A Man Called Peter

One thing I learned in the process of facing health challenges is this:

It’s vital to get to the root of the problem.

And one more thing I discovered in that same process is this:

The root might be different than you think.

I’ve been reading a suprisingly marvelous page-turner-of-a-book entitled A Man Called Peter, written by his wife, Catherine Marshall.  She’s author of the Christy novel, if you are familiar with that.

At any rate, in A Man Called Peter, Catherine digresses from focusing on her husband to share a bit of her own story and the time when she became ill with tuberculosis for an extensive period. The doctor predicted recovery following a rest of 3 to 4 months. She was in bed for at least 18.

The experience prompted her to grow in her Biblical perspective on healing, further submit herself to the Lord and His will for her life, as well as recognize that Jesus never turned anyone away who requested healing. She also learned something I particularly wanted to highlight in this post.

“During the time of my convalescence I learned that tuberculosis is a disease of lack, of deficiency, or malnutrition. Where real poverty is not involved, the malnutrition is often spiritual as well as physical….If, in a tuberculosis patient, the basic spiritual deficiency (which is frequently present) is recognized and treated along with the physical deficiencies, the disease usually rapidly retreats.” (See Chapter 14, p. 178.)

Fascinating.

Treating the spiritual helps restore the physical.

Did I not experience something similar in my own healing journey?

After nearly 5 years of trying various dietary approaches, addressing bacteria/parasites, doing cleanses, juicing, etc. etc. etc., I was still not entirely well. I felt God reveal that I needed inner healing for external healing to more fully manifest in my physical body.

It was like I was doing everything right “on the outside” (or in my flesh) but I needed healing “on the inside” (as in my soul / spirit). Hmm. As someone who’d been through years of counseling, I did not understand exactly what that “inner healing” would be. I want to share more about this on the blog at a later time. But, I digress. To this post I now return.

The key point I wanted to highlight here is the significance of uncovering the root cause of a problem, even the root of your physical illness if you are experiencing one. Are you struggling with a physical malady? An illness that has yet to be cured?

How about asking God to reveal the root of the issue? 

Catherine Marshall admits, “In my own case, the real cause of my illness was a bad case of spiritual malnutrition…my soul was starved to death…” (a surprising insight given she was the wife of a minister!) She essentially continues by sharing that she was “not doing her part during the week” between Sunday services. She would hear her husband’s sermons, had done what might be considered “good” church work, but was spiritually dry. Her spiritual walk needed to become a personal, daily walk for her  - not just a good church life.

Wow. If she could use that kind of lesson, what might we need to see in our own lives? Whether you are experiencing a physical or spiritual illness, how about asking God to show you the root and heal you?

There is even more to this story, and you can read more about it in Chapter 14 of her book, but in closing I wanted you to know that Catherine asked God to make her well, and He did.

And if He can do it for Catherine, He can do it for you, too.