Some people call me a healer. I don’t think of myself that way. I partner with the Great Healer. As a Christian naturopath, my worldview holds that Jesus is the healer. I just provide directions/instructions on how the body works. I have tools to lead us to answers, but in the end, the body was created to heal itself.
Because I am a Christian, I often hear clients say that they have received a ‘word’ that God was going to heal them. I applaud them for their positive approach. I too believe that God wants to heal. What saddens me is that these people will stop using their prescriptions or their holistic protocols, and just wait on divine intervention. While I believe that divine intervention is a possibility, it happens rarely. This is why it is called a miracle. Miracles are not ordinary everyday happenings, but sickness and disease are. Again, not wanting to discount the Divine. Desperately desiring to see the miraculous in both my own life and the lives of my friends. Sadly, the reality is that miracles happen all too seldom.
I remember a discussion years ago with a wise woman. I was telling her of a mutual friend who was believing for divine intervention with reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy for breast cancer. My friend, who was a pastor told me that if the woman did not have enough faith for healing, she certainly did not have enough faith for divine reconstruction. While that may sound harsh, think about it. If we are a people of faith, and we ARE, we should have enough faith to live in divine health. When that health is compromised, then we may need to add some ‘works’ with our faith.
Don’t get me wrong. I believe in divine health and I know that God still heals. However, I also know that the divine design of the body is to heal itself. In the Garden of Eden, man was to get up work, eat wholesome food, rest, rejuvenate, and fight another day. This is the divine plan. We do not live in the Garden of Eden, and most of our food is not organic. We live with constant pressure from toxic environmental factors, and we multi-task, or at least try to much of our waking hours. In this environment, the body will break down unless we on purpose arrest these factors.
Disease is the body’s response to these external and internal toxic loads not being arrested. Many times the body can recover if we give it what it needs. A healthy dose of prayer is always needed. However, we must also make lifestyle changes to help our physical bodies recover. Lifestyle changes can and should encompass rest and diet. These changes should also incorporate Rx if warranted and holistic supplements to bring the body back to a viable state.
A properly working immune system requires maintenance, just as any other piece of equipment does. When we fail to maintain our immune systems, then we have to rebuild them. While God can give us a ‘holy zap’ and set things in order, I have rarely seen this. What I have seen is blood test results which show values moving into normal ranges after appropriate protocols are followed. I have seen people who had incurable diseases move toward health, much to their physicians’ surprise. Once the body has deteriorated to the point of disease diagnosis, we must do something. Some people go the allopathic route. Some follow holistic therapies. To do nothing but wait is rarely successful. Be pro-active. Be responsible.
Make health a priority in this New Year.
Happy New Year,
Dr. Polly