If you were offered excellent perpetual health on a silver platter just for the taking, you’d probably grab it, say “thank you very much,” and be on your merry way. We all desire to be in good health, but the fortitude and willpower to get, and keep it—that’s often tricky.
We often feel fine for a while, while remaining strict with the routine that’s been working to keep us healthy, but then make a chancy or rash decision regarding those health choices, and boom, we get sick.
We aren’t really surprised, having done this before, but realizing what a big mistake that was and getting disappointed with ourselves, we then “cleanup our act,” and are soon back to our healthy self again. But then again, like an overly confident, released yo-yo, we again spin down until we realize “there’s a hand up there somewhere waiting to give us another helpful spin in the right direction.” After all, isn’t that the hand that feeds us? Sometimes after spinning out of control for a while, we then realize it’s time to trust our Lord above, who’s more than ready to pull us safely back into His hand.
How Can We Fix This?
The quick answer is, we don’t—plain and simple. “Is that it?” No, we can be permanently happy on God’s terms, in all the areas in our lives, when we finally learn to quit trying to fix ourselves in our own strength, and trust his strength, power, and will.
Performance, as in “steady as she goes”, can be about “smooth sailing,” or about “shipwreck,” depending on how disciplined in our commitment we’ve previously decided to be. It’s all about determination, developing good habits, and a lot of planning to arrive at our set goals. To be at our very best requires dedicating every area of our life. It involves our eating, exercise, work, play and last, but not least, our faith in God.
What Does Faith Have To Do With Health?
My attitude used to be that I can achieve anything I put my mind to, and that’s still true concerning my mindset, but my attitude has changed. The only part that’s different is that now my mind is set on wanting the Lord’s will, trusting all my needed changes to come about, after my new desires and plans pass though His hands.
You’ve probably heard the statement, “no pain no gain,” but what’s painful about prayer? Absolutely nothing, and that’s where faith—our faith (yours and mine) kicks in to accomplish what we can’t do for ourselves, and allows God through our asking to accomplish great and mighty things which we know not of. Luke 1:49 — “for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
“Many have expected that God would keep them from sickness merely because they have asked Him to do so. But God did not regard their prayers, because their faith was not made perfect by works. God will not work a miracle to keep those from sickness who have no care for themselves, but are continually violating the laws of health, and make no efforts to prevent disease. When we do all we can on our part to have health, then may we expect that the blessed results will follow, and we can ask God in faith to bless our efforts for the preservation of health. He will then answer our prayer, if His name can be glorified thereby. But let all understand that they have a work to do. God will not work in a miraculous manner to preserve the health of persons who are taking a sure course to make themselves sick, by their careless inattention to the laws of health.” Ellen G. White, Counsels on Diet and Foods, 26.1
