A Sore-throated Blessing

I'm continually amazed by the methods God uses to reach His people. It's a little after 4am (an ungodly hour to be up as far as I was concerned). I've been up for the last hour and a half or more studying the lesson for this week. This is not a common practice, believe me. And I refer to both being up early and, sadly, studying. But I've been sick. This would make week three and for the life of me I can't understand why I've been sick for so long (though at one point I thought I was getting better). And this morning, whatever little microscopic nuisance that started me on this oh so wonderful three-week journey has come back with a vengeance. I can actually swallow now but at minutes to 3, it was almost as painful to think of swallowing as it was to do so. But thank God for modern medicine. Cataflam provided the relief I needed; but that relief was not immediate. Unfortunate as it may have seemed, it probably proved to be the best thing that could have happened.divdivI couldn't sleep. So what to do while I wait for the inflammation to go down? Why not study your lesson, came the almost immediate suggestion. I hesitated. After all, how am I going to concentrate with this unbearable pain? But I felt the nudging again. So I got up, picked up my Bible and quarterly and sat down at the dining table (I admit it felt strange. I hadn't touched the lesson in over two weeks, maybe more).divdivI began my study and the further in I got, the less pain I felt. Granted, this may have very well been due to the slow release of the medication but I believe it is more than that. Time spent in the study of the Word revealed to me an even greater ailment than the one that attacked me physically and I just about forgot the soreness in my throat.divdivI've been ignoring God's attempts to reach out to me; not making time because "I'm too busy," or "too tired," or simply "not right now, later." So what may have started out as a period of illness that probably should have lasted - maximum - a week, may have been extended, for my sake. For my sake because had I not been afflicted physically maybe I would not have taken my spiritual state as seriously.divdivWhat's ironic (or maybe not so much so as I think) is that the essence of today's lesson speaks to our awareness of our sinful state being made possible only by the presence of the law of God. And where's God's law? In His Word. And that's where I've spent the last couple hours, probably the most time I've given Him in one sitting for weeks.div     So this is why I will always marvel at how God works. He's relentless in His pursuit, going "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think" to bring us back to Him.divdivThe cataflam has now taken full effect (to God be the glory!). But I rejoice more over the step I've taken toward spiritual recovery.