Last Monday, my cat Cletus Bub was diagnosed with Diabetes and now requires two shots of insulin a day. The list of my frustrations with this situation is looong and I won’t go there. My list of hopes and anticipations for what God is going to do in this situation is ten times as long and I already see Him at work! But this is not so much about Cletus Bub as it is about the lessons God is teaching me right in the middle of this situation.
Being a nurse in an area of the country with a Diabetes crisis is certainly helpful. I have educated countless new patients about their new life with Diabetes. I have reinforced these same principles and “tricks of the trade” with patients that have had diabetes for years but haven’t mastered its management yet. I have dealt with patients in diabetic comas. I thank God for the experience and education I’ve received regarding this horrible disease. I hoped to never have to put that knowledge to use on a personal or family level! But, here I am. (Yes, I for sure count my cat amongst my “family”.)
So the day after Bub’s diagnosis, I sat at my kitchen table with a thousand different thoughts, scenarios, and problems running marathons thru my head. I began reading an informational sheet the vet clinic had sent home just to try and slow my thought processes a bit. It was describing what diabetes does to the body and said this: “When the pancreas is not producing insulin, the sugar in the cat’s body stays in the blood stream and is not being pushed into the cells where it can be used to fuel the body. In essence, the cat is starving to death in the midst of plenty.”
WOW!! My first pastor after I got saved used to say this all the time, “If we even think we might be hungry, we run -not walk- but run to the fridge and take care of that immediately. Heaven forbid we hear our stomachs grumble from hunger. But our spirit man is starving to death, crying out for us to feed him the Word, and we completely ignore him.” Paul talks about needing the “meat” of the Word… to grow up spiritually past milk.
We are three part beings… spirit, soul, and body. Our soul – mind, will, and emotions- can be fed good things or bad things. What we hear on a daily basis, what we see, what we say (music, movies, gossip, tv, etc,) … all of those kind of things feed our soul. Our bodies require physical food, balanced well with minerals and nutrients. But our spirit requires the things of God… His Presence, His Word, fellowship with Him. How often are we guilty of feeding our souls and bodies to overflowing on a regular basis while starving our spirit man?
I have been very guilty of this very thing. Time and time again, unfortunately. And then I find myself wondering why I am so off balance, why my life is “out of whack”? THIS is the lesson I’ve needed to learn … I think years from now I will look back to this time and realize that THIS lesson is the “place” where life turned around for me. This is perhaps the essence of the deliverance God has mercifully blessed me with… just ONE day where I’m “too busy” to pray, visit, praise and thank my Father and I’m “off”… it’s apparent in every area of my life. I miss Him, I need Him. I need the peace that surrounds Him, I need the security of knowing that God’s got this and I don’t need to struggle and fight and push and manipulate, I need the loving arms of God to fall into when once again I realize I CAN’T do this alone!! The minute my spirit man gets hungry, I feel it. I know I need my Father. I pray I never stop listening… and ALWAYS decide to feed on the things of God before I run to the fridge. God is always with me, always available. My body shows absolutely no signs of physical hunger for sure, but if I was able to look inside, I hope I’d see a spirit man that looks like he cold run and win an Iron Man contest!! I will not starve in the midst of plenty! Will you?
22Thrive! 