Thoughts on Sickness by J. C. Ryle
"Sickness is a blessing quite as much as a curse. It is a rough schoolmaster, I grant. But it is a real friend to man’s soul.” - J.C. Ryle
Does that quote on sickness make you sick? Perhaps you are suffering right now from sickness and you just want it to end. We have probably all been there and some more (even much more) than others. What do you think about when you are sick? What have you learned?
The bishop J.C. Ryle had some excellent reflections on sickness in his little book by that name. You can read Ryle's whole work on Sickness for free here or here and I strongly urge you to do so! Below are a few choice quotes by Ryle on sickness:
“Sickness is often one of the most humbling and distressing trials that can come upon a man. It can turn the strongest into a child, and make him feel ‘the grasshopper a burden’ (Eccl. 12:5). It can unnerve the boldest, and make him tremble at the fall of a pin. We are fearfully and wonderfully made’ (Ps. 139:14). The connection between body and mind is curiously close.”
“Sickness helps to remind men of death. The most live as if they were never going to die. Sickness awakens men from their day-dreams, and reminds them that they have to die as well as to live. Now this I say emphatically is a mighty good.”
"sickness helps to try men’s religion, of what sort it is. There are not many on earth who have no religion at all. Yet few have a religion that will bear inspection. Most are content with traditions received from their fathers and can render no reason of the hope that is in them. Disease is sometimes most useful to a man in exposing the utter worthlessness of his soul’s foundation. It often shows him that he has nothing solid under his feet and nothing firm under his hand...The storms of winter often bring out the defects in a man’s dwelling, and sickness often exposes the gracelessness of a man’s soul. Surely, anything that makes us find out the real character of our faith is a good.”
"I believe that in heathen lands sickness often paves the way for the missionary, by making the poor idolater lend a willing ear to the glad tidings of the gospel. I believe that in our own land sickness is one of the greatest aids to the minister of the gospel: sermons and counsels that we have neglected in the day of health, are often brought home in the day of disease. I believe that sickness is one of God’s most important subordinate instruments in the saving of men; and that though the feelings it calls forth are often temporary, it is also often a means whereby the Spirit works effectually on the heart."
May God glorify Himself in us as we depend on and trust our lives and our loved ones lives Him through sickness and in health. May we share the good news of Christ with others even those who are sick knowing with confidence the Lord is the great physician who can and one day will completely heal our souls and our bodies and our minds to the praise of His name!