Complaining or Petitioning?

2 Kings 2.19-22 & 4.38-44 

Does God care about our physical well-being? Yes, but He's undoubtedly not obsessed with it as some of us are. Relax!

I suspect there are many folks this Labor Day Weekend who are exerting themselves far more strenuously just trying to have fun, than they did at work last week. Not that extreme physical exertion is any particular badge of honor at work.

My observation and conclusion is that many people would benefit greatly from working smarter and not necessarily harder. Some people create work for themselves merely by the way in which they approach any given task. 

I also believe that most people would benefit greatly if they would learn to relax and live within themselves; finding peace and contentment within themselves rather than searching for that magic external moment for fulfillment.

I also believe that in spite of all the societal obsession with health, wellness, prevention and treatment, and high-dollar medicine - we are 'suffering' more now than when I was a kid. Suffering? Yep, I hear advertisements about people 'suffering' from things that were NEVER talked about in 'polite' society when I was a kid. And, what self-respecting person would be idiot enough to admit to 'suffering' from these airhead maladies?

When I was a kid people suffered because there was polio and small pox and mumps and diphtheria and glomerural nephritis. We didn't stress over sniffles and allergies, aches and pains. We had great sympathy for those who had cancer and rheumatoid arthritis and goiters. We went to the doctor when we had something truly 'wrong' with us and we knew it because we could no longer function normally.

The healthcare system wasn't overloaded, over prescribed and over priced. The churches were full of praying people who laughed a lot, cried a lot, pot-lucked a lot, socialized a lot, and genuinely cared about one another's well-being. When someone expressed a concern, we prayed until peace was obtained. When someone went to a doctor, it was a matter of serious concern for all.

If that seems a bit romanticized and idealized, it's because that's the way I saw life around me in the 1950's. We had very little money and lots of cures and fixes for things. Mostly we had faith and prayer and love for each other. It's amazing how well that combination seemed to work and how physically well we stayed.

Now we have antiseptic soap and Clorox wipes and more racks of sniffle medicines than 'Carter had liver pills.' (If you don't understand that last analogy, you had lots more money than we had, or, you are a lot younger than I.) It's difficult to find someone who will even listen to your request for prayer without someone interrupting to tell you of their long list of aches, pains, and suspected maladies.

It makes me tired. 

There seems to be an elite status associated with all the potential problems one might have and all the tests and doctors one might regularly be utilizing. I sometimes want to ask, "Have you ever heard the story of the little boy who cried 'Wolf!' ?"

Somewhere there has to be a practical application of faith and hope in our lives. Somewhere there is a line between hypochondria, fear, and attention seeking for purposes of sympathy - and a sincere request for the urgent, fervent prayer of righteous people for one's physical ailment.

God wants us to be able to bring our requests before the Body of Christ for fervent prayer. We need to be able to know that when we request prayer, people will take our request seriously and compassionately. We need to learn to live in faith and hope. Those two things, by their definition, require a positivity in our approach to daily life - even with all its potential for problems and difficulties.

He called us to 'cast our cares upon Him...' and He also called us to request the elders of the church to anoint us with oil and pray the prayer of faith for the sick.

Proverbially, when should we stew about the 'stew' and when should we just throw more flour into it? I don't know. Perhaps that's the reason for my reticence in presenting my physical maladies before the Body. I tend to just throw more flour into it and leave it to the Lord. Some would say that if I would bring it before the Body I could be healed...maybe, and maybe God could teach me lessons through quietly petitioning Him that I wouldn't learn any other way.

I'm not unsympathetic to others aches and pains, I'm trying to find an approach to suffering that is pleasing to God and allows Him to accomplish His purpose in our lives.

My main concern right now is learning the difference between complaining and petitioning - between glorying in my suffering and glorying in grace from the great Physician.