Jesus said, “Daughter, you took a risk trusting me, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed!”               Luke 8:48 The Message

Fifteen years ago I stood in my kitchen making a large batch of lip balm—more than enough for holiday gifts and a long winter’s personal supply. The fun of it all was rudely interrupted when a police officer came to my door.

My dear friend was driving across the country when he suffered a heart attack in the cornfields of Illinois. He stopped at a dilapidated bar—the only place in sight. The people inside ignored his pleas for help. He drove on and came upon a police officer who pointed him to a local hospital. When he sat on the exam table, he passed out. The nurse marked his record as “deceased” when they med-flighted him to St. Louis.

Police in my town were sure he was dead when they arrived at my door. But they didn’t want to say it. I was too upset.

Eventually, I spoke with the cardiologist who had got his heart beating, and he told me my friend would probably not make it through the night.

At 3:00 a.m. I stepped into the shower, crying and praying. “God, if you’re real…” One small step of faith.

At 6:30 a.m. he was off the ventilator. That afternoon, when I arrived at his bedside, he was more himself than he had been in some time.

I had witnessed a medical miracle, and there were more to come. The adventure continued. Throughout all of it, I felt like I was carried. Since I’d mostly ignored God for years, this became a major turning point in my life. God was at work in me. I proclaimed the power of prayer to anyone who would listen.

Ten years later my own nightmare began with a single antibiotic prescription. What more was there for me to learn? (That should have been my question. LOL But it was more like, “Why me? How could You let this happen?”)

Intellectually, I knew God is Love, and he wants to draw us to experience his love. But I was so sick I was unable to focus on much of anything. And I certainly couldn’t find the words to put together a coherent prayer. I was tired of praying, “help!” It felt like that was hitting the ceiling.

Help did come, but meanwhile I had time to ponder the various episodes in my life when focus failed, and prayer was difficult. God was with me in it all, that much I knew. I’d come through other challenges and witnessed the power of prayer for others. I wondered why I was going through this nightmare now.

This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer. . . “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. Isaiah 48:17

Reflecting back on decades of on-and-off dieting, over-eating and emotional eating, I was sick and tired of my life. The thought of binging myself to death had crossed my mind more than a few times. But I realized on my better days that “solution” wouldn’t be as easy as it sounds. In fact, it would likely be a painful, slow death. Not what I wanted. Then I came across God’s advice in Deuteronomy 30:19: “Now choose life.”

I decided I should take that advice. I decided to choose life, not that I knew exactly what that would entail.

Everything starts with a decision. Including healing.

Not long after, a friend recommended a book to me — Undoctored by Dr. William Davis. I picked it up and something clicked.

A protein called gliaden, a part of gluten, found in wheat and other grains, was acting like an opioid on my brain. No wonder I couldn’t stop eating. Every bite of flour or grain I ate only created more craving. More binges. More weight gain. More misery.

I decided to get rid of sugar and all grains. Though I was miserable, craving my favorite foods, the lifting brain fog told me I was definitely on the right track. After only a few days, I was beginning to feel like my long-lost self again. Weight started to melt away.

I believe that decision saved my life. Why?

It wasn’t long after when I was faced with a worsening autoimmune condition instigated by an antibiotic prescription. The medication had altered my gut bacteria (the microbiome) and allowed the bad bugs to take over, ruining my digestive system.

Long story short, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis by my gastroenterologist. My surgeon said it was Crohn’s Disease. No matter the label, it was serious and debilitating. Eventually I developed complications with skin lesions (Pyoderma Gangrenosum), joint pain, and iron deficiency anemia. Terrible fatigue and excruciating pain. I could barely walk.

How could this decision to eliminate sugar and grains be such a life saver? It gave me the wherewithal to make decisions about what I ate, instead of having to grab the food-drug of choice. Simple enough for a “normal” person to choose their own food plan. But not for someone susceptible to food addiction.

With this freedom came the ability to make better decisions for my health. Instead of continuing down the path of more and more powerful (destructive?) drugs, I chose to use food as medicine. Both my gastroenterologist and surgeon had insisted the disease had nothing to do with diet. Intuitively, I believed diet had everything to do with it.

Food and Prayer. Really, prayer is the key. Connection with all-knowing, all-powerful, unfailing Love. Relationship with God. And that’s another decision. One we can make every day, no matter who or where we are. God is always there, waiting for us to show up. Just decide to show up.

Do not worry… Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness…all these things will be given to you. Matthew 6:31-34

Okay. This time I’d truly put God first. Mostly, in my misery, I cried out to him for peace beyond understanding (Phil 4:7). And it would come. Trust built. God would heal me. It was promised in His Word. By His stripes, by His wounds, we are healed (1Peter 2:24).

I read about the invalid at the pool (John 5:6). This man had suffered with an infirmity for 38 years. Jesus asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

I screamed to myself, “Yes! I want to get well.”

The man offered up an excuse. After 38 years, was he paralyzed not just physically, but mentally and emotionally? Comfortable in his misery? So used to it, he barely tried to get to the healing water?

Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” He did. Immediately cured.

I told Jesus, “I’m the woman with the issue of blood” (Luke 8:48). In my thoughts, then in whispers, then out loud when no one was around.

Late one night I was in front of the television when an evangelist was praying for people out there in TV-land. “Someone … it’s like you’re the woman with the issue of blood. Jesus is healing you.”

That was a pivotal moment. I knew God put that phrase in her mouth so I would know. Yes, God cares about me. God heard my prayers. God loves me. God was with me. (1 John 4:8, Romans 5:8) It was months before the bleeding completely stopped, but I know healing began then.

Recently, I read The Message version of The Woman with the Issue of Blood. It was a God Nudge for me.  “Jesus said, ‘Daughter, you took a risk trusting me, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed!’”

Reading those words was eye-opening. “Daughter, you took a risk trusting me. . .”  Trust is key in deepening any relationship, and God is worthy of all our trust. I wondered if I’d taken any risk to trust God. I was surprised to say, yes. I had listened to that small voice. I took a path to healing using food as medicine and trust in the healing power of prayer. God answered prayer.

I learned even when we’re ill and in pain, it’s important—comforting—to decide to trust God. To speak the Word, the verses that support and encourage us in that process. To speak the Promises of God.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5: 14-15