Laying his huge hand on my shoulder, Doctor Kraker did his best to speak encouragement, “Ronnie, I know this is a hassle. Your eyes are practically swelled shut and your hands are completely covered, but there’s good news—when you grow up you’ll likely be immune to poison ivy.”
At ten years old, I was so allergic to poison ivy that I’d gotten it while sledding down the snowy hills on our farm near North Berne in the middle of January. My face and hands were covered in its oozing red rash. The good doctor had seen it before—others like me, so allergic that a mere brush with a frozen vine would result in a full blown outbreak.
Fortunately for me, Dr. Kraker’s prophesy came true and each highly allergic reaction portended a future blessing: each infection acted like a vaccination—each incident helped build immunity against the toxicity of poison ivy. Today, poison ivy doesn’t faze me (although the smell of calamine lotion still makes me itch).
As much as I hated those bouts with poison ivy as a youngster, I’ve learned that my reaction to the ivy’s oil was actually a blessing in disguise. When our bodies react to toxins it alerts us to danger and protects us from further exposure to elements that could result in irreparable damage. Allergies cause our physical body to convulse against outside elements that are dangerous to our physical health.
Makes me wish I had the same allergic reaction to stupid thinking. Have you, like me made dumb mistakes, convinced it was a stroke of genius that resulted in pain and misery? Imagine this—you’re standing in front of a showroom window and the shiny thing inside calls your name…your eyes glaze over as you walk, zombie-like into the store, “See that shiny convertible over there…I’ll take two, one for me and one for the missus.” But then, your face breaks out in hives you itch all over and your eyes begin to swell shut. You say, “Whoa! Wait a minute! I’m highly allergic to stupid and I must have just stepped in a bucket full of it! Cancel that order, I have to get home and take a bath in calamine lotion!” Can you imagine the grief from which that type of allergic reaction would save you?
Okay, so that’s a little farfetched. But I do believe that when we place our trust in God He provides His Spirit within us to act as a still small voice, directing us toward wisdom. The Bible tells us that the Spirit of Christ within us not only confirms right thinking but also reacts to wrong thinking—like a Spiritual Early Warning System.
Here’s the Apostle Paul writing to his friends in Galatia about this very thing.
“For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?” Galatians 5:17 & 18
Read Ron’s column, Simple Faith, each Saturday on the Faith Page (page 3) of the Lancaster Eagle Gazette, or visit www.lancastereaglegazette.com.