The Breakdown

Let’s say that your old family car has run smoothly for some years, but through time you can hear and sense that some of the parts are getting worn and ‘tired’. The wee car keeps on going but it doesn’t feel quite the same as the day you drove it from the garage forecourt. Then the unexpected (yet anticipated) happens. It stops, right at the most inconvenient time and place and no amount of looking under the bonnet helps it to restart. The thing is, the signs were there but you either ignored them, and/or hoped they would get better (even if you are not really, fully surprised) all by themselves. Unfortunately, that’s not the way of it. The hard fact is that a car needs regular servicing and maintenance to make sure it doesn’t just stop when and where you don’t expect it (even if deep down you are not shocked).

Our life is just like our wee family car. We need regular servicing and maintenance, but where and who is best placed to perform the work? Our frame is a mixture of the physical, emotional and spiritual and each part needs its own attention if we are to stop it getting ‘rusty’ and failing. I wonder where you would place the biggest priority and spend the most time and effort? Might I suggest that the physical is easiest to handle, followed closely by the emotional? Some regular visits to the local gym, and/or a personal trainer will take care of these parts of our nature. But what about the spiritual part of our being?

Most of us would agree that we are more than skin, bone and tissue, and have a greater need in our spirit. The place we might differ is how to address that part of our ‘person’. Can I be bold enough to suggest a few things which I think would certainly help?

If you don’t have a Bible in the house, get one either from an understanding friend, or buy one for yourself. That way, it will always be there and always be yours! Secondly, find a local church where God is fully worshipped and the Gospel is preached. You will be sure of a welcome. If you get that far, (or even if you don’t), give praying to our God a chance. You can’t go wrong, and it will certainly help you get your whole being running properly again. You are important to God and others whether you think it or not. Your family and friends need you to be in good working order to be the best help you can be to them. After all, half of a man or woman is of little use to anyone.

That takes us back full circle to where we started. To give you the best chance of avoiding a breakdown, include a relationship with God in your life. Job Done.

Vitamin Deficiency

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. Luke18:1NIV

I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. Psalm34:1NIV

Are you a good patient? Or do you do your own thing when it comes to your health? Let me guess. You go to the health shop and after a lot of thought you buy some vitamins because your body needs some help. You could have an underlying condition, or you are maybe just getting older and you need these vitamins to balance your body’s needs.

More than that, you go to the doctor and she gives you a wee pill on prescription for an ongoing condition, and when you ask how long you will need to take them, she says you will always need to control your cholesterol or blood pressure.

Let me guess, when you get the vitamins and the prescription, as soon as you get home, you take them. But then you stop. Well, you think, I took the pills but now you are surprised to be feeling as bad as ever during the days and weeks ahead. I am joking. Of course you are not that stupid because you wouldn’t be so short sighted. To get the benefit, you need to keep taking the medicine, right?

So, what makes us think we should have a part-time relationship with talking to God, praising Him, or reading His Word? We wouldn’t be so silly with our bodily health, so it makes sense that we need to look after our spiritual health, and we do that in the best way possible. There are no shortcuts in dealing with temptation or those sinful desires. We must keep on taking the spiritual medicine! During my Sunday School days we would sing “Read your Bible, Pray every day, and you’ll grow, grow, grow”. In case you still haven’t got the message, let me leave you with this verse which says it best.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1Thessalonians5:16-18NKJV

Refuge

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

When you get into trouble, where do you run? Where is your comfort zone when circumstances change around you, and you feel lost? Depression and physical harm are no stranger to the Christian, because although sinners saved by grace, we are still human.

There is a natural attraction to using retail therapy, or immersing yourself in your spouse, children, or grandchildren. You might even get over it by visiting someone less fortunate than yourself, and that is commendable. But what if the trouble you face is personal, and affects your health in a major way? Doing these things may take the edge off for a short time, but they don’t really do the job completely, if at all.

You need a person you can trust completely, and the closest person to you might be your husband, or wife, although in severe health issues they will almost certainly be out of their depth, no matter how much they love you. All’s not lost though because there is another person in the form of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is well able to shoulder every trouble or burden you will ever have. There is a condition of course. You have to come in faith, and in repentance put your trust totally in Him by choice because He cares most of all. Just as the verse says:

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

The American Dream

I have just returned from a holiday to the USA. I went with family, and to see family too, as well as do the parks and relax and take in the Florida 'experience'. It was a great time, and one which I have been able to do in previous years, as well as living and working there in different states for months at a time, so I understand the culture, and the people to a degree.


The 'American Dream' is often talked about with a sense of awe, and respect. The US is a country to follow your dreams, and find your full potential, but there is a fly in the ointment. It's not all rosy. There are many, many poor and disadvantaged people there who have never quite achieved the dream, and you can find a big gulf between the rich and the poor. The 'haves' and the 'have nots' are easily spotted.


An old uncle who emigrated to the USA during the 1930's depression to find work, and live the dream, once told me, "you are ok here as long as you are working and young. This country doesn't like the old and sick". He was speaking to me in his retirement home where all his hard earned cash was being sucked away by the State, until he was left penniless. I had another reminder of that same conversation recently. Apparently, it is still true.


I may get some comments from my American friends and family, but I have long given up with my complaints about the National Health Service in the UK. It has its flaws. Many of them, but our governments, whatever the colour, work to protect the NHS even in this age of cutbacks and austerity. Of course there is abuse of the system, but the alternative does not bear thinking about. While the US medical system is run by insurance companies, not the medical profession, and only about 20% of what is paid in insurance premiums actually goes to the medical staff (the rest goes into the insurance company profits account) for treatment, it is easy to see the truth of my old uncle's statement. My recent experience in the US confirms that the 'dream' still does not include the elderly and the infirm.


As I reach the 'autumn' years of my life, should I need emergency surgery, or long term care, I want to be looked after for in a dignified and yet professional way, in a system which is driven by health care and not insurance company profit. I certainly do not need, or want the added burden of cost at a time when I need that worry least. President Obama gets a lot of criticism for wanting to change the welfare system to a more compassionate one, and I find it hard to understand why. Unless, of course, those who 'have lots' do not want to compensate for those who 'have not', the aged or infirm. We will all be old and possibly infirm too someday, and in that system only the very wealthy will be able to afford it.


Lets keep working to hold and improve the NHS in the UK. Believe it or not, it is envied in the US by many.