“Your health is your wealth”?

You know you’ve hit middle age when all the targeted adverts seem to be about what you can do to maintain your health.  There are exercises for your knees, others for balance, even treatments for hair loss! I’m reminded of a saying that I often heard when we lived in Cavan – “your health is your wealth.”  I understand what it means, but what does it say to someone whose health is not great? Does it say your life is not all that valuable as you haven’t got your health? Do we become disposable if we don’t have good health?

What if our health isn’t the most important thing?  I read this week about a man called Hezekiah  who made the mistake of making their health the ultimate thing.  When he got sick, he was devastated and he pleaded with God.

It’s not wrong to pray for healing, it’s certainly not wrong to pour out your heart in distress, but for God’s people, a long healthy life is not the most important thing! The apostle Paul knew that there was such joy beyond the grave for all who trust Christ that he longed to die. 

Sometimes sickness makes us rely on God more. That was also the experience of the apostle Paul.  He had some sort of sickness that he called a “thorn in the flesh” and he prayed for God to take it away, instead Jesus told Him “my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Another man who suffered with various physical and mental conditions wrote “the greatest earthly blessing that God can give to any of us is health…with the exception of sickness. Sickness has frequently been of more use to Christians than health has.”

But Hezekiah, the King of Judah wanted health and a long life. God graciously heals him and gives him another 15 years. But what good comes from that? Sadly he grows proud, the prophet Isaiah rebukes him, and warns him of his descendants being carried off to exile to Babylon, and he is just relieved that it won’t happen in his lifetime! Should he not have cared for the well-being of his descendants?

As we read of the extended life of Hezekiah, you can’t help but wonder, should he have accepted the first diagnosis and finished well rather than desperately seeking to extend his life? Is a healthy long life really the most important thing? If God gives us more years, what will we do with them?

The Bible challenges our assumptions, yes death is a tragic invasion in this world, but for the Christian, it is not to be feared for our Saviour has defeated death. Jesus died in our place and rose again. Health is a great blessing, but sometimes declining health has the advantage of helping us see our increasing need of the Lord.

My sister-in-law struggled with ill-health for years. I will always remember her writing to me about one of the unexpected advantages of her disability. She described it as giving her “freedom from delusions of independence.” Sickness had reminded her of something that healthy people can easily forget – we are dependent creatures. We need one another, and ultimately we need God.