the sickness that brings life

No one wants news of a life-threatening disease.  

No one wants the outcome of a life-threatening disease.  

And no one wants to learn what truly matters by facing a life-threatening disease. 

There’s a line in Steven Pressfield’s The War of Artthat states, “The moment a person learns he’s got terminal cancer, a profound shift takes place in his psyche.  At one stroke in the doctor’s office he becomes aware of what really matters to him.”

When I was 15, I was diagnosed with a heart condition.  I missed over 100 days of high school as doctors scrambled to diagnose me, giving me improper medication after improper medication.

And even at a young age, I had to let my dreams go.    

But something greater happened.  

My life came into a greater focus as what truly mattered rose to the surface.  

Jesus became more important. My time studying His Word and my time in prayer became essential.  And life became about others.  

I look back with no regrets of what I lost because the shift in my psyche was a price I’d be willing to pay every time.  And the cost it took could not have come in any other way.