© Donna L. Watkins - Adult Garter Snake
One of the steps I've taken on my journey to wellness is that I spent most of a day writing down the Scriptures from the various areas that "cause" my health problems (fear, abandonment, anxiety, etc.) so that I can renew my mind one cell (mene) at a time. (More understanding on menes and how you renew your mind is derived from the book, "A More Excellent Way," by Pastor Henry Wright.)During part of my Quiet Time, I've been in a workbook called, "A Woman's Heart - God's Dwelling Place," by Beth Moore. It's amazing how God will tie so much together for you when you begin seeking His Truth on something.
The author was presenting the Lord, your Healer - Jehovah Rapha. She talked about the wilderness and the bitter water of Marah. She wrote, "The people could have come down with diseases, and He could've performed a mass healing. Instead, He introduced Himself as Jehovah-Rapha by demonstrating His power over the most common disease from which His children would suffer - bitterness.
Bitterness is a spiritual cancer, a rapidly growing malignancy that can consume your life. After it consumes the soul, it begins to eat away at the body. It is so contagious that we can pass it to our children, who are often oblivious to the source of their bitterness.
"No amount of distractions or busywork - not even church work - can treat this spiritual disease. Countless Christians mask their pain with unceasing activity. Bitterness cannot be ignored but must be healed at the very core, and only Christ can heal bitterness. No one can do it for you, and no one can tell you exactly what is required for your healing. Others can direct you to Jesus, but you must show up for your appointments. His ultimate goal is not simply for you to be healed, but for you to meet the Healer."
It amazed me that she talked about bitterness and cancer, and busyness, which is anxiety, and about passing it on to children.
It was after both my parents died that my health went downhill. Of course, I assumed, and rightly so, that the stress was the cause - two deaths in less than 6 months and the stress of caring for them as they deteriorated prior to death. I had just begun home schooling our ADHD son and my husband had to choose to lie or leave his job, so one month after my last parent died, he was out of work for a year.
Why does stress do this? Are we actually in sin by not obeying God? "Be anxious for nothing." That's a hard command.
What makes it worse to commit adultery than it is to worry or fear something? There's more Scriptures telling us to FEAR NOT than there are about adultery? Has anxiety become an acceptable sin because "everybody" is doing it?
If anxiety is sin and we have done it over and over again and are now even in the belief system that stress is just a common state, then we must ask ourselves: Did God tell us that it was okay to set up systems of worry?
I think of I Cor. 10:13 "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean we are supposed to fix it. God is available to take care of us, but we tend to have to do it ourselves because we don't trust Him.
I'm amazed at the rationalization so many Christians have given me in a discussion on cell phones and fear. They may be in debt and miserable because of it, but have to pay for the cell phone in case they break down and need to call for help. Where is God in this? What have people done for the past two thousand years when they needed help?
I'm not against cell phones for proper reasons, but how far do we drift in our faith and from any need of our Lord, our Healer, Provider, Savior, and all that He is. We want to be able to handle it all ourselves.
The same with disease - has man taken away another area that God wanted us to look to Him for? Each of us must dig deep to see the roots of the diseases that plague us and cut all ties that are rooted in fear and worry. We will see new light coming in because a previous belief system that God couldn't get through is being changed.
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