Positive Dis-Ease; Psalm 119

May the mumbling commence!

Sometimes, I wonder if I live life too much at ease.  Don’t get me wrong.  There are times of dis-ease in my life, but times of dis-ease are few and far between.  In my reflections this month, I have been getting caught up from a particular time of dis-ease.  I missed these entries from September and October when I was laid out with my lower back acting up.  Let me tell you, I was ill at ease when my back and sciatica was acting up.  The pain and discomfort helped to remind me of the need for rest and Sabbath in my life. 

Yes, much can be learned from our body when pains make us slow down.  In those times, life seems as if it is crawling along – kind of like slowing down in our cars to thirty-five miles-per-hour from seventy-five miles-per-hour.  We begin to notice more details of the passing scenery.  And, if we choose to walk, we see even more.  We begin to see the beauty of the creation God has gifted us with – even if the beauty is tinged with pain.

And there are others types of dis-ease.  Some dis-ease is spiritually-based.  Some is socially-based.  Some is financially-based.  The list can go on and on.  God often uses our dis-ease to call us back to Him.  Yes, I believe that God calls His people through pain and affliction and dis-ease.  Read a passage from the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119:

            Do good to your servant

                        according to your word, O Lord. 

            Teach me knowledge and good judgment,

                        for I believe in your commands. 

            Before I was afflicted I went astray,

                        but now I obey your word. 

            You are good, and what you do is good;

                        teach me your decrees. 

            Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies,

                        I keep your precepts with all my heart. 

            Their hearts are callous and unfeeling,

                        but I delight in your law. 

            It was good for me to be afflicted

                        so that I might learn your decrees. 

            The law from your mouth is more precious to me

                        than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. (Verses 65-72)

The temptation to wander from the Lord increases exponentially the better our lives are going.  Affliction is often a rod that will bring us back to God – back to the Word of God, Jesus.  So, should we seek out affliction? 

That depends upon what the reasons for the affliction are.  Please do not neglect to note the reasons for the affliction of the psalmist – being smeared with lies by callous and unfeeling people.  The reason for the dis-ease of the psalmist lies in the delight in the laws of the Lord.  Other people become ill at ease when they find someone who delights in the Word of God, Jesus.  So they want to cause great dis-ease for those who love and obey Jesus in hopes they can squash the love of Jesus evident in someone like the psalmist.  Affliction should never be sought by ignoring the Word of God. 

But, if affliction, pain, and dis-ease come from loving Jesus openly, then we should embrace dis-ease.  No one or nothing can be more precious to us than Jesus.  It is this kind of affliction and pain and dis-ease that the psalmist talks about.  It is this kind of affliction that I believe is missing from my life and the lives of many Christians in the United States.  This is the kind of dis-ease and affliction and pain we should be seeking out.

I have become too at ease with my private faith in Jesus.  Have you?  Faith in Jesus was never meant to be private, just as being the church was never meant to be a spectator sport.  I believe it is the season for searching out and knowing God’s decrees for my life and for yours. 

What is it that God is calling us to do in this time and place?  What are the needs of the community?  How can the church, regardless of the cost, meet these needs?  As Jesus asked Peter in the last chapter of the gospel of John, “Do you love me?  Then, feed my sheep and take care of my lambs.”

Do you feel ill at ease when you hear these words?  I do.  Much of the dis-ease has to do with fear.  How many times do we read in the Scriptures “Do not be afraid?”  We may fear failure or apathy or success.  But God is greater than our fears.  This type of dis-ease is spiritually-based, and it calls us back into relationship with God and each other.  Will we respond and return? 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out