Interesting how I wrote about fair-weather faith last week because that very thing was tested starting last night when I started feeling a little feverish and had a headache... aka malaria symptoms.
We had some friends over for dinner and I had to leave early cause I wasn't feeling well. I took 2 malaria tests. One was positive but it could have been left over antibodies from when I got it a month ago. The other test which tests for something different looked mostly negative. I could see where the positive line "would be" so to speak, but nothing was there. I decided to wait it out over the night to see if my fever got higher (it ranged between 100 and 101 F). There is also a cold going around my group of friends with similar symptoms, but by the morning I couldn't shake the feeling that I felt like I did with malaria last time. Also, I had no cold or stomach bug symptoms that I would have if there were another reason for my fever like I have gotten before.
While I hate taking medicine... especially strong drugs to treat malaria, after seeing John get it seriously a few times, I felt like this was one of those "better safe than sorry" type situations. Plus, the last time I took this drug, I had really no side effects from the meds which is not the case with many malaria treatment options.
I must admit as I was trying to figure this whole malaria "do I have it or not" "do I take treatment or wait it out", I think my faith initially failed me as I cried "Not again Lord, please not again" "Why do we have to live here and suffer this sickness" Yet this morning those words came back to me as well as a few other verses from James 1...
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything
We had some friends over for dinner and I had to leave early cause I wasn't feeling well. I took 2 malaria tests. One was positive but it could have been left over antibodies from when I got it a month ago. The other test which tests for something different looked mostly negative. I could see where the positive line "would be" so to speak, but nothing was there. I decided to wait it out over the night to see if my fever got higher (it ranged between 100 and 101 F). There is also a cold going around my group of friends with similar symptoms, but by the morning I couldn't shake the feeling that I felt like I did with malaria last time. Also, I had no cold or stomach bug symptoms that I would have if there were another reason for my fever like I have gotten before.
While I hate taking medicine... especially strong drugs to treat malaria, after seeing John get it seriously a few times, I felt like this was one of those "better safe than sorry" type situations. Plus, the last time I took this drug, I had really no side effects from the meds which is not the case with many malaria treatment options.
I must admit as I was trying to figure this whole malaria "do I have it or not" "do I take treatment or wait it out", I think my faith initially failed me as I cried "Not again Lord, please not again" "Why do we have to live here and suffer this sickness" Yet this morning those words came back to me as well as a few other verses from James 1...
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything
Love this. I've heard this verse so many times, but for some reason reading it here really stuck :)
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