Page 43 - Seeing Good in All

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For Believers, There is Good in All Things

A serious disease makes one consider seriously

the transience of this world, death and the hereafter
Most people would consider being seized by a fatal
disease or the loss of an organ as an adversity. Yet, this may
be regarded not as an adversity but as a means for salvation
in the hereafter or for turning towards God alone. Because, a
person afflicted with a serious disease naturally becomes
more alert. His suffering helps him to recognize the lack of
attention that disabled his conscience, and urges him to
contemplate the reality of the hereafter. Such a person truly
grasps the meaninglessness of attachment to this world and
the nearness of death. Instead of living his life irresponsibly,
the sudden onslaught of disease may make him grasp the
importance of earning God's consent and of the life of the
hereafter, and thereby attain salvation.

Diseases add to one's prayers and
draw him nearer to God

As the symptoms of a disease become more severe, a
person begins to think of death, a thought he had until then
deliberately avoided. With all his sincerity, he asks God for a
recovery. Even a person who has never prayed before may
suddenly feel the need to implore God once afflicted by an
incurable disease. He offers the most sincere prayers to his
Lord; this may be a reason to draw him nearer to God. If he
does not show ingratitude after his recovery but continues to
pray sincerely, his disease becomes a good and the beginning
of a life of faith.