I have seen several posts lately about people being sick after getting their flu shots...
A friend of one of these sick people blamed their flu shot, another person commented saying they got their flu shot as well, but they weren't sick. This seems so DUH... to me, but apparently people think if one person gets sick from a source then we all must right?
Our bodies are amazing, and amazingly made. Our bodies have the absolute ability, given the right circumstances, to heal itself. If you cut your finger, what do you do? You clean it out, stick a band-aid on it, and try and keep it as clean and dry as possible so that it miraculously heals. Right? What heals it, you? No, it heals itself. Take that same finger, don't clean it, don't bandage it, and it may or may not heal, and it may or may not get infected and get worse.
I remember when Cade was in ICU. He had been aspirating his food, due to a condition he had. His lungs were full of formula, creating bacteria and infection. They placed him on a respirator and said that his body needed to rest. In children especially, their bodies get to a point they just quit. They wanted to give his body a break from trying to breathe so that he could heal.
Different circumstances create different makeup of immune systems. So if one person gets a flu shot there is a chance that due to lack of rest and nutrients that you could get very ill. It's not fair to lump it all together and say well I did that too and it was fine... I drove my car yesterday and didn't get in an accident but other people did. I took different streets and different times, my brain might have been thinking clearer and able to react better (probably not), who knows?
I think this applies to so much of our lives, not just our flu shots or vaccinations (although I absolutely think this is true for vaccinations as well). But what about our Spiritual lives? It's so easy to look for a formula, it's so easy to say well I do this, and this, and this every day and it works for me. The Bible is so Spiritual, the "Christian formula" is so unique to each person, where they are, what they have been through. It's amazing all the interpretations of Scripture that we get, it's amazing how we can read one Scripture one day, read the same Scripture the next week and interpret what we feel like it's saying completely different. Why-- because it's ministering to where we are in our journey, at that very moment. I recently read an article about Joel Olsteen and basically this article was defending him in that he saves more people than many other pastors combined in one night. I am not a Joel Olsteen fan (I don't think that's a secret), but to each his own, and you have to do what's right for you. I think he can be an encouragement to your life if that's where you are and what you need. But I wonder if "saying the prayer" isn't enough. How many of those saved are getting saved with the "feel good Gospel" and when things get tough and hurt and feel icky are they still going to stick with it. Not saying there aren't many he plants seed in, and good for him! I'm just saying the "Joel Olsteen Formula" might not work for everyone because we are all different. Churches the same way. You may love your church, it might not be the right "formula" for me.
In the same way, the sin you struggle with is different than what I struggle with. I know some people stuggle with addiction to drugs, I have never done any kind of drug in my life, but I really struggle with self control (when it comes to diet and money). It would be foolish to say I have to not go to the mall and try my best to keep sweets out of my house, so you should too, so that you don't struggle with my sin.
What about our marriages? Recently I heard the advice (from a married couple of over 30 years), given to a married couple that were in a disagreement, to just not talk about it and it would go away. That has obviously worked for this couple. They both seem perfectly content in their marriage. But I can tell you that advice wouldn't work for me and my marriage. I feel like if you have a problem, and you can talk through a solution, then it's never an issue you have to deal with again. When it happens again, you already know the solution to the problem. Maybe talking through things doesn't work for everyone. So many times we pass judgement on people that don't take our advice (especially if we are older) because it didn't work for us so it can't work for anyone, right?
God loves diversity, I'm sure of it. If we were all the same we would be so boring. If we all thought the same way, did the same things, reacted the exact same way to issues, had the same jokes, we would never appreciate each other. Wouldn't it be beautiful if we just celebrated the differences instead of judging one another for being different? What if in your marriage, you began to celebrate how your spouse is different than you, and how you balance each other? What if in our spiritual lives we just celebrated growth vs what the regime we were following is?
I can only imagine if we would quit lumping things into the "all" category, how much better it could be.
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