Family Health

Going through various trials of our family happiness, my wife and I came to the conclusion that health is a significant factor that strongly affects the atmosphere in our home. Although health itself cannot be the building material of our happiness, because on this earth a person can lose it, the lack of physical strength can turn into a great misfortune for us, with which it will be very difficult to live.

Having gone through trials with unwelcome illnesses, we realized how vulnerable, weak, and dependent we are on God’s protection in this matter and in the matter of healing. We heard that a Health Reform was given to God’s people, and God expects that we will accept it into our home as well and live in this light constantly.

Even before the wedding I had repeatedly encountered this topic, and my wife was also familiar with the principles of health. And since this light was part of our church’s teaching, we assumed that we would be healthy by default and would agree with everything that is told to us about this in sermons and in all sorts of lectures on a healthy lifestyle. But after we were ill, it became clear to us that the message of the Health Reform needs not only to be heard, but also to be studied, asking the Lord to reveal the depth of all the health principles set forth and pleading for wisdom from above to apply this light in our lives.

It seemed to us that our faith in God’s ability to heal any disease would be enough to fight any ailment. But in practice we were convinced that God does not answer every prayer for healing in the way we ask and expect. And sometimes we saw that the recovery of the body of some ignoramus in the matter of health would not be a blessing for him, but would give him a reason to further destroy his organism, expecting another miracle from above if illness should come again.

If we take into account the latest political events that are happening around us, it becomes clear that soon medicine will be monopolized by the enemy of the soul, and it will begin to be used against humanity to carry out the cunning designs of Satan and to enrich certain pharmaceutical corporations.

The prophecy in Rev. 18:23 that the pharmakeia of Babylon (translated “sorcery”) will deceive all nations also made us think about the conformity of our life to God’s principles and to the light that we have. We became concerned about how brightly this light shines in our family. After all, the established system of Satan will either soon cross us out, refusing to serve us with its achievements, or ruin us, convincing us that one must pay for health.

We were familiar with the 8 factors of health, and we could recite all these principles by heart, assuming that this was enough for God to bless us with health and joy of life.

The foundations of health are set forth very clearly in the works of the Spirit of Prophecy and include such concepts as air, sun, water, physical activity, rest, temperance, proper nutrition, and trust in God. This sounds very beautiful. But having applied only one of these directions, we understood how deep the principles set forth are when you begin to study them and delve into the essence of things.

What do we know, for example, about water? That it needs to be drunk from 1 to 2 liters a day depending on body weight. This is worth doing, but it is also necessary to understand what water is, what properties it has, what its shelf life is, how its purity is determined, and how dangerous it can be if it is drawn from unfamiliar sources. Water is the most universal solvent and begins actively to dissolve and absorb everything with which it comes into contact. We do not know how all sorts of invisible waves and sound vibrations affect it, and how it reacts to our speech and to the spirit in which we drink it. Are the kettles in which we boil our water useful? Is this same water useful when contained in all sorts of drinks and products? Having tried to study only this factor, we saw a whole world that was unfamiliar to us and greatly surprised us. The question immediately arose—where to get clean water in urban conditions. We did not want to trust the manufacturers of bottled water, and the prospect of being constantly dependent on them did not delight us either. Tap water as a drink categorically did not suit us. And our own wisdom on this issue was not enough, and we began to pray.

In a similar way we approached each point of health. Delving into our church’s teaching regarding the Health Reform, we understood that our consciousness is so filled with various stereotypes and barriers, and the message itself is held in such neglect, that we became frightened for our health. The result was the following. We expend our natural potential of energy and reserve of strength granted to us at birth and live, assuming that it will always be so. Or we clog our organism with whatever comes to hand with our own money, assuming that prayers for blessing will be sufficient. But our body periodically sends us signals and warnings that something is wrong with it.

Any point in the message of the Health Reform is an entire science which harmoniously combines with the Word of God, with common sense, with the Spirit of Prophecy, and with scientific discoveries in this field. God, by sending this light, desired to see His people happy, healthy, and wise. The Lord repeatedly assured us through His messenger that everything we eat and how we live has the most direct relation to our salvation, although it is not salvation itself. God indicates that neglect of the laws of health is the same sin as failure to keep God’s commandments.

All these discoveries prompted us to approach each point of the message about health very seriously and to take a definite position on this question.

The most difficult thing turned out to be to abandon the commonly accepted stereotypes that simply shackled our consciousness and blocked our will. But when the Lord very clearly showed us the true beauty of His creation, the power of His nature, the depth of His laws of health, then all fears left us, and faith in God’s power helped to overcome all barriers in our mind and to break all the fetters of laziness and ignorance.

And, of course, we very much wanted to share with others our discoveries and that wonderful light which so brightly illuminated our path. And for some reason we were asked not to be fanatical in this matter and to show temperance and moderation in all points.

We thought that our older brethren already knew everything long ago and that we would tell them nothing new, but everything turned out exactly the opposite, although there were those who rejoiced in our research and listened to us with pleasure, striving to live in the light received.

Our understanding of the truth in other matters also became more perceptive and clear. Many causes of our ailments were discovered, and we no longer wanted to live in ignorance.

Our mutual love and ability to agree about everything led us to unity in all matters, although we understood some things in our own way.

The blessings of health did not keep us waiting long. It was so pleasant to realize that health is not an accident, but a conscious harmony of our will and mind with God’s laws of nature and happiness.

1. Please read Jer. 33:3; 3 John 1:2; Prov. 3:5–8, 16; 4:20–22; 5:7–13; Ps. 126:2; Isa. 1:2–6; John 5:6, 14; Matt. 9:12, 21–22; 10:1; Hos. 11:3; 1 Cor. 10:31 in the light of this lesson.

2. What did you understand from this topic?

3. What other verses from the Bible came to your mind?

4. What is health?

5. Is health an accident?

6. Has the Lord invested in the natural world around us a power of life unknown to us?

7. Is it worth studying the secrets of nature and extracting for ourselves knowledge useful for health?

8. If I do not see air, does this mean that it does not exist and contains nothing special?

9. What do you think—does water, air, sun contain something great and accessible which we do not know?

10. If I begin to study the laws of health and the deep properties of each principle of health, will the Lord reveal their depth to me?

11. Will the laws of health lose their power if I do not believe in them?

12. Are you not frightened by the simplicity of God’s laws for the healing of body and soul?

13. Have you ever heard such a saying about the health reform: “It is so simple as to be hard to believe”?

14. What will happen to the body of a person who neglects even one principle of health?

15. Is it really so important to have health in the last days and to know in practice the laws of health?