December 9
The Diagnosis
We All Avoid
"Jesus answered them, ‘Healthy people don’t need a doctor. Sick people do.’"
Luke 5:31 (NIrV)
Rob cleared his throat for the third time that morning, trying to shake off the dry, nagging cough that had been hanging around for weeks. Maybe months. He wasn’t counting.
"You should get that checked out," his coworker Dan had said over lunch the other day, eyeing him with concern.
"I’m fine," Rob had replied, waving it off. "Probably just the air conditioning messing with me."
Truth be told, he had been telling himself all sorts of things. It was just a bad season. Maybe allergies. He’d quit smoking five years ago, so it couldn’t be anything serious. Could it?
Some days, the cough wasn’t so bad, and he’d convince himself it was getting better. Other days, it kept him up at night, deep in his chest like something was growing there. But every time the thought of seeing a doctor crossed his mind, a cold dread crept in. What if they found something? What if it was the kind of diagnosis that changed everything?
So he put it off. Again. And again.
"I’ll book an appointment next week," he told himself. "Maybe after the weekend. Or after that work trip."
Excuses. That’s all they were.
But then one night, the cough wouldn’t let up. It stole his breath, left him gripping the kitchen counter, gasping. His chest burned, and for the first time, real fear settled in.
The next morning, he made the call.
Sitting in the doctor’s office, tapping his foot against the floor, he felt ridiculous. Overreacting. Until the doctor frowned at the scan. Until words like “biopsy” and “urgent” entered the conversation.
Rob’s head swam. "So... it could be cancer?" His own voice sounded distant.
The doctor sighed. "We won’t know for sure until we run more tests, but we need to act quickly."
He barely heard the rest. All he could think about was how long he had ignored the signs. How he had been too afraid to face the truth.
That night, lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, a different fear settled in. Not just about his health, but about everything. His life. His soul. He had spent so long pushing things away—his worries, his pain, even God. Just like he avoided the doctor, he had avoided thinking about his own brokenness.
For the first time in years, he whispered a prayer. "God, I don’t know what happens next. But I think I need You."
And in that moment, something shifted. The same way he finally accepted that he needed a doctor, he realized that his soul needed healing too. Not just from fear, but from a life lived on his own terms, pretending he was fine when he wasn’t.
Jesus came for the sick, the broken, the ones too afraid to face the truth. And Rob finally understood—he was one of them.
Prayer:
Father,
I have spent too long pretending I am fine, ignoring the signs, pushing away the truth.
But You see me, in all my brokenness, and You still invite me in.
Help me to face my fears, to seek healing where I need it most—not just in my body, but in my heart.
Thank You for being the Great Physician, the one who heals not just sickness, but souls.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
