Territorial Tyrants

Are you overcome by illness? Does pain or sickness dominate your life and rob you of joy? As a young adult I was sick for thirteen years. It was a long time to be sick and still maintain all the responsibilities of ministry, seminary, work, and family. I had no energy to feed the sheep and horses or play with my children. My illness controlled my life, and I went through bouts of depression and self-pity, yet I never resigned myself to being useless. I wanted to be healed!

I have a deep respect for those whose condition is chronic and for whom there is no known cure. And I have great admiration for those who have learned not only to deal with their pain but to find purpose in their lives. However, many people who face pain and suffering are so overcome that they are unable (and sometimes unwilling) to move beyond the present moment to see the bigger picture.

In his book The Rest of God, Mark Buchanan writes that sometimes people secretly come to love their illness. “Unwittingly, their sickness has stolen the place of God. Our sickness can become our idol—the touchstone by which we define ourselves.” According to Buchanan, “illness is a tyrant with huge territorial ambitions. It wants to be the all-consuming passion.” 

But what is the purpose of it all? In Psalm 119 David says of his sickly experience, “It is good that I have been afflicted that I might learn his statues. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I learn his Word.” 

Whatever infirmity God has seen fit to allow, we can be sure that it is a good time to get to know him more intimately. Like Paul, may we boast in our infirmity so that the power of Christ may rest upon us (2 Corinthians 12:9).