There was a season in my life when I was very busy and overwhelmed at work, church and my personal life. 

There were many things happening, all at the same time. Some were planned, like church events and new projects/responsibilities at work. Others were unexpected, like losing many close colleagues at work within a short span of 3 months, as well as the sudden death of a long-time client whom I fondly remember.   

In that season, I remember telling God in my prayers: “I have no idea how I’m going to survive all this. I really need rest, or else I’m going to burn out.” 

Guess how God answered me? By sending me various body ailments in the middle of this overwhelming season, like…  

✋🏻 Hand injuries from my overuse as a therapist at work. 

🐼 Insomnia for many nights. 

🦠 And a viral infection followed by the loss of my voice for several weeks.  

Not only did these ailments affect my ability to work, but they also affected my capacity to continue serving in church in some ways. 

As I wrestled with these ailments at different points of time, I felt even more burnt out. I always felt extremely exhausted, and on top of that I had to ‘firefight’ by quickly adjusting all my work plans while asking brethren to take over my church duties when I was ill. By the end of that season, when my hands and throat have recovered, and some of the major church events and work projects were over, I was mentally wiped out 💀.   

At the same time, looking back, I could see how God answered my prayer for rest. 

For example, the weeks of being on MC (medical leave) and light duty because of my virus, such that I could catch up on my sleep while working on fewer tasks at a slower pace. 

Additionally, God also sent brothers and sisters to help me with my church duties – not just at a perfect timing for me, but also at a perfect timing for at least one of them who later told me so. 

Furthermore, to my amazement, my ailments ended up helping me at work in unexpected ways – from creating opportunities to do something new and better, to helping me empathise and work better with colleagues who later suffered the same ailment as me!   

So, moral of the story? 

I don’t know about you, but my personal experience of illness and injury has led me to realise this: that our bodies are truly not our own. We can plan what we want to do with our bodies – the ambitions we want to chase, the thrills we want to taste, the itinerary for our five senses – and our health can make us believe that we can do whatever we want with our bodies for an indeterminate timespan. But is this true? 

Can we control germs? Can we control how our body reacts to unseen microscopic terrorists or unexpected physical traumas (e.g. falls, accidents)? 

James already said: 

“[…] whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (Jas 4:14)

We do not know the future, or when we will die – and this includes what will happen to our bodies, what we can or can no longer do with them. For instance, during my viral infection, much as I wanted to resume working and serving in church ASAP, I could not even predict when my fever will subside and when I will recover my voice, let alone do anything about it. My only way forward was to commit my plans to God and let Him direct, as what James said: 

“Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’” (Jas 4:15)

If God wills, you can enjoy your life (Ecc 5:18-20). 

If God wills, you can achieve your dreams with the right time and chance (Ecc 9:11). 

If God wills, you can serve Him in your preferred way, or another way (E.g. David – 1 Chron 22:7-8; 29:14). 

Whatever we do in life, let us remember: our times, including our bodies, are in His hand. ⏳👐🏻