32. The Faith Factor

32. The Faith Factor

 

Over the years I’ve found many things that have helped my health. Our bodies are all a little different, so what helps me might not help you. But then again, our bodies, generally speaking, are all made according to the same design, so what helps me very likely will help you—you might just need more or less of a certain nutrient than I do. We all seem to have our “weakest link”: under great duress, I might have anxiety, you might get an upset stomach or even an ulcer, and someone else might have a stiff, painful neck or a migraine headache. But we all need the same raw materials—various vitamins and elements—to fuel these high-performance machines that we call our bodies. 

However, there is another variable that may affect whether the same remedy benefits you as does me, and that is what I’ll call the faith factor. Every time I’ve found a new kind of health-help, it has been subsequent to asking God to help me with a particular problem, because that’s just the way I live. He tells me not to worry about anything, but just to bring all my concerns to Him. So I do. Of course, you might say I can’t prove that this had anything to do with an effective answer coming my way. But I’m not trying to prove anything. I’m just saying: it works for me. 

I remember how 20 years ago, as I was heading into a nervous breakdown, I was unable to sleep most nights. The awful fatigue that resulted made it so difficult to deal with four small children. One night as I lay awake, still sleepless at three o’clock in the morning, the Lord spoke distinctly to my heart: “Nance, you need calcium.” I went and bought some the next day and I’ve hardly ever been without it since. If for some reason I go without calcium for a few days, I once again have difficulty sleeping. (I have since discovered, first hand, that there are other reasons for insomnia as well.) 

The very first article in this blog tells how God led me to iodine, ever since which I’ve been telling everyone about our need for this vital nutrient. Iodine has changed my life, very much for the better. But there is this other factor: when I first bought iodine and took the first dose, I also asked God to bless it to my body. Who can ever say how much this prayer contributed to the miraculous improvement that iodine has worked in my body? 

When my adrenals crashed a year ago, I did not ask God to heal them. This was quite conscious; quite deliberate. I could see that the way I was used to running my life was out of control and that some things needed to change. If God had miraculously healed my adrenals, I probably would have just jumped right back into the fray in all the ways with which I was familiar. I knew that I had some things to learn, and that I was only going to really learn them if it was a long, slow road. 

A miracle is great, but sometimes it’s not the best thing, because we’re less likely to retain the lessons that come hand in hand with the trial. The other good thing about the long, slow road to natural healing (as compared to a miracle) is that we have many useful things to share with other people about our journey after we reach a particular milestone. 

A few months ago, I felt that it was time to begin praying for the restoration of my adrenals. So on the days when I spend a bit of serious time in prayer, I often think to reach around behind and place both hands above my waist in the general location of my adrenals. And then I say, “I speak restoration and wholeness to these adrenal glands in the name of Jesus.” I then might do the same thing to my thyroid gland and also address my entire endocrine system, and then my body in general. 

“Be not wise in your own eyes,” say the Scriptures. “Fear the Lord and depart from evil, and it shall be health to all your body and strength to your bones” (Proverbs 3:7-8). So I sometimes declare “health to all my body and strength to my bones.” The neat thing is—even if you are not a believer, you can do this. God is kind to all, even to the “ungrateful and wicked,” according to Jesus (Luke 6:35), so not a single one of us is disqualified. “I will never turn anyone away who comes to me,” He said (John 6:37). So ask Him for wisdom, direction, and healing. The “faith factor” may be the thing that makes the difference.