I sat down with a friend for coffee last evening and conversation turned to the topic of blogging. I’ve been writing Tammy On Tuesday for probably close to three years now. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to express what God is working in me, to share snapshots of my journey with the Lord. But I told my friend while we chatted that there is so much noise in our world right now, I feel sometimes as though I just don’t want to add just another voice. It’s like being in a conversation with a handful of 10 year olds. Everyone is talking and no one is listening.
We are in a time of debate, division and uncertainty in our culture as I’ve never seen before. Perhaps you agree with me that there is a sense of foreboding for what’s to come. I am beginning to realize that my children may see and experience another world from what I have known and that can be scary.
We scream “celebrate diversity or else!” We argue and demand “I’m alright! And you’re not!” Racism. Intolerance. When it comes to Government and the media and presidential candidates and cultural wars, our trust is riddled through with questions. How do we make sense of the madness? What’s the answer to our present condition?
I’ve shared in past blog posts that my son, Hudson, has a metabolic disease called MCADD. This is a rare disease and it can be fatal if not diagnosed. During Hudson’s first year of life, he would pick up a common virus and I noticed it was harder for him to bounce back than my older child, Abby. I didn’t think much of it until some of his illnesses really left him depleted. I began to question in my heart if there might be something deeper going on.
I began to question in my heart if there might be something deeper going on.
Hudson was hospitalized a few times before he turned one and the doctors were dumbfounded as to what was going on. Once he was stable again, they released him. The thought of my son having a serious condition frightened me so I was eager to believe what the doctors were saying when they told me, “It’s probably nothing.”
I didn’t’ want to imagine that my son had a serious problem. I allowed myself to believe Hudson was fine until an extreme crisis brought Hudson within inches of his life. Just before he turned a year old, he contracted a rotavirus. This severe gastrointestinal virus almost killed him and it got my attention. Hudson had a disease. Denying it wouldn’t save him. Treating it would.
Hudson had a disease. Denying it wouldn’t save him. Treating it would.
If you talk with a parent who has a child with an underlying illness they will tell you, “Knowing is half the battle.” Many parents have found relief in knowing what’s wrong so that they can fight for their children. Others have struggled for years to figure out what’s wrong with their child and are still waiting in fear and uncertainty for answers. Hudson’s diagnosis actually brought me peace because I wasn’t stabbing at the dark and hoping for the best any more. I was making conscious decisions toward a better life for him.
The truth is, we as a culture are lying to ourselves. We are not okay. We are ALL suffering from a disease of the soul. And the biggest mistake we can make is to insist that there’s nothing wrong and worse yet to celebrate our present condition.
How foolish would it be to sit with a group of parents and, instead of seeking treatment, sit and debate which disease is most note worthy or valid?
What’s it matter where we stand if we are all dying?
What’s it matter where we stand if we are all dying?
Jesus shared a similar message with the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees of his day. As far as they were concerned, they had all the answers. Unwilling to see their condition, they felt they didn’t need the teaching of Jesus and they denied him as their Messiah. They were completely content with their terminal diagnosis – or at least with denying they had one.
15 Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. Mark 2:13-17 (emphasis mine)
In other words, Jesus is saying, “You think you’re fine and do not need salvation. But these ‘sinners’ understand their need. For those who realize they are sick, I bring healing.”
Yes, acknowledging you have a terminal soul-sickness is difficult.
BUT there’s Good News.
The good news is that there is a Cure.
“What’s wrong with our country? What’s wrong with our neighbor? What’s wrong with our culture?” We are stricken with a disease of the soul and we are dying!
That was me. I was dying. I was sin-sick. And I knew it. But I found a great Doctor. He’s the Great Physician and He IS the Cure.
He IS the Cure.
John 5:24 says, Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
The hope for our nation is healing and it begins with healing in each of our hearts.
Psalm 33:12-22
12 What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord,
whose people he has chosen as his inheritance.
13 The Lord looks down from heaven
and sees the whole human race.
14 From his throne he observes
all who live on the earth.
15 He made their hearts,
so he understands everything they do.
16 The best-equipped army cannot save a king,
nor is great strength enough to save a warrior.
17 Don’t count on your warhorse to give you victory—
for all its strength, it cannot save you.
18 But the Lord watches over those who fear him,
those who rely on his unfailing love.
19 He rescues them from death
and keeps them alive in times of famine.
20 We put our hope in the Lord.
He is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord,
for our hope is in you alone.
