She was plagued by poor health until God healed her through her diet
By Rhonda J. Smith
In my primary school lunchroom I would stare at the poster that was screaming at me but I could not understand what it was saying. There were pictures of animals and foods representing the various food groups and a caption that read “You are what you eat.” My 7-year-old mind could only understand the caption to mean “If I ate a cow, I would be a cow.” “If I ate cheese, I would be cheese?” I shrugged, tucking away this early lesson in proper eating and only pulling it back out 27 years later, when the fullness of that message would come to me.
“You are what you eat”: You will be unhealthy if you eat unhealthy. You will be healthy if you eat healthy. After suffering for years with chronic constipation, yeast infections, acne, arthritis, abscesses, extra weight, lesions on my gums, poor circulation, inflammation in my chest and a depressed immune system, I came to understand that most of my health issues were directly related to what I ate. I received this revelation not from family members or health care providers but the Lord Himself after crying out to Him after my umpteenth yeast infection.
Being raised on and cooking fat-laden soul foods in addition to the Standard American Diet (SAD) of meat and potatoes, fried and processed foods with very little fresh fruits and vegetables, like many African Americans from the South, my parents just didn’t have the knowledge to help me. I didn’t have heart issues or “sugar” so they didn’t have a clue that my issues were food related. Even the host of primary care physicians and specialists I went to gave me little help. Of the half dozen or so doctors I saw, only two gave me a dietary plan but then told me I could return to my normal way of eating once my symptoms were gone. The others just gave me a prescription to relieve my symptoms. I never got knowledge on how to prevent the issue so I wouldn’t get any symptoms at all. They simply specialized in pain relief. But God specializes in root relief. He specializes in healing.
God said about Jerusalem: “Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth” (Jeremiah 33:6 KJV). God let them know that He was not just going to bandage their wounds (health) and give them a remedy to heal (cure) them. He was also going to heal (cure) them and then show them how to have a wealth of soundness (peace) in their bodies and His truth as opposed to the falsehood that they had been receiving. He did the same for me:
He gave me His Scripture. “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” (Jeremiah 33:3). Having poor health most of my life and little relief, I thought I just had to accept poor health as part of my life, but the Holy Spirit in me had me cry to the Lord for deliverance from the pain and sluggishness. Soon after I asked the Lord to help me, I was watching a Christian television program I rarely watched and they were discussing Bible cures for various ailments, including yeast infections.
He gave me His servants. Dr. Don Colbert, a Christian medical doctor who incorporates natural healing methods in his practice, was on this program discussing his books and some ways that certain foods affect the body’s health. Soon after that I saw another Christian, a naturopathic doctor, Valerie Saxion, giving similar information on another television show. I went to the bookstore and immediately purchased some of their books. At the health food store purchasing the foods for my new dietary program, a person there recommended a book with nutritional cures from common ailments. With my new books and a new food plan, I was able to heal myself from my yeast infection and have only had one in 10 years (due to an imbalance in my eating). My skin has cleared; inflammation is not constantly with me; my circulation is good; I don’t experience gum lesions or get abscesses; my immune and digestive systems are strong; and I have lost weight. My doctors’ visits are always great. When I was pregnant at 40 with my last child, my OB-GYN would always say “You are the healthiest pregnant woman I know. There is nothing wrong with you.”
He gave me a service. I need to be physically healthy so my body (personally and the Church at large) can be spiritually healthy to serve the Lord. This applies to us all. When our bodies are in pain it’s harder to do the work of the ministry. We are all called to “make disciples of all nations” in order to build up God’s kingdom (Matthew 28:18-20). Physical ailments cause the body to be weak and take a toll on our minds and emotions. In this state, we lack the wherewithal to fulfill the call to ministry. I seek to maintain my healing so I can have the strength to complete the assignments God has given me. I continue to embrace what I have learned and am always learning more.
Jesus became my savior at 26, but it wasn't until my umpteenth yeast infection at 34 that I sought to make Him Lord over my health. When I gave my health to Him He gave me natural ways to heal myself and spiritual ways to sustain my health. I didn’t want to be like my relative who says, “Well, we got to die from something.”
Well, we don’t have to die from something that God has shown us how to prevent and even cure ourselves of. Don’t just give up. Fight with everything in you. God will let you know if your healing is on this side or on the other side of life with Him. He decides that so we must always cry out to Him to know what healing we need to seek. It’s there for us. We belong to Jesus and “by his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
Rhonda J. Smith is a wife, mother, minister, teacher, writer, speaker and friend who is dedicated to marriage, motherhood and ministry. Her great desire is to see people prosper in their bodies and spirits. To that end, in 2012 she founded Soul Delights LLC , a company that provides practical and principled products, services and programs to nourish the body and soul. Soul Delights’ signature program, Your Fast for Life, is a 40-day online program based on Smith’s two decades’ of knowledge that gives members spiritual and practical tools to change their health right in their homes.
Click on the cover to read this story and other powerful testimonies in the spring issue of The Well Magazine.
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