Getting Physical

I had to get a physical for insurance purposes the other day. Isn’t it a little ironic that they take a quart or two of blood, then tell you you’re border-lining on anemia? It’s nice that they’ll give you that personal touch and come right to your home. But then they get a little more personal and ask every question in this health universe and the next. And would you believe that on top of the pokes and the gazillion questions, that smarty little nurse girl made me weigh in? That was past personal and downright merciless.

Adding weight-insult to poke-injury, she even brought her own scale! It was like she thought I was going to cheat, for goodness sake. Hey, if I had planned to cheat I probably would’ve started with my date of birth.

To further the exasperation, her scale was obviously out of calibration. Way out. I stepped on, looked down at the number, then looked behind me to see if smarty-nurse had gotten on there with me. Okay, she wasn’t on the scale. But I definitely started to seriously question her credentials about that time. Surely no legitimate health care professional would give a person a weight number like that without a crash cart handy. Some anti-depressants at the very least. This is all pretty personal, but let me just tell you that this is not a good way to get a good rate on a new insurance policy. The rate quote? That was painful, too.

While we’re getting personal, I think sometimes we sort of make things painful when they’re really not. Giving, for instance. Not paying premiums, but real giving. And not just giving what’s expected, but going radically beyond. Do you know what Jesus said about giving? In Luke 6:38 He said, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (NIV).

Those words are painful when we’re falling short. But they’re so exciting when we’re generously giving. Not that we should ever give just to receive a blessing, but the thought of blessings you can’t measure is still thrilling. Overflowing blessings! No scales can measure. Only in this context, it’s a good thing. A very good thing.

I was sort of hoping that all that blessing might mean we didn’t even need the insurance. Either way, at any future physicals, I don’t care what the nurse has in that big black bag. We’re doing the weighing on MY scale.

Rhonda Rhea is a radio personality and a conference speaker for events all over the country. She is the wife of First Baptist Church of Troy, Missouri’s pastor, Richie Rhea, and mother of five, three in college and two more teens at home. She has authored several fun and fruitful books. Her newest release is High Heels in High Places and her next book, Purse-uit of Holiness, will hit the stores soon. Find out more at www.RhondaRhea.org.