DOUG CREAMER COLUMN: Feeling under the weather

Published 2:02 pm Tuesday, February 20, 2024

I’ve been feeling under the weather this past week. Some may say that I’m feeling under the weather because we haven’t seen any snow in over two years. There is some truth in that. Every time I think that the conditions are looking positive for some snow it all falls apart and we get rain. It has certainly been a discouraging time if you are a snow lover.

Doug Creamer writes a religion column for the SNAP.

While the lack of snow has me down, I have been under the weather physically this week. I am not sure if my allergies have gone wacky or maybe I have run into a head cold. My sinuses have been running like a river and I have sneezed my head off. I am thankful that I have had no body aches, no fever, almost no coughing, nor a sore throat. Out of an abundance of caution I took a Covid test and it came back negative.

Basically, I just felt lousy. Normally when I feel that way, I just sleep. This time I couldn’t sleep and I didn’t feel drained. You know when you are under the weather how nothing seems interesting? I didn’t want to read. The internet couldn’t hold my attention. I didn’t want to do anything, either, including my regular chores around the house. I just wanted to sit.

I watched a lot of TV. I watched several old movies, ones I have seen numerous times. I watched re-runs of TV shows. I definitely did NOT want to watch any news. I enjoyed the old shows and the characters. There’s something about watching the familiar that makes you feel better.

I hate to admit this, but my prayer life was really not up to speed. One might imagine that I had lots of extra time on my hands so I could spend it in prayer. But sadly, that wasn’t the case. I had a hard time focusing my mind to pray even the simplest of prayers. I did try to keep my immediate family and my pastor and his wife covered in prayer, but beyond that little prayer was being offered.

I did keep up on my Bible reading while I was under the weather. Hopefully, there won’t be a quiz on what I read because I am not sure much of it stuck. It is hard to concentrate when you are sneezing and blowing your nose all the time.

All this brings me to a question. Does God ever get disappointed in us? Truthfully, I wasn’t praying or taking in His Word as I should have this week. I certainly wasn’t involved in serving in the body this week. I wasn’t keeping up with daily tasks or helping others. I just wanted to watch TV.

Let me be abundantly clear here. If you have asked Jesus to be your Savior and you are doing your best to lead a godly life then you will never disappoint God. You may argue that you sinned or failed God in some way. There is God’s forgiveness and mercy for you and His grace to help you live better for Him. God loves you unconditionally. The Bible makes it clear that God loves all people and wants a relationship with each person. Sadly, many people choose not to love God back. They choose to walk away from God and His love.

If you want to know what disappoints God it’s when we allow hate and anger to destroy love. When we look at another human being and don’t see them through God’s eyes, that disappoints Him. No one is beyond salvation until their last breath. There is no sin that can’t be cleansed by the redeeming blood of Jesus. There is no opinion or perspective that Jesus can’t fix. There is no broken person that God can’t restore. No one has gone too far from God’s love and forgiveness.

The good news is that being physically sick, spiritually sick, or feeling distant or disconnected does not disqualify you from God’s love. He can’t be disappointed in you. I encourage you to turn back to God now before it is too late. I encourage you to open your heart to God and receive His love and forgiveness. I encourage you to ask God for the gift and the power of the Holy Spirit who can give you the power to live a different life, an abundant life. I encourage you to look at your life through God’s eyes and see the beautiful person He made you to be.

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com.