Veroni's Views

Pain, unsuccessful medication, diagnosis, surgery – these have brought me face to face again with the whole issue of health and sickness, healing and suffering.

I grew up in the era of Pentecostalism when seeking help from medical professionals was considered to be “leaning on the arm of flesh.” That implied being unfaithful to the Lord. My father, like many of his contemporaries, was known for his stance on divine healing. More, also known for many healings that took place after he prayed for sick people.

He was also responsible for one of the greatest lessons I ever learned about healing and God. When he was already over seventy years of age, he had his prostrate removed. As he was waking up after the operation, I was sitting beside his bed. One of the elders of the church walked into the room, and immediately my father said sleepily: “The fact that I am lying here makes no difference to the fact that God is the Healer!”

Dr F.P. Möller (Sr.), who was for many years the leader of the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa, remarked that the matter of sickness and health, suffering and healing, is a mystery. Anyone who has given serious thought to these matters at all, will agree.

God is the Creator of everything that is good. He wants people to be healthy. He answers prayer. As the Creator of all that is good, He is also the motivation and inspiration behind honest scientific endeavour. He created people to have brains, with the desire to know more and understand better. He is the one who inspires people to want to help others.

I see no conflict between so-called “divine” healing and the work of the medical profession. The believer who vehemently denies the validity of the medical profession is probably acting out of conviction that the fact that God heals needs to be defended. God does not need to be defended by us! On the other hand, the medical professional who denies the existence of God is missing the fulfillment of realizing the partnership between him/herself and the Creator of the universe.

Between these two, and assailed on the other hand by the enemy, Satan, is the person who is either a patient or a healthy individual. Unfortunately we have to admit that much of the sickness we suffer is our own fault: unhealthy lifestyle, eating too much or eating harmful foods, lack of exercise, exhaustion – all of these and similar vices often lead to sickness. Added to these, the “vices” of our emotions, like unwillingness to forgive, harbouring grievances, clinging to hurts we have suffered, sometimes because we feel there is security in them … all these increase our vulnerability.

There is another truth that we need to face, and that is that God’s perspective is holistic, that is, aimed at the holistic health of people. God wants us to healthy in body and spirit. But because He has eternity in mind, spiritual health is more important to him than physical health. It is also true that we are never as teachable as when we are suffering.

A positive mind-set, healthy lifestyle, ridding ourselves of negative emotions – these are elements of health. Above all, committing our lives to God, and serving Him joyfully and each other gratefully – these, I think, make for a healthy life.