1. Understand the Origin of Sickness and Do Not Complain Against God
No matter what kind of sickness we get, first of all, we should not blame God or misunderstand God, because sickness came about after we humans were corrupted by Satan. God’s words say: “What is the source of the lifelong suffering from birth, death, illness, and old age that humans endure? What caused people to have these things? Humans did not have them when they were first created, did they? Where, then, did these things come from? They came into being after humans were tempted by Satan and their flesh became degenerate. The pain of human flesh, its afflictions, and its emptiness, as well as the extremely miserable affairs of the human world, only came once Satan had corrupted mankind. After humans were corrupted by Satan, it began to torment them. As a result, they became more and more degenerate. The diseases of humanity grew more and more acute, and their suffering became more and more severe. … Thus, this suffering was brought down upon humans by Satan. Therefore, in order to bring them back from Satan’s hand and grant them a wonderful destination, God had to experience this suffering Himself.”
As we all know, Adam and Eve in the beginning lived in the Garden of Eden under God’s care and protection, entirely free from worry; they knew no sickness or death, much less any distress or worry. Later, Adam and Eve were seduced by Satan into eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had forbidden them to eat, and so they shunned and betrayed God, they lost God’s care and protection and they fell under the domain of Satan. Therefore, sickness, worry, emptiness, death and so on fell upon mankind. From this we can see that sickness is the result of the corruption and harm inflicted on us by Satan. So, when we get sick, we should be reasonable and take the correct approach to it, and we should not blame or misunderstand God.
2. By Following the Laws of Life Set Down by God, We Can Reduce Instances of Sickness
God created all things in heaven and on earth and He created mankind. God also laid down the rules and laws of life for mankind and for all things. For example, God prescribed for mankind that we should eat three meals a day, work in the daytime and rest at night, and eat the food God provides for us in accordance with the seasons, and so on. Only by following the laws of life God has laid down for man, by enjoying the daily bread God bestows on us and by living on earth in an orderly way can we avoid some illnesses. However, in order to satisfy our physical desires, most of the time we violate the laws of life which God has laid down for man, and this in turn results in our bodies being afflicted by all manner of sicknesses. For example, some people, in order to satisfy their appetite, often do such things as eat and drink as much as they want, and they even eat junk food over a long period, which then leads to nutritional deficiencies and decreased immunity, and they develop some diseases. Especially in this age of advanced science and technology, people can buy anything they need without even having to leave their home, and many people do not get enough exercise. Sitting in front of a computer for a long time in one position can cause cervical spondylosis and lumbar disc protrusions. These examples are all the bitter fruits of violating the laws of life which God has laid down for us. Therefore, we should follow the laws of life laid down by God and, according to our individual circumstances, make appropriate adjustments to our patterns of work and rest, and we should keep exercising. In terms of diet, we should focus on nutrition. Living this kind of regular, orderly life can reduce instances of sickness.
3. Be at Peace Before God and Reflect on Ourselves, and Confess and Repent to God
Some sicknesses are caused by the laws of nature, but there are others which also do not happen for no reason, and God’s good intention is behind these sicknesses, as God arranges them so that our corruption and rebelliousness may be cleansed and changed. Because we have been so deeply corrupted by Satan and we are filled with such satanic dispositions as being arrogant and conceited, selfish and contemptible, crooked and deceitful and wicked and greedy, we are often incapable of stopping ourselves from sinning and resisting God. In order to awaken us and to make us no longer rebel against or resist Him, and so that we are not fooled and harmed under Satan’s domain, God uses the refinement of sickness to make us reflect on and know ourselves. This precisely fulfills the words in the Bible: “For whom the Lord loves He chastens” (Hebrews 12:6). Therefore, when we get sick, we should come before God, pray and seek God’s will, reflect on whether or not we have gone against God’s will. In the course of our seeking and reflecting, God will enlighten and guide us so that we are able to see clearly our corruption and rebelliousness. From this, we are able to appreciate God’s painstaking efforts to save us.
4. During the Refinement of Sickness, Have Faith and Stand Witness for God
During the process of God saving us, God will use various circumstances to trial and refine us, thereby purifying our corrupt dispositions. At the same time, He arranges situations to perfect our faith in Him and love for Him. As recorded in the Bible, for example, Job followed God’s way, and he feared God and shunned evil. God commended Job’s faith and called Job a perfect man in His eyes. Satan, however, was not convinced, and it wanted Job to deny and betray God, and so it tempted Job many times and caused his body to erupt in painful boils, from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. Though Job was in extreme pain, he never blamed God, but instead said such rational things as, “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10) and stood firm in his testimony to God. We can see from the trials of Job that some sicknesses are the temptations from Satan. Satan wants to use sickness to destroy our faith in God, to make us blame God, betray God and leave God. Yet the wisdom of God is exercised based on the deceitful schemes of Satan and, through sickness, God perfects our faith in Him. In this way, we can submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements, we are no longer constrained by sickness, and we can continue to stand in the place of a created being to worship God; we can persevere in doing the duty of a created being and we can face it calmly whether God takes our sickness away or not, and we will not complain, but can persevere in our faith in God and in pursuing the truth. This is the most powerful testimony that defeats Satan, and only by practicing in this way can we win God’s praise and blessings.
Finally, we must take note that, as we examine ourselves and experience God’s work when we get sick, we can choose to seek medical help or to get through it by relying on our faith—there are no rules about this. What is most important is that we are able to gain the truth from it and that our lives see some progression and reap some results.
I hope that the four principles of practice that have been fellowshiped above may be helpful to you.
