Guarding Against Infection - Martin Wiles

Do not even let them live among you! If you do, they will infect you with their sin of idol worship, and that would be disastrous for you. Exodus 23:33 NLT

A small bubble appeared in the corner of my left index finger and grew. What others forecasted came true. I had not practiced guarding against infection.

I’m not exactly sure when or why I developed the habit of biting my nails, but somewhere around middle school age, I did. Perhaps I needed something to occupy my time. My mother, aunt, and grandmother all warned me I was going to pull one down into the quick. Then I’d have to deal with infection.

Sure enough, I did, and it did. Mom tried boiling it with Peroxide. No luck. It must have been the weekend because she and my grandmother gathered me up and carted me to the local emergency room. After the nurse administered a numbing shot to my finger, the doctor took a knife to the infection—a painful experience I’ve never forgotten.

God warned the desert-traveling Israelites about a worse infection: disobedience. Pagans inhabited the Israelites’ Promised Land. Living among them—or even marrying them—would bring disastrous results. Their disaster reminds us we can still be infected by those who don’t love God or his commands. But how can we guard ourselves?

• Be careful of our company.

While Jesus tells us to influence others by being salt, the Bible also says bad company corrupts good morals. Obeying the command and heeding the warning take wisdom only God can give. My company told me to keep my fingers out of my mouth. I didn’t listen.

• Equip ourselves.

God told his people to avoid treaties with the pagan dwellers and not to worship their gods. Guarding against some diseases requires a shot. Keeping my fingers out of my mouth would have equipped me to fight infection. Spiritual disciplines protect us against infection. Programming our consciences with God’s Word makes it a reliable source of warning when infection stalks nearby.

What steps can you take to guard yourself against spiritual infection?

Father, direct my steps away from those things and people who would infect me negatively. 

Tweetable: Are you guarding against infection? 

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Lessons from a Waiting Room - Martin Wiles

Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. Psalm 27:14 NLT

Important lessons can be learned in waiting rooms.

My wife and I have been frequent flyers at the local emergency room lately. We visited for my wife because of unexpected fluid gain and abdominal pain. Her last visit led to a brief stay in the hospital. My visit was due to a minor bleeding issue.

Although we learned some lessons from waiting in the emergency room, both of us agree we are sick of going there. But I don’t have to visit an emergency room or even a doctor’s office to experience the benefits of waiting. Life is filled with waiting rooms of various sorts. It was when the psalmist wrote the above words.

In life’s waiting rooms, I’ve learned things don’t often happen as quickly as I wish. This predicament develops what the psalmist calls patience—a worthy virtue but not one that’s always enjoyable to develop. A typical emergency room stay in our small town is four hours. As much as one hour in the waiting room itself and then three more waiting on doctors and nurses to do what they are going to do.

Waiting rooms have taught me life is unfair. When I see people who don’t have and can’t afford insurance. When I see people who’ve been abused by others or who’ve had crimes committed against them. And when I see people addicted to drugs who are making a visit to get a pain fix. Or when I see bodies mangled by wrecks.

Waiting rooms develop compassion in me. When I see and hear about the various conditions that bring people in for emergency care, my heart reaches out to them. I wish I could intervene. I thank God for His grace that has kept me from being in a similar situation.

In the waiting room, I learn unfortunate situations often get better. Yes, some die in the emergency room, but many more are tended to in a way that eventually leads to their healing. Trials have an end, and God determines it.

Waiting rooms also remind me I affect only a few of my life events. God, however, controls them all, and I must trust Him with the trial, the length of the trial, and the outcome.

When life puts you in the waiting room, take time to learn important life lessons.

Prayer: Father, give us the faith to trust You when You allow us to spend time in the waiting room. 

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