2 Kings 20-21; Proverbs 10:22-32

Monday's Bible Reading: 2 Kings 20-21; Proverbs 10:22-32

The twentieth day of summer.

One year ago yesterday I had my knee-length hair cut to chin length to lessen the trauma of having it fall out. I am grateful to my good friend Patty Doren for helping me navigate that distressing ordeal. She was God's channel of blessing to me.

The Bible I've been using—The Spiritual Formation Bible—has this sidebar that goes with today's Bible reading in 2 Kings. The passage tells the story of King Hezekiah's illness, and the sidebar is relevant to those of us who seem to be on "the other side" of illness . . .

Hezekiah turns to God in his illness and is granted an additional fifteen years of life. Safely delivered, he now shows off his wealth to impress envoys from Babylon. How quickly he turns God's blessings into a show of vanity! He prays for healing, he gets well and then, in all-too-human fashion, Hezekiah ignores the source of all goodness!

This is a sobering reminder that physical survival without spiritual renewal is a waste of suffering. The sidebar continues . . .

Think back to a significant illness in your life or in the life of a loved one. Remember your journey and how you sought after, and received, spiritual or physical recovery. Perhaps you are still longing for recovery. What have you learned through your experience about your relationship to God, to your family and to your friends? What changes in outlook and behavior did you make?

Lord, may I not waste my suffering by emerging with nothing more than a new hair-do. I want not just a new "look," but a new way of looking at the world.