One Of The Greatest Healing Factors Is Faith In God

Some years back, I invited a certain public prosecutor who was a very close friend of mine to attend a FGBMFI meeting at the Sychar Hotel in Davao City, Philippines. He was a Silliman University graduate in law degree, a famous Protestant University in the Visayas, Philippines, founded by an American citizen, Dr. Silliman. In my conversations with him, he used to quote Bible verses perhaps to impress me with his scriptural knowledge, if not to “evangelize” me.

One late afternoon thereafter, he called me to ask that I appear on his behalf on the following day in his personal case before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Panabo City, Davao del Norte, Philippines. I politely declined because I had a previous schedule on the same day and hour also before the RTC of Davao City. But he was so insistent that he requested me to wait for him in my office because he wanted to explain personally his case, and the urgency of his request.

His problem was that being unable to pay the balance in full, as agreed between him and the seller, the purchase price of a coconut plantation that he bought in the Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS) Davao del Norte, Philippines, the three sons of the seller entered the land and harvested the nuts. He requested me to prepare his Affidavit-Complaint, and being a Fiscal (present day called Prosecutor) of Davao del Norte, his complaint for qualified theft case against the malefactors was filed in court. The Prosecutor’s Office fixed a P40,000.00 bail bond for each accused for their provisional liberty. Claiming to be extremely poor peasants, with the help of their lawyer, they filed a motion to reduce the bail bond to an alleged reasonable and affordable amount of P10,000.00 for each, or a total of only P30,000.00 for all of them, arguing that it is their constitutional right that no excessive bail shall be fixed for their provisional liberty.

I told my friend that being a Fiscal himself, by experience (“experience being the best teacher”), he must know that normally the court will grant such a plea. I also reminded him of my inability to appear on his behalf to oppose the motion because of a previous scheduled case in Davao City. Nevertheless, he literally forced me to prepare a written opposition to the motion to reduce bail that night which he will personally submit to, and argue in, court the following morning, because of my inability to do so.

At about 11:00 A.M. the following morning, the Fiscal’s son who drove for him from Davao City to Panabo City which is a distance of 33 kilometers, called me by telephone (cellphones were not yet popularly used in those days) that his daddy was confined in the San Pedro Hospital of Davao City where the Fiscal’s Doctor son-in-law holds clinic. I was told that his daddy suffered a heart attack after the Judge, as I predicted, immediately in open court hearing, granted the motion of the three accused. On the following day, the son called me again to say that his daddy did not survive. May his soul rest in peace.

Hatred and tension produce various psychological and nervous infirmities. Scientific studies show, according to medical experts, that many physiological ailments like heart trouble, or even actual physical diseases like arthritis and stomach ulcers can also be caused by worry, fear, bitterness, hatred, or a negative attitude toward life and our neighbors. The medical experts tell us that all of these negative attitudes and feelings can cause an actual build-up of poisons in the body that, in turn, cause illnesses, even immediate death in extreme cases such as I have related. In other words, the wrong state of mind can actually cause these physical maladies and infirmities, or even death.

That is why faith in God, or reliance on God’s care and goodness to us; surrender to God’s will, that is, “not my will but let thy will be done” as prayed for by the Lord Jesus Christ himself to His Father in heaven in the garden of Gethsemane is such a marvelous spiritual “medicine”.

Knowing that our heavenly Father loves us and is going to take care of us and our health, our family, our future, our job, everything – will eliminate bitterness and hatred and gives us peace of mind, contentment of heart, and a feeling of spiritual well-being that brings rest to our vital organs, and that, in turn, actually causes the elimination of poisons from our body, or will prevent the elevation of our blood pressure. The wise King Solomon said, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine…” (Prov. 17:22 KJV). Strong faith and reliance in God’s love, protection and care for us is the best medicine there is! The Bible says, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28 NLT).

Above all, let us always remember the answer of Jesus Christ to a certain Scribe who asked Him, “…which is the first (or greatest) commandment of all?” when He said: “Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first (or greatest) commandment. And the second is like namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31 KJV). Thus, the evidence that we love someone is the fact that we love to be always with or near that someone talking even for sweet nothings without counting the time, the image of that someone is always in our heart and mind and embeeded in our soul, and we devote our strength and talents serving that someone to the best of our ability to please that loved one. This is how we should love our God/Jesus Christ (God incarnate, or in person, or in the flesh).

The Apostle Paul said: “Recompense to no man evil for evil. . . live peacefully with all men… avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay saith the Lord” (Rom. 12:17-19 KJV). Stated otherwise, don’t seek revenge yourself, leave the matter in the hands of God. Trust God, He knows what to do. Just pray fervently for God’s love and care for you.

Our physical state of health is definitely dependent on our emotional state of health, and our emotional health is largely dependent on our spiritual condition. Let us be careful of our anger and temper. It will cause death, even sudden death! Instead, pray fervently and have faith in God to the end of our life. “… According to your faith be it unto you” (Matt. 9:29).