“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17
They say that some people have all the luck. And those same people would probably agree with the statement, “If it wasn’t for bad luck I wouldn’t have any luck at all.” Well, I have never been a big fan of luck. I rather lean toward the sovereignty and providence of God. That word providence is from the Latin that means “to see before”. Add in sovereignty and you have more than seeing…you have action. You end up with God watching and allowing somethings while disallowing others. It’s been said that, “God must have a sense of humor” and that is something I can definitely agree with. In fact, I am glad that He does.
So back in January and February of this year, as soon as I could get the COVID shot I did. I figured the chances of getting COVID were greater than the chances of growing a horn or something else from the shot. So I was vaccinated. I didn’t feel well for a few hours with each shot but other than that…I was good to go…and go I did. There was a new sense of normalcy and freedom… and I wasn’t the only one. People started moving and traveling just like the good old days…well, sorta anyway.
Life was good, life was fun until August rolled around. Sometime around mid-August I started to feel lousy…almost like a sinus infection. I’m known to get those every once in a while and I figured this was just one of those times. The problem was it just got worse and worse and in a couple of days I was just sick. Against my will, my wife forced me to call the doctor. My doctor is the kind of doctor you want…he is my friend and he genuinely cares for me. I told him what was going on and and I said, “I don’t want to take the test but I will if you think I should. Anybody wanna guess what he said? Yup…that would be a yes. Anyway, I was a breakthrough case—positive in spite of the shot. I am sure the shot helped the severity of the case, but I still got it. I guess I should have read the small print that came with the shot: this shot does not prevent COVID. Hmmmm
So after the infusion and ten days in lockup I was on the road again. Life was good, life was fun and so Corena, my pet name for COVID, was long in the rearview mirror. So, remember that thing about getting your flu shot? Was I the only one who had it on their to-do list but didn’t quite get around to it? Am I the only one that wishes they had? Well, last Thursday, on the way home from our trip to Atlanta for Operation Christmas Child, I developed a little pesky cough. Over the next 24 hours it became just a little more pesky. I even made a joke about it in a funeral I was doing that Friday. Well, the cough got worse and worse and by that night I was feeling lousy.
All Friday night I coughed and I woke up Saturday in the pits of despair. In an attempt to be optimistic, I thought I could still preach on Sunday (dumb) and thought I could still do a funeral I was asked to do Sunday afternoon (dumber). Finally, Saturday night I gave up hope of preaching and Sunday afternoon I gave up hope of doing the funeral. I called my doctor friend and because I had already had Corena and the vaccinations, the other suspect was…wait for it…the flu. Good grief and holy moley. God sure knows how to slow a man down. At any rate, I did discover the difference between Corena and the flu. Corena has the potential to kill you and the flu makes you wish you could die.
Well, I am into day four of the flu and besides feeling like a truck ran over me I am on the mend. And while I am still cataloging everything that I am supposed to learn from this, for sure it includes a continued trust in my Dearest Daddy and His marvelous sense of humor. Somehow and someway He figured this was best for me. James, the half-brother of Jesus said it like this, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” I like that…a lot. Neither Corena or the flu felt good when I was in the throes of despair but through it all I still had the comfort of knowing that He loved me. Game. Set. Match.
So, if you are comfortable with it, go ahead and get your flu shot and whatever happens has got to be better that what I had. And shot or no, just remember this, He is with you always. Looking back, one night at about 2.30 am, I just might have heard a whisper from the whisperer and He said, “Don’t worry son, I’ve got this.” Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 