Administrator’s Note:

(Ken Pullen, administrator)

As the article below states there is a fine line between using medicine for healing purposes and continual reliance upon medicine for daily living.

Personally, I take prescribed medications from my physician for control of high blood pressure and for high cholesterol, as well as a prescribed medication for permanent nerve damage, and an anti-inflammatory for chronic pain. I eat well and do what I can to take care of my personal earthly health — on my mother’s side of the family almost every single person on that side of the family suffered from, or does suffer from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart problems — even the skinny ones who don’t eat red meat! (Do not believe everything studies, polls, and the latest so-called information tells us — all things in moderation as the Word of God tells us) Sometimes things just happen and just are. And on my mother’s side of the family genetically there is this proclivity for these on-going ailments. I just happened to inherit some of them. The permanent nerve damage and chronic pain are something altogether different, and while I certainly would prefer a life here on earth without these things in my life 24 hours a day, 7 days a week I try to use the pain, the weakness to find a deeper and better “strength” along the way — and I find this in God, in Jesus, in the Holy Spirit, in God’s Word, in my trust for all of Them.

Personally, I do not believe mood altering medications are something a professed true believer of Jesus and God needs on a regular basis, or at all. True believers ought not to be going around having such depression they need Prozac, or some other anti-depressant drug to cloud and medicate them from reality.

On the other hand, that said, I do believe there are people who have sustained such trauma, or they have a mental problem brought on by chemical imbalances, or they need a medication on a temporary basis to get their focus and clarity and to get back on track, on the straight and narrow.

True believers become ill. We catch colds. We get the flu. We get cavities. As the Word of God tells us it rains on the unrighteous and brings forth their crops just as God brings the rain to the righteous. Also, true believers are not exempt from travails, troubles, and ills just as the unbelieving suffer the same travails, troubles, and ills.  Christians get cancer. Christians have heart attacks and die. Just as the unbelieving do. Being a Christian does not make one impervious or exempt from all that happens or can happen here in the flesh on this earth. As true believers we go to physicians to treat cancers, and heart conditions, and diabetes, and influenza, etc. It is how we deal with everything that happens, how we deal with everything spiritually in our lives that makes the difference. God did not only give each of us a spirit, a soul, a heart, a consciousness —

God gave us brains. Unique brains. We need to use them and not discount or discard them. The brain is as it is for God’s reason. God gave us the brains we have for a reason, and as the article below states God has greatly blessed the field of medicine and doctors and medical research — we ought to partake of those blessings to make us better servants of God and Jesus the Lord.

If a believer is having problems of personality, confusion, dementia, and other mental ailments I say and always will say that believer needs to go to God and Jesus daily regarding those problems and seek spiritual healing through prayer and God’s Word — WHILE ALSO USING THEIR BRAIN AND THE BLESSING OF RESOURCES AVAILABLE — DOCTORS, NURSES, MEDICINES — IN ORDER TO FIND CLARITY, CALM, AND GET IN A POSITION TO BE DEDICATED FOLLOWERS OF Jesus Christ the Lord, and of God our Father, to the very best of their ability.

A harried, confused, lacking clarity and focus, agitated, frantic, fearful, even hallucinating human being cannot be of the best service and use for the Lord, and such a person will have great difficulty in learning, discerning, and understanding the Word of God.

First and foremost God and Jesus are the Ultimate Healers, the Ultimate Physicians, but also They give us the doctors and the helpful medicines and medical facilities and procedures we have to spare us physically, so we can be better spiritually.

I also fervently believe it is the obligation and responsibility of every professed believer to pray for brothers and sisters in the faith suffering from various physical ailments, from worry, fear, confusion, and assorted pains be they physical or emotional. We are to pray for each other in faith God will measure out His will to each person accordingly.

And while we need to remember and believe God answers prayer and our requests, we must also acknowledge and accept what we ask for might not be in God’s plan for our lives — even though we do not understand that.

