Tag: sickness

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Math, Sickness, & the Fall

sickness

Math probably isn’t the first thing you’re thinking about when you don’t feel well. Yet you might be surprised at how much you may find yourself using math when facing an illness.

  • When Can I Take ____ Next? When can I take that next does of pain medicine/cough suppressant/allergy pill? That question is on our minds a lot when battling a disease. And we use math to figure it out! If we took medicine at 10 am and we can take a pill every 4 hours, then we next need to take it at 2 pm, as that is 4 hours later. Keeping track of time’s passing is an application of math—an application, by the way, that is based on the earth’s rotation that God set up. Our 24-hour clock ties with the pattern of night and day He created.
  • How Many Days Left? How many days till I feel better if the cold started 3 days ago and typically lasts 7 days? 7 – 3 = 4, so hopefully just 4. Till what day do I have to quarantine if I was told to quarantine for 10 days starting on the 11th? 10 + 11 = 21, so till the 21st.
  • How Much Should I Take? If I was told to drink 70% of my body weight in ounces per day and I weigh 120 pounds, how many ounces of water do I need to drink? 0.7 x 120 = 84, so 84 ounces each day. If the glasses I use hold about 10 ounces of water, how many glasses does that mean? Well 84 10 = 8.4, so 8 and almost a half of those glasses. Or say I was told to take 4,000 IUs (international units) of Vitamin D a day, and I found a liquid that contains 500 IUs in a drop. How many drops would I need to take? Well, 4,000  500 is 8, so 8 drops.

Note that we perform simple math all the time without thinking about it. And aren’t you glad that to figure out how many glasses of water equals 84 ounces you don’t have to actually measure out 84 ounces and pour it into 8 and a half glasses? Instead, you can use math to know that 84 divided 10 equals 8.4. You can only do that, though, because creation is consistent. Division operates consistently. Why? Because a faithful, consistent God is holding creation together. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and the other “fixed order” He created continue because He is a covenant-keeping God (Jeremiah 33:25-26 ESV). Now that’s a good thing to remember next time you’re sneezing your way through a cold.

Why did God create snot? I was recently asked that question by a little girl, and it’s a great one! Sickness wasn’t part of God’s original creation. There was no sickness or death until man sinned, rebelling against our Creator. Now we live in a fallen world. But praise God He designed our bodies to produce snot to help rid our bodies of bacteria and viruses. And praise Him that He sent Jesus to buy us back for Himself so that one day, if our faith is in Jesus, we’ll be in a world with no more sickness again.

 

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Refusing Treatment

“But you’re not okay; you need to get treatment before it’s too late,” Andrew felt tears forming in his eyes. It pained him so to see people ignore their sickness!

“No!” Luke Howard practically screamed his answer. “I’m not sick. I don’t need help.”

“Wait–please! Let me show you your test results. You can see that something’s wrong…”

But Luke had already stormed away. He didn’t want to hear that he wasn’t okay.

*********

If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, Andrew would have never believed the situation. The entire town was infected with a fatal disease. There was a cure–but, strangely, only a very few were willing to take it. Part of the disease itself blinded those infected with it to their need for help.

Some people let the disease run rampage in their lives. Boils grew untreated on their skins. Their fevers ran unchecked. But they didn’t care. There was always someone worse off they could point to and claim, “I’m better than him!” Their lives were just too filled with their own pursuits to worry about treatment.

Others tried hard to cover their symptoms so no one else would notice (and so they could convince themselves they’d be okay). They hid their boils under fancy clothes and makeup. They took fever reducers to reduce the fever. They convinced themselves and others they were healthy. Yet underneath their guise, they were just as sick as the sickest. It didn’t matter how well the disease was hidden–it was killing them none-the-less.

Still others admitted their sickness and attempted to save themselves from the disease. They exercised, ate special diets, and tried other proposed cures, but to no avail. All their efforts did nothing to arrest the disease’s progress.

The only way to be saved from this particular disease was to take the cure offered by the Doctor. You would think people would be standing in line, eager to receive it. But they weren’t, because, in one way or another, they didn’t believe they really needed it.

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” 1 Timothy 1:15

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

“When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Mark 2:17