Life and Health

Fear the Lord and shun evil.

This will bring health to your body

And nourishment to your bones.

Proverbs 3:7-8

During our Wednesday night music and missions program for the children of the church, one of my second grade girls sitting next to me said, “Miss Liz – guess what.”  This is a common question for children – often more of a game, so I automatically answered “What?” She quietly replied, “My teacher died last night.”  It took a moment for me to absorb what she said – to understand the awful reality of her comment.  “Your school teacher?” I asked.  “Yes,” she said. “She had a heart attack.”  My heart ached for this girl and the rest of the children in her classroom.  What a devastating thing for a young child to comprehend, much less endure.

It is the tradition of my adult choir to have a time of prayer at the end of each rehearsal.  I ask if there are any prayer requests, and there is always at least one.  More often than not, the situation mentioned for prayer involves someone’s health.  If I were keeping a running tally, I believe I would find that the majority of the situations mentioned involve cancer or heart disease.  Many of the stories are heart-rending.  Disease is no respecter of persons: it strikes young and old, children and parents, men and women.  

Most of us try to take care of ourselves, doing what we can to support our health, avoiding as much stress as is possible in our individual lives, eating well, getting exercise.  There is only so much, however, that we are able to control.  As the mother of a child with major heart disease, I learned long ago that placing her life in the Lord’s hands was the only way I could live with the knowledge of her disease.  Now, as a cancer survivor myself, I understand that on a deeper level.  We have only this one life, and we cherish it.  Placing it in God's loving hands brings a peace that calms the soul.    

Today's Prayer Requests

The Classroom of Children whose teacher passed away.

The Family of the teacher who passed away 

All those who are suffering from serious disease