Hey everyone. I hope you are all doing well so far this year. For me, these past few weeks have been a little rough. With flu season in full swing, I happen to be one of its victims. Granted, I thought I could handle it without doctors or any sort of antibiotics. However, my sickness went from the flu to a respiratory infection. This is the reason that I didn’t write last week. Don’t worry. I finally got myself some antibiotics and am doing 100% better. I know that it may seem strange that I am sharing this with you right now, but there is a reason for my madness.

            Going through this sickness reminded me of something. God has blessed us with the gift of free will. The reason I thought of that was because the choice was mine to go to the doctor to get antibiotics or to continue in my own sufferings. I had started showing symptoms the day after Christmas and didn’t get help until Friday of last week. Not only was I coughing like crazy, but I was having constant fevers and for over a week, I did not sleep well at all. I felt like death. Again, however, these past few weeks reminded me of our ability to make a choice.

            As I mentioned, I was sick for a while. At any time, I could have chosen to go to the doctor so that my suffering would end. However, instead, I chose to prolong my suffering by trying to get better on my own. This is something we tend to do to ourselves spiritually as well. Life brings many difficulties. In those times we have the choice to go to God and trust Him or to try and do it on our own. I can tell you now, in the same way that my sickness only got worse, your circumstances will only get worse if you don’t trust God. He is the doctor of our lives. He heals all ailments and is always there for you to lead you down the right path. He extends His hand out to you. It is your choice to accept His help or to reject it.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with Me.” – Revelations 3:20

            I also came to remember that in these hard times, it would be so easy to blame God. I mean, He has control over everything. Why would He let this happen? I can honestly say, that is a difficult question to answer. We don’t always know what God’s plan is or why certain things happen. However, it is in those times that our faith is put to the test. We can either curse God for our misfortunes, or we could trust in Him and lean on Him. On the worst days of my sickness, I was reminded of Job. Job was a fervent follower of God who lost almost everything He had and had sicknesses that no one would want to experience. However, even in the midst of it all, He trusted God and praised God.

“And he said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.’ In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.” – Job 1:21-22

As I sat on my bathroom floor, crying and wondering how much worse this sickness could get, a song played in my head. “Draw me close to you. Never let me go. I lay it all down again. To hear you say that I’m your friend. You are my desire. No one else will do. ‘Cause nothing else can take your place. To feel the warmth of your embrace. Help me find the way. Bring me back to you. You’re all I want. You’re all I’ve ever needed. You’re all I want. Help me know you are near (“Draw me close to you” by Michael W Smith)”. I could have cursed God for letting me get sick in the first place. Instead, my heart cried out to Him and just wanted to know that He was still there. Of course, He never left. He was always there.

“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” – Deuteronomy 31:6

            We have been given the blessing of free will. We have the ability to choose. God could have easily created us to obey and to do everything exactly as He says. However, His love for us was so great that He wanted to give us free will so that just as He chose us, we may choose Him as well. We have the choice to sin or to live a godly life. We have the choice to forgive or to live in anger. We have a choice. Yes, there can be things in this world that try to influence us into or out of doing things. However, ultimately, it is we who make that choice. The best choice anyone can ever make is to choose Him. Don’t lose your chance to choose Jesus.

“And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15