by Janet Wahlquist
"And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?" (Luke 12:42) Health care and medical decisions come up all the time.
We mothers and fathers are often challenged with how to help our children. A sickness or injury surprises us. A trip to the Doctor and we breathe a sigh of relief. He will tell us what to do. What is our responsibility? How can we do our duty as stewards of ourselves and of these precious gifts? 1Co 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
I went to Nursing School with great excitement. I couldn't wait to find out the real intricacies of heart disease; why did it develop? I was eager to know what really caused cancer and how to cure it. How I anticipated knowing what made debilitating diseases happen. What were the mysterious treatments with which could eradicate them? As I sat through lecture after lecture, my enthusiasm was dampened. The professors talked around the illnesses, but never seemed to pinpoint the solutions. Instead of answers, I got symptom management, chronic medications with their own nasty side-effects, references to statistics and unsubstantiated theories to explain causes. What, no cures? No hard facts on the culprits? I became discouraged, until it occurred to me that I was just in Nursing School. The answers, I thought, were all being revealed right across the street at the Medical School.
I was doing all my research at the Medical School's library. Each day we nursing students would arrive on the floor to work at the hospital. Harried medical students would flock around us asking about their patients. They knew that we had more time to study our individual patient and they would pump us with questions. Some of our lecturers were the same ones as they had.
I slowly came to realize that the standard medical community often has a blind spot. Managing symptoms is the focus. Diseases have to be cut out or poisoned, usually maiming or handicapping the patient, if not outright killing him.
As guardians of the home (Titus 2), we must do our own investigations. We must take responsibility where health care is concerned. Over the years, I have seen so much health restored by following God's plan for health and by not doing what all the Medical experts advise. Many diseases can be completely avoided by following principles of healthy eating and exercise.
"A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished." (Pr. 22:3)
Many times, there are alternative ways to handle a medical problem, ways much less damaging to overall health. Be warned that true health solutions come with a price tag of responsibility. Find out God's design for our bodies. What did he create for us to eat and do? A day of rest is important as well as enough nightly sleep. Changing our patterns of behavior, researching and cross-checking information, standing against the pressure from the traditional medical community, and especially seeking the Lord and being willing to wait for His direction are all necessary and bring lasting rewards of being in His health plan. The Doctors can be great resources but they must never be treated as idols. We must not hand over our responsibility for our family's health to others
Our HMO should be: Health Managed through Obedience.
"Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful." (1 Cor. 4:2)
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." (Ro. 12:1)
