Paul Rohs
Columnist
Recently a close loved one was in a state of extreme illness. Yeah, one of those that spent a number of days riding on that knife’s edge that could have gone either way. I know many have shared that same experience. Whether as a family member, a close friend or acquaintance, the primary caretaker or whatever, the same feeling of hopelessness is paralyzing.
The fear, the sadness, the attention to the details of anything we actually can do consumes our focus to the exclusion of anything else. All or our own concerns go away. What we eat, when we sleep, what we do to care for ourselves all take a back seat. A far back seat. We pray.
As a believer or if not then one who pulls out the spare tire of prayer since right now we feel it’s needed, we pull out all the stops. We pray. We ask others for prayer. We lose inhibitions that we may have in our day to day lives and we call on God for help. Perhaps for our own potential loss but hopefully for the benefit of whoever it is that is suffering.
If the person who is afflicted is a believer, they themselves may pull a James 5:14-15. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” In so doing assures that based on their own faith, God’s will shall be done.
Now, during this recent personal experience of mine, this was done and of course, God keeps his promises and within a day the illness began to recede and my loved one was moved to the road to recovery and remains there even now. However, during this most stressful time it occurred to me, this was a physical illness but what of people we may know or not, that suffer from a spiritual illness. Whether out of ignorance of the word of God, a past that has led them on a pathway to sin, or whatever the reason shouldn’t they too be considered ill?
In trying to compare a physical illness to a spiritual illness, there really is none. A believer can suffer the most extreme physical illness and still enjoy an eternal life of wonder. However, a person who may be in perfect physical condition and health can lead an absolutely miserable spiritual life of pain and suffering leading to an eternal life of even worse misery.
With this in mind, shouldn’t we be as concerned or maybe even more so, of those who suffer that spiritual illness compared to a mere physical illness? As we pray for those we care about who are suffering a physical illness while we’re wracked with tears and pain, how do we consider those with that spiritual disease? Whether we know them personally or not, just something to think about.