Our Role in Receiving a Priesthood Blessing

Over the weekend, I came down with a seriously nasty case of Strep Throat. I mean, it absolutely kicked my butt. There were times when I couldn't do anything but lie on the couch and moan. On Monday night, my sweet hubby asked if I wanted him to give me a Priesthood Blessing and I said yes, of course, that would be wonderful. So he gave me the blessing and I was told that I would recover quickly, and also that this illness was something I needed to go through in order to understand sickness.

So on Tuesday, as my symptoms continued to hound me, and even started to grow worse throughout the morning, I thought I needed to go to the doctor. But I had a little battle within myself. I felt that if I went to the doctor, that would mean I didn't have faith in the blessing. And I did have faith. I knew I would recover quickly. And I knew the Lord could heal me.

But as the day continued to progress, I continued to go downhill. I got to the point where I literally couldn't even swallow a sip of water without massive pain. I couldn't talk because the movements my throat has to make to form the words were too painful. I had to type instructions on the computer, telling my daughter to call my husband and tell him I needed him to come home and help me.

The thought came quietly to me during all this that going to the doctor was part of what was going to heal me. They weren't two mutually exclusive things.

I'm reminded of the story of little Alma, whose hip was blown off with a bullet. His mother prayed for him, and the Spirit instructed her where to go to find roots and such, and how to prepare them and apply them to his wound, and he was able to function without a hip. This is Amanda Smith's account of the miracle.

The Lord could have just healed him on the spot. As good as new, even. But He didn't. He instructed the boy's mother in how to doctor him.

It also occurred to me that going to the doctor and taking medicine wouldn't necessarily heal me all by itself. My daughter was recently very sick and we took her to the doctor twice and nothing they did or prescribed either time had any effect. Then my husband gave her a blessing and she was 100% better within a day.

I decided to go to the doctor, having faith that he would be able to find what was wrong and know what to do to fix it because of the Priesthood Blessing that assured me that I would recover quickly. I could have faith that the treatment would work. And it is working. I've been on antibiotics for barely more than a day and I'm 95% better.

It could be that the purpose of the prompting to give me a blessing was for Heavenly Father to send me a message that this illness was for a purpose - for me to learn about sickness through experience. But I don't think that was the sole purpose. I believe I was blessed in being able to recover, through the help of modern medicine.

I think, also, that part of the lesson I learned was figuring out that the Lord wants us to do our part. He doesn't want us to just bask in the blessing we've received and wait for it to work. He wants us to do all we can, and He will do the rest.