Of Illness and prayers for wisdom

My 6 yr old son is going to a summer day camp this week at a local park.  When I picked him up last night, he was complaining of lower back pain.  What???  He complained about the bumps in the road on the way home.  I told him, "You must've pulled a muscle."   We got home & I started fixing dinner & then he started saying, "I don't feel good.  My head hurts.  My legs hurt.  My stomach hurts. My throat hurts.  My heart hurts."  This is a fairly standard list of complaints he has often had lately, and we've had many discussions about the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.  When he does this, I pull out the thermometer and prove to him that he is fine.  So, I stopped my dinner preparation and took his temperature. 101.6. Hmm.  That can't be right.  Let's take it again. 101.5.  OK. So.....hmm.

I don't usually take my son to the doctor just because he has a fever.  I don't even like to give him Tylenol for a fever unless his temperature is over 102 or it is making him miserable.  After all, a fever is one of your body's weapons against illness.  If you reduce the fever, you're probably going to be sick longer than if you just leave your immune system alone & let it do its job.

Since the fever proved he really was sick, and he said his stomach didn't feel good, I let him eat crackers, applesauce, and a popsicle for dinner.  My husband and I discussed whether or not we should just put him to bed & call the pediatrician if he was still sick in the morning.  That is what I would normally do in a situation like this. But, something about this was bugging me & we also considered taking him out to a walk-in-clinic after dinner.

At church we have been discussing Paul Miller's book "A Praying Life".  I'll review it here when I'm finished.  I had just been reading his chapter on asking.  He says we are far too confident in our worldly resources and that keeps us from a life of prayerful dependence on God.  He gives two reasons (from the book of James, chapter 4) that explain why prayers often go unanswered: 1) we do not ask  2) we ask with wrong motives.  I have been realizing that I am very guilty of not asking in situations like this. After all, we have doctors.  We have pills.  We have WebMD.  Most of the time I just make decisions like this without thinking about asking God for wisdom.

But last night, as we bowed our heads to give thanks for our meal, I prayed for wisdom in making this decision.  After dinner, we decided to take him the clinic, so I packed him in the car (in his hoodie jacket, since he was cold in the 87 degree night air!) and off we went.  The whole time we were there, I felt like I was overreacting & was feeling guilty about dragging my sick boy out instead of just putting him to bed. Until the doctor walked in and said, "Somebody has strep!"

One antibiotic shot (and 3 minutes of crying) later, and we were headed home.  The last time he had strep he was much sicker, had very severe throat pain, and vomiting.  Lots of vomiting.  I think this time we caught it much earlier - at least 12 hours earlier than we would have if I had waited to take him to the pediatrician in the morning.  It did not occur to me, until I woke up in the middle of the night & was thinking about it, that God had answered our prayer for wisdom.  It was an unusual move for us - I really don't think we would have made that decision otherwise.

This morning, he is feeling much better, and his temperature is down to 100.  He will most likely be right as rain very soon. 

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.  James 1:5

Sojourner