I have the flu (and Jesus does too)
Even in the flu, I know God can use me.
By Jessica Brodie
As I write this, I have the flu, and as it typically goes, the timing couldn’t be worse.
And yet, I wonder—perhaps the timing is exactly right.
I hurt. My body aches, my head hurts, and I believe I could think coherently if only the pounding over my right eye would subside.
And all the while deadlines loom. All the while life presses on. (Thank God for a wonderful husband and friends who can help with childcare this week.)
Right now, I sit here with papers and scraps of handwritten to-do lists spread around me in a half-moon, trying to prioritize: what must be done today (only groceries, whew). What must be done tomorrow. What must be done by Sunday. What must be done by Tuesday, when I head off on a business trip.
And it hits me: I’m not alone. I have the flu, and Jesus does, too. He’s there with me—in the body aches and the headache, in the sniffles and the lethargy. In fact, it’s all OK.
I know that God is glorified in my weakness. He shines through me.
When I realize my plans and my to-do list is not always God’s plans for me that day, a weight lifts from my shoulders. This is how I should feel every day. I don’t have to be “perfect” or have it all together. I never will, anyway. I just need to bend my knee to God every single day and let Him use me however I am to be His work.
Even with the flu, I know God can use me.
As the apostle Paul wrote of God in his letter to the Corinthians, “He said to me, ‘My grace is enough for you, because power is made perfect in weakness.’ So I’ll gladly spend my time bragging about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power can rest on me. Therefore, I’m all right with weaknesses, insults, disasters, harassments, and stressful situations for the sake of Christ, because when I’m weak, then I’m strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 CEB).
Take that, body aches.