Originally written June 1, 2021 added material in bold and italics
To give some background to this post, at the time I was suffering from an incredibly bad cataract in my left eye, and a weaker one in my right eye. My blogging was non-existent during that time (three posts total from May to mid July when I got the surgery) because I could barely see!
Last week this time I was getting ready to visit a local clinic, and get my second vaccine shot.
I don’t share that to start a big debate over whether or not a person should be vaccinated. It’s my opinion you should be for your safety and others, but the point of this post is what happened AFTER the shot.
I fully expected to feel awful the day of the shot, so didn’t plan much afterwards. I ended up getting home around 2:00, and spent most of the day in bed after that.
Following that day of rest I woke up Wednesday sore, but with good energy, It felt great to have strength during the day that helped me catch up on what wasn’t finished Tuesday.
Then Thursday came
I woke up not feeling too great, but was able to get stuff done that morning. But around 2:00 though my whole body started hurting! So I ended up spending much of that day in the bed or resting as well.
Thursday really frustrated me because I wanted to do work, but my body just wouldn’t co-operate. Yet looking back on it, I believe it was Gods way of teaching me a lesson.
The period of time between mid-May and early July when I returned to the States was God’s way of teaching me to rest in Him instead of focusing on activity. In late June it got so bad I couldn’t even drive! There were many frustrating days during that season, but in it I found my identity isn’t found in work, but Christ
I love being busy, which is not a bad thing. However, it’s easy to begin worshipping my work, In other words, i find my identity (happiness) in how much is accomplished during that day. When productivity becomes something that I worship instead of God. It is a problem.
So the Lord gave me two days last week with little work accomplished.
As the frustration faded Thursday afternoon, the Lord reminded me that effectiveness or “getting things done” wasn’t something to be worshipped. Instead it was a form of worship to God.
This makes all the difference because my identity and happiness doesn’t have to be found in how much I accomplished that day. Instead it’s found in the cross of Christ, and Gods placing His righteousness to my account.
This doesn’t mean I should sit around and do nothing all day. It does mean that God in His grace gives me days of rest. And those restful moments come because the work of Salvation doesn’t rely on me.
Thankfully my body is back at full-strength and I’m slowly but surely catching up on unfinished tasks. But I’m grateful that even if the to-do list is never finished, I will still be Gods child.
The truth is it would take about a month till my eyes were full-strength. But through that season of hardship I found myself relying on the Lord instead of myself, and that He is faithful.
Johnhwilburn.org 