A Layman's Approach to Divine Healing

We talked about how the foundation of all we do is in the Bible. We need to read it, meditate one it and make it part of our lives. We are to apply the principles and commands to our lives and then pray for others. There are many things described in the Bible that if we would actually apply them to our lives, many of the health problems we currently struggle with could have been prevented.

We fail to understand that some of our health problems come from our lack of knowledge of the Bible, and from not putting into practice some of those principles. God, as the creator of this human body, designed it to work and function a certain way and as we operate and live within the limits He has established, we can walk in life in better health. But we humans are curious lot and we wonder why God established certain limits.

In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve not to eat for the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil otherwise they would "die." Genesis 2:16- 17 says:

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

This is the first time we read about the concept of "dying" and it is tied to an action that Adam and Eve could do or not do--it was their choice. They could have prevented death by not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but they didn't. God knew it because He said, "for in the day that you eat of it." He knew we were going to "bite," but He wanted us to have a choice to listen to Him or not-- otherwise their worship would not have as much value.

There are things in the Bible that will give us better health if we choose to obey them. We don't need to walk around in defeat and despair; we can walk in victory! Praise God!

Psalm 34: 11-14 says: "Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it."

These verses start out with God telling us to listen so that He can teach us the fear of the Lord. Then He follows it up with a couple of questions, many we have asked ourselves and others. Who desires life? Who wants (loves) to live many days that he may see good?

Then God give us the answers: keep your tongue from evil and our lips from speaking deceit; depart from evil and do good; seek after peace. We have a choice. Will we listen and do what it says?

Here God ties "life, many days, and seeing good" with what we say, with what we depart from, and with what we pursue. If we choose to follow His instructions, we will have healthier lives; we will live longer, better lives. We have God's promise. But god also tells us what will happen if we don't follow His instructions. Our problem most of the time is not that we don't know what God says; it's doing what God says.

Here's another example.

Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender- hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;

Romans 14:19 Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.

God, through the Apostle Paul, states we are to let go of our bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving others as God, in Christ, has forgiven us. Notice what it doesn't say: it doesn't say to be kind to only people who are kind, gentle and nice to us. It doesn't say to be kind and affectionate to only people who believe like we do. We are to be kind to one another (believers and non-believers) even if others are not kind and affectionate to us.

But what do we do if they fail or what do we do if we fail? Then the second part of Ephesians 4:32 comes in. This is where we forgive.

Are we kindly affectionate to one another? Do we show brotherly love, giving honor and preference to one another? Do we pursue the things that bring peace and edify one another? Or do we do what other people do to us? God is calling us to a higher plane; a higher calling. The Bible is our standard and we will be judged against it not what others have done.

In today's society, it seems so hard for people to forgive a transgression made against us. For some reason we feel we have the right to demand revenge when someone says or does something against us.

I have two teenage daughters who are working their way through middle school and high school. They are daily being bombarded with attitudes and accusations that bring strife and dissention--not only in school, but they bring it home. They have friends who think there's nothing wrong with criticizing or ridiculing their peers and their teachers. They have a quip for everything that's said or done. Sometimes fights break out at school because something was said or done that made someone else upset.

We as parents have to show them the way. The way to let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you; Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; and pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. For some, this is a daily task and it would be good for us to write this down on a 3 x 5 card and carry it with us throughout our day and when we feel the urge to lash out or say an unkind word, we can take it out and remind ourselves what God has called us to.

But what happens if we choose not to obey God's word? Dr. Frank S.K. Barar, a retired Sr. Professor and Head, Dept. of Pharmacology, SMS Medical College, in a recent article on Health and Fitness: Stress versus Health, states:

"In this gamut of life today a common denominator is anxiety, i.e., a pervasive feeling of apprehension about some future threat to self. Thus, chronic anxiety becomes a cause of physical illnesses like headache, migraine, angina pectoris, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stomach ulcers, diabetes mellitus, heart attacks, arthritis, cerebral strokes, premature ageing, and gross mental disorders like depression and schizophrenia. Physicians prescribe medicines for the relief of the symptoms, but little can be done to cure the underlying cause. It is lamentable that peace does not come in capsules or pills. To escape anxiety some individuals start taking 'drugs', and slip into "addiction", which itself is a big stressor. Medical science today recognizes that emotions like fear, sorrow, anger, envy, resentment and hatred are responsible for 60% to nearly 100% of our sicknesses, and the concept of psychosomatic (mind and body) concept of disease has been evolved."

In a book called 'None of These Diseases' by Dr. S.I. McMillan, he also states that emotions such as fear, sorrow, envy, resentment and hatred are responsible for the majority of our sicknesses. And that emotional stress can cause high blood pressure, toxic goiter, arthritis, migraine headaches, apoplexy, heart trouble, gastro-intestinal ulcers and other serious illnesses!

A little over ten ten years ago, American Medical Association released the findings of a nation-wide survey of tens of thousands of their medics. One of the questions dealt with their success ratio in treating patients. The answer is shocking. Only 10% of patients had received any lasting help through their medical procedures!

Notice the reaction the body has to all the stresses we put on our body and the medicines that doctors prescribe only help to relive the symptoms, not the problem. And to emphasize the point he states and anger, envy, resentment, and hatred are responsible for nearly 60-100% of our sicknesses. Why? Could it be because we fail to follow the "prescription" given to us in the Bible? We cannot control what people say and do to us; but we can control how we react to it…and that's what God holds us accountable for.

But if we would spend time in the Word, spend time in fellowship with other Christians, and spend time in prayer talking and listening to God, many, if not all, the physical and emotional problems can be taken care

of without the use of medicines. I'm not advocating abandoning doctor prescribed medicines, but I am suggesting that we tap into another source of healing, God, that will be able to diagnose and treat our problems and He won't even charge us a co-payment!

God is loving and gracious and He's so interested in us, and our welfare. If we would just trust Him with child-like faith, He will come and meet our need.

In our next lesson, I will continue to talk about how to prevent sicknesses and talk more about overcoming emotional problems.