where sickness came from, but I didn’t describe its future. The future for us who remain faithful to the end is glorious. Revelation 21:3-4 says, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there by mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Every sickness you ever face is temporary. Because when God finally sets creation free from its bondage to corruption (Rom. 8), there’ll be no more sickness. Your diseased and disabled and pain-ridden body will be replaced with one that’s glorious beyond compare.
So in 2 Corinthians 5:2-4, Paul sees the wasting of his earthly body—or tent, as he calls it—as a reminder that he’s headed to heaven. He says, “For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”
No matter how good your health is today, your body is getting ready for the grave. Have you seen those ads with photos of men in their sixties with non-photo-shopped bodies that look like they belong to a 20-year-old? I don’t care if what they’re selling works or not—it’s only temporary. The battle to preserve our bodies is a battle we’ll all lose. But that’s no reason to despair! It’s simply a reminder than in a few short years we’ll be able to cast off these bodies and, to quote Paul, “be swallowed up by life.”
Living as Faithful Stewards
So as stewards, how do we apply all this biblical wisdom that God gives us? What’s it look like to be faithful when we suffer poor health? There are many ways, but let me suggest four:
Be willing to accept a different role
Helen Young joined our church in 1953 and was a faithful member until her death five decades later. If you knew her in the 1980s, you knew her for her friendship and bustling hospitality. Then after the death of her husband Hardin and a stroke, her primary ministry became one of prayer and note-writing—often in labored, uneven handwriting. At her funeral, our pastor Mark asked who had ever received a note of encouragement from Helen, and hundreds of hands went up. But if you only knew her in the years following her stroke, you’d never have guessed that her ministry was once so much more active. She was content with the role God gave her. As it is with our money and our time, the limited capacity God gives us in our health is no accident. Like Helen, we would do well to contentedly accept our changing ability and continue to do what’s good.
Be wise in taking action
Sometimes it seems there’s a contradiction between us taking action and trusting in God. But a faithful steward does both. Paul tells us to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Php. 2:12). So when we’re sick, God’s normal means of preserving our health is seeking help through the resources provided by the medical community, which is part of his common grace. Refusing the practical help offered because we trust God to heal is a bit like saying, “I’m special, and instead of using normal means, I want God to provide in a way that’s extraordinary.” Has the steward now become the master?
Think back about what we talked about with stewarding our money. God will provide for us in our old age of retirement, but the normal means he does that is through saving up when we’re younger, as he gives us the ability. In the same way, we pursue medical care for our health in order to be faithful as his stewards, all the time, trusting him for whatever healing he provides, whether that’s through his normal means of provision or something that’s extraordinary.
Trust in God
Our primary goal when we’re suffering from poor health isn’t to preserve our bodies; it’s to preserve our faith! All suffering is a battle for faith—and suffering well is what shows our faith to be genuine (1 Peter 1:7). So don’t make recovery from illness your ultimate aim. Our ultimate aim is to be faithful to God, no matter how wasted our bodies become. This is what suffering Job did when his wife told him to curse God and die. He replied, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). Job’s posture was to accept whatever pain befell him and trusted his God with it. We might not know why we suffer, but we know the good and sovereign God who’s behind it all.
So when illness has overcome you, don’t put your ultimate hope in your doctor’s prescription, or in your plan of action, or in that therapy your friend said worked for them. No, put your ultimate hope in our faithful God and his promises of care for you. And seek to be faithful in times of bodily pain; not doubting, not complaining, not worrying. Trusting in God doesn’t mean that he’ll heal us. After all, what promise has he given for healing in this life? Trusting in God means believing that whether he chooses to heal in this life or after death, his decision is best because he knows us and loves us. That’s the peace that transcends all understanding (Phil. 4:7). Our weak frames are in the strong hands of a loving God (Ps. 62:11-12).
Keep your mind focused on Heaven
This world is passing away. Your body is passing away. The reality of perfection is dawning soon. So live as a pilgrim in this world, with that heavenly city as your home.
Comments or questions or thoughts on other ways to be faithful with poor health (e.g., Scripture memorization, cultivate heart of thankfulness, exercising patience one day at a time)?
Conclusion
Allen Gardiner suffered much in his 57 years. In the mid-19th century, he served as a missionary in many places from New Guinea to South Africa to South America, often having to leave because of hostile conditions. In 1851 he arrived in Tierra del Fuego to tell the people there the good news of Jesus. But his landing didn’t go well. A boat was lost, his food was stolen, and as food and water disappeared, he and his fellow missionary, Dr. Williams, died on the beach. But when a rescue party arrived a few weeks later, they found not just the men’s bodies, but their diaries. Their writing told the story of hunger, thirst, wounds, and loneliness. But the last entries, written in a shaking hand, were the most amazing. Williams had written, “Let all my beloved ones at home rest assured that I was happy beyond expression the night I wrote these lines and would not have changed situations with any man living . . . that heaven, and love, and Christ, which means one and the same divine thing, were in my heart.” And Gardiner? Simply: “I am overwhelmed with a sense of the goodness of God.”
This world would suggest that without health, all is lost. But Jesus has a better way. He’s the author of health; he’s the Great Physician. He’s good and has good plans for you no matter the state of your body’s decay. No matter your health, our greatest joy is bound up in our service to him—and even more as we draw nearer to heaven.
PRAYER
