Episode 318: I’m Talkin. . .Health

I’m talking episode 318 for May 19th, 2024.

This is Joel from the I’m talking microcast, where I share my thoughts on a topic that has piqued my interest this past week.

This week, we’re talking health.

So you can see that I’ve come to the end of my church words segment, or months, or whatever it’s been.

May come back to that, but today I’m going to talk about health.

In a minute, you’ll figure out why, but just thought it was a good topic to talk about.

Health in America is a big industry, maybe the world, I don’t know, but for sure in the United States.

It has a number of different branches, fitness with the gyms, and personal trainers, and Apple Fitness Plus if you’re in my world.

Then you have insurance that goes along with that, that nobody really likes to talk about.

That’s a big part of health as well.

In fact, my insurance company pays me cash to stay mobile, to actually work out.

I can make $3 a day, every day for the entire year.

I make upwards of $1,100 a year just trying to stay healthy.

But there are other sides as well.

One is ageless, where the benefits maybe of working out beyond just a healthy lifestyle, and less aches and pains, and less medicine.

Trying to stop the aging process.

There’s some narcissism in that as well, in all of working out a little bit.

How do I look in the mirror, or flexing your muscles, or whatever that happens to be.

The world looks at that and admires that, and rightly so, because it takes a lot of work.

But there’s always a perspective that needs to be taken, and therein lies the challenge for those of us who call ourselves Christians.

Should health look different because we call ourselves Christians, or does it look like the world?

Well, I think in a sense there’s some commonality, but there are differences as well.

So when we think of our bodies as a temple, many would say, well then we need to treat that with respect.

What goes in, how we treat it, the health of that body.

And I think it’s more that, while that’s true, I think the fact that God lives in us means we need to think more about our mentality, our attitudes, and those kind of things.

But I think health is important as well.

And why would it be important?

Well, I think if you’re not healthy, and you’re trapped at home, it makes it harder to do God’s work.

So there is some of that in staying healthy as well.

And then it’s just a quality of life.

And God says, I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.

That doesn’t necessarily mean health, but it does tie into that because abundant life means you are able, not disabled.

And so that rings a bell of importance as well.

The other thing that happens is failure.

Because no matter how healthy you are, no matter how fit you are, there’s always going to be some failure.

And this week, I’ve arrived at that point.

I’ve worked out for somewhere near 2,400 straight days.

And this week, I have a pinched nerve in my neck.

I’ve always had a bad back.

And every once in a while, this flares up.

And by every once in a while, I mean this is the second time.

The last time was six years ago.

But it brings me to a halt.

I can do very little when this happens.

And the question is, in those modes of failure, where do you turn for relief?

And many will turn to doctors.

And then the question is, where do you rely on God and where do you rely on medicine?

And I think that God has given medical abilities to people that help us to remain healthy.

So I wouldn’t ever go as far as to say we shouldn’t seek professional medical help.

Although in my case, I often don’t do that because it feels like it doesn’t work.

But I think we don’t need to leave God out of that equation.

We need to recognize his hand in all of that and realize he’s the great physician.

And when I’m in modes like I am right now, I pray regularly for God to take the pain away.

Because it is constant, it is deep, it is sharp, and it makes my life uncomfortable.

It makes my wife’s life uncomfortable.

But what happens in the recovery process is also important.

In the recovery from health issues, there’s always learning opportunities.

What can you do?

What can’t you do?

When can you get back to a fairly normal routine?

What medicine should you be taking?

What medicine should you not be taking?

But the reality is we get to learn more about who God is in that.

We get to slow down.

We have ample opportunity that we might not have otherwise to pray, to think, to meditate on God’s word.

And if we take advantage of that recovery process, then not only will God heal us physically because of the rest and what that does to our bodies, but also heal us spiritually because of the time we spend with him.

And if in our health we do not ignore the spiritual recovery, our lives will be more full and more abundant.

And we know through it all that we serve a sovereign God.

Until next week, this is Joel from the I’m Talking Microcast.