I just got back from the doctor. No need for concern, just a little preventative medicine. Actions that are taken to improve my health require other actions to be taken to offset the actions taken to improve my health. This has become rather routine and any sense of wonder over the advancements in treatment become lost because I have forgotten what life used to be like.

My weekly date (not so romantic).

Every Saturday I get a preloaded auto injection pen out of the fridge. Thirty minutes later I clean a small area on my stomach with an alcohol swab, stretch the skin so that it is taut, press the pen against the prepared area and push the button. Fifteen seconds later five hundred dollars’ worth of medication has been transferred from its case to my body. And you thought your weekends were spectacular.

We have come so far in the last twenty plus years.

It wasn’t that long ago that this treatment did not exist. The crippling effects of auto immune types of arthritis resulted in permanent damage and limited mobility. Now we know how to target parts of the immune system and suppress them so that joints and tendons no longer become inflamed. If it wasn’t for the shocked look on the face of the person working the cash register at the pharmacy when they ring in four weeks’ worth of medication and the fifteen seconds of discomfort every Saturday I would forget that there was anything wrong with me.

This brings me around to my doctor’s appointment.

If you continually suppress the immune system you run the risk of not being able to fight infections. To help avoid serious issues, vaccines for shingles and pneumonia are suggested. Today was my first vaccine. See, no big deal, just actions taken to offset the actions taken to improve my health. This is just part of my life.

I take for granted the power and perfection of the God I serve.

No I am not going to chastise myself or anyone else for utilizing advancements in modern medicine to address their health issues. I know God can miraculously restore health without the use of those who perform procedures and create drugs that combat what ails us. God can use whatever He in His perfection deems necessary to address the physical issues that affect our wellbeing. Still, what was once considered impossible to address is now controlled if not cured with a pill or injection, physio therapy or surgery, none of which appear to require God to be effective.

We have come so far and become so far away from God.

What was once deadly is now just an inconvenience. What was once debilitating has become no more than an annoyance. Wow, we have come so far, developed so many new treatments, advanced our surgical procedures and created ways to prevent illnesses. We take a pill or go under the knife, we inject a solution or rub on a cream. Look what mankind has accomplished all on our own.

Don’t be the one of the other nine.

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”  Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Luke 17:11-19 (NIV)

This is not a stretch, it’s an application.

No the vaccine has not caused me to lose my mind. I have not missed the fact that Jesus healed these ten without the use of medicine or surgery. However I have often missed the fact that:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:1-3

The brains of the researchers and their ability to create new treatments exist because through Jesus all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.

The ingredients that make up our medicines exist because through Jesus all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.

The plastic and glass containers that hold the medicines exist because through Jesus all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.

The skill of the operating team exists because through Jesus all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.

The steel that forms the instruments exists because through Jesus all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.

From the point this earth was created, the resources and the human knowhow was part of that creation. It took time for mankind to understand how to use these things but they exist because through Jesus all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.

We have come so far and become so far away from God because we forget.

The restoration of health may or may not include the help of humans but it always includes the miraculous actions of God. We need to be the one who when we realise our health has been restored thanks Jesus because regardless of how we are made well, He was involved.