Some television-personality ministers seem to want people to think that being a Christian means being healthy, wealthy and wise. Also, you apparently have ridiculously white teeth and an expensive hair cut (or in the case of some, an expensive hair piece).
But I have noticed a couple people in the Bible who may not agree with such sentiments.
Jacob met God in the form of a man (Genesis 32). After wrestling with God and refusing to give up until God blessed him, God puts his hip out of socket. Ouch. Jacobs’ encounter with God resulted in him limping away, but with a new identity: Israel. He didn’t walk away with more money, or whiter teeth and certainly not healthier. Wiser, maybe. But he was definitely changed. His destiny was cemented. After wrestling with God, Jacob walked different. People could see something had changed in him.
Paul had a thorn in his flesh that God refused to take away (2 Corinthians 12). It seems to have been some kind of illness that most people found gross (Galatians 4). Was it leprosy perhaps? No way to know. But Paul didn’t walk in complete health or wealth. Maybe his disease even made his teeth really, really not white.
We Christians tend to forget how temporary our time on this earth is. We’re not writing the novel of our lives here, we’re only doing the preface. We’re just setting the stage for the real story. If our goal is to be healthy, wealthy and wise on this earth, then we’d better stay away from God. Because his purposes seem to include thorns and limping far more often than we would prefer.
Real Christians limp.