The Flu Blues
If a flu can easy show us that we are not in control of our lives, then the next obvious question is – can we say that someone is in control?
We all know that this flu season has been horrible. We all know that it has caused a huge drain on our health system. We all know the burden it has placed on our teachers.
For our family, we have had a flu that is currently making its second-round through us. Just as we think we are all coming out of it, another one goes down.
We are going through tissues like there is no tomorrow.
And if we’re honest, it feels like tomorrow is never going to come. But before I descend into a proverbial puddle of mud to wallow around in my self-pity, I wonder if you have been experiencing something similar this season? That the constant run of stuffy noses and coughing has left you feeling a little bit flat?
I know that I have often found myself wishing and wanting this flu to simply pack up and leave our house for good and let us enjoy this winter without a sore throat. I was thinking about this the other day, but then something stuck me, I can’t actually control this situation. I am unable to tell this virus to leave me alone. I have no power in myself to make me well. All I can do is ride the wave, stay hydrated, rest and be patient.
What does this have to do with our life and times?
Too often we find ourselves trying to maintain a certain level of control over ourselves. We want peace and order in our lives. We long for everything to work out just the way we plan in our minds, but we know that we never can be totally in control. We know that we are at the mercy of a microscopic virus that throws any plans we may have had out the window and leaves us completely helpless lying on the couch.
If a flu can easy show us that we are not in control of our lives, then the next obvious question is – can we say that someone is in control?
This is one of the big questions that the Bible addresses. Central to its message is that God is in control of all things. In Isaiah 26:12 is says this: ‘Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.’
What does this have to do with the flu? No matter what is going on, no matter what is happening, no matter what happens to me, I know that God is the constant. I can trust in him and rely on him to sustain me through all that I face. It reminds me that while I am not in control of everything, God is.
As each of us come to terms with a recognition that we are not in control, it gives us all the opportunity to ask that next question: ‘If I am not, then who is?’ As you ponder that question and go looking for answers, may you find both answers and peace in the one who remains in control no matter what.
This article first appeared in a print edition of Orange City Life.
More Reflections.
Often, we build something up so much in our minds, that the experience we want becomes almost unattainable. We romanticise what we think it will be like and we think “If I can just do this one thing or tick this one experience off my bucket list, then I will be able to feel a sense of fulfilment that I wouldn’t necessarily have had otherwise”.