What you can learn from a gastro flu...

 

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Recently I had an “involuntary time of fasting”…in other words I had a nasty bout of gastro flu. I ate almost nothing for 4 days and depleted of strength and lacking any motivation to cook, I opened the fridge...and for a while I just stared at the lavish display of foods. My husband must have felt sorry for me for there was an array of ready-made soups and lovely desserts. But I just stood there, looking at all the delicatessen available and I knew that I couldn’t take any of it in yet. My tummy was still too raw, yet my body so very weak. In that very brief moment I suddenly asked myself: “Is this what God is offering to me?” I stood there and pondered if this was the kind of lavish life that the bible promises to all that follow Jesus, available, satisfying and nourishing – a generous buffet of spiritual joys. Why haven’t I been feasting on it? Have I been suffering from a serious bout of spiritual flu? And where did I get infected? When I asked God these questions in my quiet time, the answers started coming…He spoke to me about moments of irritability and anger that I should and could have controlled, TV shows I should not have watched, gossiping sessions I should not have partaken in and many thoughts and opinions that needed to be renewed. Like a virus, rebellion, self-pity and fear had crept in through a weakened immune system (devoid of enough quiet time with the Lord) and it caused havoc in my soul. I almost noticed too late, I was too busy taking care of too many other things and now depression had crept in and I found myself murmuring and complaining about so many things. Know the feeling? I think us moms are prone to catch a virus now and then. We tend to take care of everybody else and deplete ourselves in the process. Fortunately with the spiritual flu, the recipe for recovery is in the bible. It says that in order to be cleansed from our unrighteousness, we only have to confess our sins. So if you ask God to forgive you, for all the known and unknown sins in your life, it’s kind of like getting a mega dose of spiritual Vitamin C, it’s bound to beat the bug inside of you and any symptoms like guilt and shame will be driven away! Spend a couple of minutes today, confessing whatever sins you can think of and let God’s grace and forgiveness work like a probiotic in your mind! I will certainly do so myself, knowing that God is getting me ready to feast on ALL that He has to offer! 

I wish you a happy and healthy day!