Renewing your mind can help renew your body
“Bob, this migraine is killing me!” Sue exclaimed to her husband. “You’re a doctor. Isn’t there something else that can help me?”
“I’m sorry, *Sue honey,” he answered, “but we’ve tried everything I can think of. I know even the drugs don’t help much. I guess you’ll just have to learn to live with it.”
“Learn to live with it!” Sue cried. “I’m tired of these headaches, stomachaches, nausea, and vomiting!”
Stress resulted in headaches
Sue’s headaches had begun when she was a young girl. Now she was a married woman with two children. Still, every time she encountered a stressful situation, it seemed a little voice would say, “You are going to get a headache; you are going to get sick.” So she knew what was coming, and that only served to increase her tension.
Peace and joy seemed impossible
Deep inside, Sue felt a longing in her heart to have a closer relationship to God than she had. Then when she was 29, she met a special young woman. Rosie had warmth about her, a joy, peace, and faith she wanted.
What is it? Sue wondered. What is it?
One day Rosie told Sue how the Lord had healed her back after an accident.
“Oh, I have been so sick with migraine headaches for so long,” Sue groaned. “I’ve prayed to God to help me, but nothing has changed. Maybe God is more concerned about people who are in greater distress than I am.”
“Sue, the Bible says that God even cares for the sparrows,” Rosie said. “God even knows how many hairs are on your head. He is concerned about any pain you may suffer.”
“Do you really think He cares about my headaches?” Sue asked. “Do you think He might even heal them in answer to prayer?”
Rosie nodded. “I certainly do,” she answered, “but you have to trust Him. Why don’t you come to a home prayer meeting with me tomorrow night, and we’ll pray for you.”
“All right,” Sue agreed. Oh, wouldn’t it be wonderful if God healed me? she thought. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could have the faith, serenity, and joy Rosie has!
Sue went to that meeting fully expecting God would help her. The Christians prayed for her. And that night she turned her life over to the Lord. For when she heard that Jesus loved her, that He had died for her sins, and that He would come to live in her if she truly received Him, she knew it was true.
A New Way of Life
God began working in Sue’s life and showing her certain truths in His Word. She realized that she had to be released from patterns of reaction to stress by learning to trust in the Lord day by day, hour by hour. She realized that the opposite of the fear that triggered her headaches was faith. She was learning a new way of life, living by faith.
Sue’s headaches had started when she was a child growing up in a difficult situation, with an alcoholic father and unruly sisters. The headaches had resulted from things that happened to her and from her reaction to those things. Thus, whenever anything caused her stress, she would get a migraine headache.
Now, however, with the Lord in her life, Sue began to meet stressful situations with faith. To her joy, the migraine headaches began clearing up.
Occasionally, when Sue took her eyes off the Lord and fell back into her old thought patterns, she would get a migraine attack. But thankfully, the frequent migraines became a thing of the past.
After Sue began her new life with the Lord, prayers began to be answered. Family relationships were healed. Sue and her husband became one in the Spirit, and their marriage became more beautiful. Christ became the center of their home and conversation.
Some Principles for Victory
- Jesus Christ promised His peace, joy, and presence to all those who receive Him as their Savior and Lord. If you haven’t done that yet, do it! If He is your Savior, make sure you are right with Him. Walking with Christ imbues us with the faith in Him that overcomes problems.
- Psalm 34:4 says, “I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears.” Believe that! For many of our problems occur just as Sue’s did, because of fear. Wisely, Sue cried to the Lord every time she realized stress was present; fear was banished–and so were the migraines.
- Walk with the Lord day by day, hour by hour, as Sue did. In His presence there is joy and peace–and deliverance.
- Learn how you can walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, and practice it moment by moment.
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, God has given you His Holy Spirit to help you live life according to His perfect plan. Why not pray this simple prayer and by faith invite Him to fill you with His Spirit:
Dear Father, I need you. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you by directing my own life. I thank you that You have forgiven my sins through Christ’s death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled, and as You promised in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith. I pray this in the name of Jesus. As an expression of my faith, I thank You for directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Further Reading:
Hope for the Hopeless by Mike Woodard
Fear –What will people think?
Why Worry Yourself Sick? – by Muriel Larson