Do not forget — the Apostle Paul lived with a “thorn in the flesh” which was never removed. The Apostle Paul lived with a real pain (2 Corinthians 12:7). No one likes to live in pain. Paul sought the Lord three times to remove this source of pain from him (2 Corinthians 12:8). He probably had many good reasons why he should be pain-free: he could have a more effective ministry; he could reach more people with the gospel; he could glorify God even more! But the Lord was more concerned with building Paul’s character and preventing pride. Instead of removing the problem, whatever it was, God gave Paul more overwhelming grace and more compensating strength. Paul learned that God’s “power is made perfect in weakness” (verse 9).

The exact nature of Paul’s thorn in the flesh is uncertain. There is probably a good reason that we don’t know. God likely wanted Paul’s difficulty to be described in general enough terms to apply to any difficulty we may face now. Whether the “thorn” we struggle with today is physical, emotional, or spiritual, we can know that God has a purpose and that His grace is all-sufficient.

Sometimes a person needs a doctor. And sometimes a person needs medical help to get them through a serious problem. We should not discount or ignore these gifts, or these needs at times — while knowing in our hearts and minds God and Jesus are the Ultimate Physicians, and God’s grace is all-sufficient.

And this is not contradictory. It is how things are.

Should a Christian take anti-depressants or other mental health medicines?

Source: Got Questions . org

Answer: Panic attacks, anxiety disorders, phobias, and depression affect millions of people. Although medical experts believe that many times the aforementioned ailments originate within a person’s psyche, there are times when a chemical imbalance is the cause—or times when a problem that began in the psyche has contributed to a chemical imbalance that now perpetuates the problem. If this is the case, medication is often prescribed to help counter the imbalance, which in turn treats the symptoms of the psychological ailment. Is this a sin? No. God has allowed man to grow in his knowledge of medicine, which God often uses in the healing process. Does God need man-made medicine in order to heal? Of course not! But God has chosen to allow the practice of medicine to progress, and there is no biblical reason not to avail ourselves of it.

However, there is a fine line between using medicine for healing purposes and continual reliance upon medicine for daily living. We need to recognize God as the Great Physician, and know that He alone holds the power to truly heal (John 4:14). We need to look to God first and foremost for our healing. For example, medicine used to treat a case of panic attack should only be used to the extent that it allows the sufferer to deal with the root cause of fear. It should be used to give back control to the sufferer. However, many sufferers take medicine in order to avoid dealing with the true cause of their ailment; this would be denying responsibility, denying God’s healing, and possibly denying others the freedom of forgiveness or closure to some past event that could be contributing to the ailment. This, then, does become sin, as it is based on selfishness.

By taking medicine on a limited basis in order to treat the symptoms, then relying upon the Word of God and wise counsel to enact transformation in one’s heart and mind, usually the need for the medicine will diminish. [It would seem there are some people whose bodies require long-term usage of anti-depressants in order to keep symptoms at bay. Also, certain other psychological disorders, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, require long-term pharmaceutical usage, much like insulin for diabetes.] The believer’s position in Christ is affirmed, and God brings healing into those troubled areas of the heart and mind which are causing the ailment. For instance, when dealing with anxiety, we can look to what God’s Word has to say about fear and its place in a believer’s life. Reading through the following Scriptures and meditating on them can be a cure, as they give confidence and illuminate the truth of what being a child of God entails: Proverbs 29:25; Matthew 6:34; John 8:32; Romans 8:28–39; 12:1–2; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Corinthians 10:5; Philippians 4:4–9; Colossians 3:1–2; 2 Timothy 1:6–8; Hebrews 13:5–6; James 1:2–4; 1 Peter 5:7; 2 Peter 1:3–4; 1 John 1:9; 4:18–19.

God can heal supernaturally and miraculously. We should pray to that end. God also heals through medicine and doctors. We should pray to that end, as well. Regardless of which direction God takes, our ultimate trust must be in Him alone (Matthew 9:22).