As someone who grew up playing competitive basketball, volleyball, and ran track and field, injuries are nothing new to me. I have back pain, weak ankles, and bad knees, as a result of wear and tear over the years. My friend’s mom jokes that whenever she sees me, I’m on crutches. However, my most recent injury was the worst yet – I tore my meniscus (knee cartilage) from a volleyball tournament, which meant I couldn’t play sports for a whole year. For the first week, I couldn’t bear any weight on my leg, and had to roll around my home in an office chair. Dazed by this sudden injury, I wondered if there was a purpose behind it.
Could God be telling me to rest?
Could God be redirecting me, because I was spending too much time on volleyball instead of Him?
Could God be teaching me a lesson, because I was seeking my own glory through my sport accolades?
But these questions didn’t make sense to me. Earlier this year, I sprained my ankle before my half-marathon, and already spent the past 3 months resting. So if God wanted me to rest, I already did plenty of resting in the previous season. And why would God redirect me from what bore good fruit? I built relationships with my volleyball teammates, and found genuine joy in playing. Could God purposefully take them away, due to some unknown negligence on my end? Is there something that I’m not thinking of, that I’m being punished for?
Whenever someone gets sick or injured, a common Christian response I hear is “Maybe God is teaching you something,” or “God wants you to rest.” When someone says this, it gives off the connotation that you’ve been doing something that is inconsistent with God’s plans for your life, so now you’re learning a lesson through a forced circumstance.
Though I do agree with the statement that sickness or injury can give us the opportunity to have productive reflection and the leisure of rest, I’m not sure that I believe God’s hand is directly involved in our compromised health.
After getting injured and having friends’ loved ones go through severe illnesses, the idea that God directly afflicts us with common sickness or injury to simply teach us a lesson doesn’t seem entirely accurate. Yes, there are accounts of people being afflicted with sicknesses due to outright disobedience, rebellion, or blasphemy in the Old Testament, but not only do the accounts dwindle in the New Testament, we also see injuries and illnesses being met with Jesus’ ministry of healing. And that’s where the script flips: injury is no longer just a consequential punishment of sin, but is presented as an opportunity of Jesus’ power and love.
John 9 is a great example of this: “As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”
Then, Jesus heals the blind man. The working theology was that the man was blind as a punishment for sin, but Jesus overhauls this thinking by saying this injury is a redemptive opportunity for God’s glory to be shown.
Injury was once seen as a situation of punishment, laden with guilt and shame, but now was the birthplace of a miracle and testimony of God’s glory. Furthermore, we see Jesus’ love through these healings. Jesus cried over Lazarus’ death. Jesus saw the shame of the bleeding woman, healed her, and called her “daughter”. Jesus shows deep relational care within injury and sickness, rather than anger and detachment.
What I am challenging today is how we over-spiritualize sicknesses and injuries to be an indication of God’s punishment, and suggest that we open the realm to other possibilities.
Here are two suggested applications:
1. If someone is dealing with sickness or injury, don’t be like Job’s friends and spiritually rationalize that this is a measure of God’s punishment.
Job’s friends tried to rationalize Job’s suffering by assuming Job did something wrong. It can be our inclination to point fingers and say, “You deserved it,” because it fits in our legalistic worldview of right versus wrong. It implies that the afflicted should self-examine to figure out where they have sinned, and harbor guilt and shame for the wrongdoing. This response erroneously feeds a merit-based theology, or a punishment-based God, rather than positioning God as a relational God who steps into our pain and suffering as a companion. It could be that God will reveal His healing powers in this person, like He did for the blind man! Be a friend, sit with them in their grief, and pray for healing in faith.
I was processing my recent injury with a close friend that has been through her fair share of difficult health issues, both in her own life and her parents. She shared that she attempted to come up with cheap rationalizations to understand why the things in her life happened, because she thought it would be the way to feel better about her situation. But she learned that the cure to her pain wasn’t understanding why, but rather having the company of Jesus in the midst of her pain and grief. The invitation is to see Jesus in all shapes and forms of life, including her illness, and that made all the difference.
If you are experiencing injury or sickness yourself, take the time to invite Jesus into your company, and ask what words of comfort He might have for you.
2. Even if there isn’t healing, we should understand and accept our limitedness as human beings.
Unfortunately, not all sicknesses or injuries will be healed. In 2 Timothy 4:20, Paul didn’t heal his missionary companion, Trophimus, even though Paul was well versed in healing the sick and raising the dead. But whether or not you are healed is not a measure of your relational closeness or relational standing with God. Healings are purely a grace from God, and have no bearing in demonstrating if or how much He loves you. There are many people that I know God loves that haven’t been healed, including myself!
As human beings, we are subject to fragility and the natural decay of our bodies. That’s something that God may allow to run its course. Rest assured that God’s love for us is true and constant, and whatever happens to us in this life, is not a direct measure of His love for us; though we may find ourselves in difficult circumstances, we know that the cross is a sure sign of God’s faithfulness and love. Injuries and sicknesses can be some of the most isolating circumstances that make us doubt if God is truly for us, so it’s important to cling onto the promise that “Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God.” (Romans 8:39).
In the past month that I’ve been out of commision and rehabiliating my knee, I have felt a strong sense of peace that God has not left me or forsaken me in my injury.
I was extremely anxious about the doctor’s prognosis, because it would determine whether or not I would be able to fly to California for one of my close friend’s wedding. The orthopedic surgeon examined my MRIs and determined that my tear was the worst case scenario that required immediate surgery. In denial of the diagnosis, I looked to get a second opinion. A friend recommended a doctor who worked at the best orthopedic hospital in the nation and specialized in meniscus tears, but he was fully booked for the month.
My husband encouraged me to give the doctor’s office a phone call and explain my case, and the physician’s assistant was gracious enough to slot me into a last-minute appointment with the doctor! The second doctor examined my MRI and said that the first doctor misread my MRI for a bucket handle tear, which meant that I actually didn’t need surgery! I could fly to California for my friend’s wedding, wait 4-6 weeks to see if the issue persists, and try to heal through physical therapy.
God provided me with a competent doctor in a pivotal moment, just two days before my flight to California, and gave me clarity about my knee. Had things not worked out this way, I would’ve paid thousands of dollars for a surgery that I did not need. Other examples of God’s provision and care came in the form of friends and family who cooked for me, helped me run errands, and spent time with me at home.
Knowing that Jesus is with me and for me, is comforting and assuring. It challenges all the accusations that God’s presence has departed from me or is punishing me because of wrongdoing, and absolves all the fear, guilt, and shame associated with it. Being able to find the thread of truth that God is good and loves me, allows me to make peace with my injury and welcome God’s company in my life. He has taken care of me, and will continue to take care of me.
This blog was originally posted on Serena’s blog. It has been edited and republished here with the author’s permission.
Photo Credit: Mathias Reding