MORE HEALTH

I once talked with a man who suffered the effects of polio, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma and heart disease- all at the same time. He had been in poor health nearly all his life. He told me he didn't want to complain, but he often wondered why God let him be sick all his life when He let others be healthy all of theirs.

If you are suffering health problems and want better health my first piece of advice is to make sure you are consulting a doctor. God gave them wisdom to study and understand many of the body's workings and to learn what medicines and treatments can improve our health.

But if you have come here wanting a better attitude toward your health, that's something I can help with. One thing to do is to appreciate the health you still have. You may suffer from a chronic disease like asthma, but you can be thankful that you don't have diabetes or high blood pressure. You will enjoy a healthier attitude if you know where to focus your attention.

Another thing is to consider the promise in Romans 8:38. "²⁸And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (New American Standard Bible)

Simply put, God chooses your health individually just for you according to His divine, Fatherly wisdom. He knows when health is the best thing for you, or when sickness and illness will serve you better. He makes all the circumstances of our health and our life work together for our good- including when our health is poor.

There is an old saying many people believe- "If you have your health you have everything." Paul might have been thinking the same thing when he prayed for God to remove a problem he was suffering: "⁷To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."(2 Corinthians 12:7-9)

We don't know what Paul's thorn was, but it obviously hampered him from serving the Lord as well as he could. But the Lord was wiser, and knew that good health wasn't the answer. As Paul came to realize (in vs. 7) good health would have tempted him to focus on himself and take pride in all his hard work, rather than focusing on all God was doing through him. That kind of pride can eventually lead to turning away from the cross of Jesus Christ and forgetting that we cannot earn our way to heaven, but are only acceptable to God because of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. As Paul concluded in verse 9, it was better to keep suffering from his thorn because that suffering forced him to rely on Jesus' strength and not on his own health.

Jesus came to this earth because we cannot save ourselves. He earned our place in His eternal home by His perfect life, and He suffered and died on the cross to take our place and suffer the punishment we deserve for our sins. Through His resurrection He has promised us a new life with Him in heaven, where our bodies will be resurrected and made new and perfectly healthy forever.

God gives us faith and trust in Jesus, and makes all things in our life serve the purpose of keeping us focused on Jesus. In fact, that could explain all the sufferings and shortages we experience in our lives- God knows when our struggles with finances, poor health or natural disasters will turn our attention to Jesus. And He knows when prosperity, ease or good health may lead us away from Him.

It is better by far to bow to our heavenly Father's greater wisdom and be open to His choice- He may improve our health in this life, or He may choose to let us continue battling health issues through this life so we can look forward to the next life, when our bodies will finally be healed and we will enjoy perfect health forever in heaven.