Tammy On Tuesday ~ Taking A Sick Day

PINIMAGEWell, I thought I was somewhat invincible.  I thought I would not get the flu as I cared for my youngest who was down for the count.  But I’ve spent today in bed.  I did not beat the flu virus this time around.  I honestly can’t remember the last time, if ever, that I had the flu.  Truth is, I’m not getting any younger and I was just too run down to fight it off.

Today I share a post I wrote 3 years ago that ties into this weekend’s message at LifeHouse Church.  I hope it speaks to your heart.

Truth is bedrock. Contrary to popular belief we don’t create truth. We uncover it.

We don’t create truth. We uncover it.

I’ve said it before and the fact remains, the need for truth is ingrained in each of us. We say to our children, “Now, are you telling me the truth? Or are you telling me a lie?” We don’t say, “Is that A truth or a lie?”  It’s like we instinctively know there is just one truth.

There is only one truth.

I have been encouraged by this reality even more so as I’ve been reading a fascinating book called, “The Gift of Pain,” by Dr. Paul Brand. It chronicles a man’s pioneer journey to find the cure for leprosy and treat people in mind, body & soul who suffered from the disease.

The first time I ever heard the word leprosy was in the Bible. People with this dreaded disease were considered outcasts. When others would encounter them they would have to shout out “Unclean! Unclean!” They were forced to live in isolation. It was basically a social death sentence. Cut off even from family and friends.

Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease (HD), is a long term infection caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Initially, infections are without symptoms and typically remain this way from 5 to as long as 20 years. Symptoms that develop include granulomas of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This may result in a lack of ability to feel pain and thus loss of parts of extre mities due to repeated injuries or infection due to unnoticed wounds. Weakness and poor eyesight may also be present. ^Wikipedia

PINIMAGEIn some countries, there is still a great stigma developed mostly from false information associated with this disease. On one of my first trips to India just under 20 years ago, I visited a leper colony. The people there were so gracious and kind. They were thrilled to know that we didn’t fear spending time with them. One dear lady with gnarled hands greeted me and was overwhelmed by the physical touch of a simple handshake. I struggled to hold back the tears.  I contemplated her isolation and loneliness. As I left, I had many questions. How do you get leprosy? Can these people be helped? Is there any hope for a better life for them?

So, when a friend sent me this book, I was interested in finding out more; and I was fascinated to read how this doctor’s life’s work was dedicated to setting patients free. The book records Brand’s experiments, treatments and his relationships with his patients.

Reading about how he came to understand the true nature of the disease of leprosy, I felt as though it was similar to putting pieces of a puzzle together. His great success was due to the fact that even when big pieces of the puzzle were put in place, he never stopped his research. The truth was there and his job was to uncover it.

The truth was there and his job was to uncover it.

In fact, Brand visited many doctors around the world eager to share his findings, and to compare studies. Some of the doctors had clinics set up solely for the treatment of leprosy and had become renown for their methods and research. But none had come so far as Dr. Paul Brand.

Often the doctors took pride in their achievements. So much so, that when he would introduce new information that he had uncovered about the disease, he was rebuked or dismissed.

Imagine with me for a moment. These doctors who were working with incomplete information, who had not yet put all the puzzle pieces in place, were not accurately or comprehensively treating the disease. Many of their patients would leave and return again down the road in worse shape than when they left. Partial knowledge, incomplete treatment may have slowed the results of the disease but offered no long-term hope.

The doctors had difficulty embracing information that they themselves had not yet uncovered. But in the end, the truth remained. Even the doctors who initially berated Brand for his trailblazing research, finally realized that he was just closer to the truth than they had been.

What has been most awe inspiring to me upon reading about this medical journey is that all the years and years of research, among all the many doctors in many different parts of the world brought them ALL to the same conclusion. Their research didn’t take them further apart. It brought them together. It brought them to the truth about leprosy.  Truth unified them.

I want to shift gears as I close. I love how Dr. Brand became known as the doctor who not just treated the leprosy but the whole person. He took great care to teach the leprosy patients how to regain their lives. He showed them how to overcome the challenges they now faced with missing fingers, toes, feet and more. He cried with them. He dreamed with them. He was not satisfied unless he was able to restore not only physical health but also hope. Sometimes his greatest challenges were in dealing with the despondency and discouragement many lepers had come to accept as part of life.

His “whole person” philosophy became known in the streets and lepers would line up at the gate of the clinics where he worked, waiting to be seen. I’ll save you some of the graphic details of what he encountered as he examined patients with an advanced form of the disease, but he never gave up on an individual.

In short, Dr. Brand wasn’t interested only in a cure. He also made it his mission to rehabilitate the outcast. Sounds a bit familiar.

Luke 4:18 says of Christ,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

    because he has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

    and recovering of sight to the blind,

    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

Luke 5:31-32  Jesus answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

You see, the truth is, I was like the lepers standing at the gate waiting, hoping for help and healing. I needed the Great Physician. He has healed my heart and is rehabilitating me through the sanctifying work of His Spirit in me. He has anchored me in the bedrock of Truth. In fact, He is TRUTH.

John 14:6a – Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

Perhaps you’re “in search of a cure.” I’ve got great news. Christ is the answer. He is the truth. When you find that other “forms of treatment are selling you short, call upon Him.” He will answer and He will heal. And that’s the truth.