My meditations on God during a week with a cold:

1. You are not in control. During a cold we must come face to face with the reality that we are not the ones who are in control. We can take all the precautions possible in preventing a cold but we will eventually succumb to the runny nose and scratchy throat that a cold brings with it and, in those moments, we are presented with the gift of knowing that even with a simple, measly cold, we don’t control it and therefore, we are free to depend on God.

2. The world is fallen. Colds are a part of this life because the world is fallen. We are not living amongst God in such a way where sin does not exist; sin is rampant and affects everything in this world. The common cold is a reminder to us that the state of the world in which we currently live is itself sick.

3. God is preparing you to worship in distress. It is easy to worship God when we are comfortable and things are going well, but when life gets difficult we come to find out for ourselves what place God has in our lives. With a cold, God is giving us a taste of what millions of people have done before us – worship God in distress. If he is our supreme treasure then we will worship him when we have lost everything – and life with a cold is good practice.

4. God is gracious to heal you. God teaches us that it is by sheer grace that he is pleased to heal you. Why should God heal anyone that has rebelled? Outside of the realm of grace we are unable to find a reason why but within the reality of grace, all our answers find their home in Christ Jesus.

5. Death is a reality. God reminds us, with a cold, that this life will ultimately come to an end. We are reminded that our bodies break down, we become weak, and in the end we will all die. God is merciful in that he does not withhold this truth from us. We know death is real and yet we know it is not the end for those who trust in Christ.

6. Resurrection is a reality. The process of coming out of cold is a picture for us that his resurrection was a reality and ours is coming. Transitioning from sickness to health is a way for God to show us that he will heal everything in time – all things will be made new. This is the pattern for the existence that he has created. Those who trust Christ will be resurrected to him into an eternity of an ever-widening, ever-deepening, ever-increasing, joy in Christ.