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Every so often, I make it a point to worry and whine to somebody about how Lyme disease has destroyed me financially. I gripe about the fact that my car is eighteen years old, that I had to sell my condo last year, and that I don’t spend money on expensive recreation such as skiing in Colorado, like I used to (not that my body would respond that well to freezing temperatures and six hours of aerobic exercise now, anyway!).
One great thing about having lived in Costa Rica over the past year, however, is that it has started to give me a new perspective on financial prosperity and lately, my worry-whine meter has moved down into the yellow. Yeah, you can see starving children within the pages of a World Vision magazine and travel all you want to third-world nations, but it’s not until you live among people who have a lower standard of living than you that you really start to get it.
You’re filthy rich.
At least, I am but I haven’t known it, and I’m still trying to grasp onto that fact, truth be told. Costa Rica is a wealthier nation than most of Central America, but it ain’t THAT wealthy. Few Costa Ricans live alone, because most cannot afford to. (And it’s not a part of their culture to live alone, anyway, to their credit). I have friends here–average folk who work ten hours a day–and who yet don’t make enough money to eat much more than rice and beans every day, or go out on the weekends, unless they are invited.
So when I consider the fact that I have never had to skip a meal in my life; that I have always been able to eat pretty much whatever I want, within reason; that I can rent a place of my own that doesn’t have a tin roof and mold growing on the walls, and that I have high-speed internet, this automatically puts me ahead of the majority of Costa Ricans.
And if this is a wealthy Latin American nation, then what do the others look like? How about we hop a continent over to Africa, or Asia?
Yes, I concede that one of the greatest benefits of living in Costa Rica is that it is helping me to see how fortunate I really am. Interestingly enough, though, my Christian friends here think themselves fortunate, too, because they know God will provide them with their daily bread and that’s good enough for them. It’s their faith that literally brings the fish flying to their tables.
Recently, a friend suggested to me that people depend more heavily upon God here than in the United States, and not because they necessarily want to, but because they have to. If they don’t, they get to skip dinner. But because they do, their faith is deeper because they have learned to believe that they will be provided for, against all odds.
Okay, so if you read my last post about Rosalina, you might not call living in a shack provision, but maybe perspective counts, too.
Anyway, if you believe in a loving, sovereign god who provides in the best possible manner to all who ask Him in faith, then you know that you will be given all the resources that you need to live a life of prosperity. That includes being given the right treatments to fight Lyme disease, a roof over your head and food on your plate. You might not think it’s enough to have these three things, but if you lived among people who defined provision in a different way than you do, your perspective on that could change, as mine did.
I know, perhaps at this stage you truly would be content with the basics. Perhaps, unlike Costa Ricans, you don’t have family to live with and you’re wondering how you will pay the mortgage next month or afford your next round of Lyme disease treatments.
I can tell you from experience that the bottom of the well is often further down than you think, and sometimes, dollars get stretched further than you ever believed possible. Especially when you believe God for provision.
Also, in my humble opinion, I don’t think healing needs to be expensive. Does your god heal only the rich and those who have the financial resources to pay for a multitude of supplements and doctor visits? Personally, my god doesn’t favor the rich, and my god provides a way to all who believe and trust in Him.
Or perhaps you don’t believe in God or your motto is, “God helps those who help themselves.” Maybe helping yourself makes more sense to you, but when life starts to feel out of control, why not try on the belief that there is a “higher someone” looking out for you? When you’re dead you won’t care if you were wrong, now will you?
Especially if you’ve got nothing left to lose right now. Just a thought.
And if you do happen to believe in a loving god who provides, then why not do the best you can with whatever resources you have and not worry about where you’ll get the money for your next treatment? In the meantime, spend your dollars or pounds or pence for a cheap protocol like salt/C or MMS, and believe that somehow, you will be provided for if you need to add more pricey treatments to the mix. (I have known people to be healed from salt/C alone, by the way. They are small handful, mind you, but that is also the case for other Lyme strategies). And some are getting better with MMS, too.
A couple of years ago, I had no money left to pay my mortgage and for Lyme disease treatments. I had drained my 401K, taken all of the equity out of my condo, and my bank account was almost no longer. I prayed, and felt in my spirit God telling me, “Just jump, and believe that I will catch you.”
So I pretty much closed my eyes and did just that, because I had no other choice. About a week later, the flight attendant union to which I had belonged, sent me a check for $4,000. It was the most generous donation I had ever received and it enabled me to get by for awhile, until the next miracle occurred.
While financial problems may be deepening the lines in your brow, praying for provision and believing God for it, or considering that you might just be able to get by with less than you think, can help to lessen your Lyme disease burden when all hope seems lost.
And if living in a shack seems like no idea of provision, remember, provision can be about perspective as much as the reality of having resources set before you. It is usually a combination of both, and though we don’t really know what we need, if we ask in faith for our creator to provide, we can rest assured, knowing that the best will be given to us.