Healing of the Soul and the Body

Spurgeon was a prolific preacher, who relied on gleaning gems of truth from the Scripture.  His church grew to be one of the largest in the world, all without the entertainment and experience that is passed off as worship in many of our churches today.  In the following commentary he discusses healing of the soul and the body.

It is the sole prerogative of God to remove spiritual disease.  Natural disease may be instrumentally healed by men, but even then the honor is to be given God who gives virtue to medicine, and bestows power to the human frame to cast off disease.  As for spiritual sicknesses, these remain with the great Physician alone.  He claims it as His prerogative, “I kill and I make alive, I wound and I heal.”  One of the LORD’s choice titles is Jehovah-Rophi, the LORD that heals us.  “I will heal thee of thy wounds,” is a promise that could not come from the lips of man, but only from the mouth of the eternal God.  On this account the psalmist cried to the LORD,  “O LORD, heal me, for my bones are sore vexed,” and again, “Heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee.”  For this, also, the godly praise the name of the LORD, saying, “He healeth all our diseases.”  He who made man can restore man.  He who was at first the creator of our nature can create it anew.   What transcendent comfort it is that in the person of Jesus “dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily!”  My soul, whatever your disease may be, this great Physician can heal you.  If He be God, there can be no limit to His power.  Come then with the blind eye of darkened understanding.  Come with the limping foot of wasted energy.  Come with the maimed hand of weak faith, the fever of an angry temper, or the ague of shivering despondency.  Come just as you are, for He who is God can certainly restore you.  None shall restrain the healing virtue that proceeds from Jesus our LORD.  Legions of devils have been made to admit the power of the beloved Physician, and never once has He been baffled.  All His patients have been cured in the past and shall be in the future, and you will be among them , my friend, if you but rest yourself in Him this night.

Milk Cartons

Living in another culture one tends to notice differences in how simple common occurrances in both cultures are handled.  One such difference is how you buy and store milk.  When I was a kid, milk was delivered to your house by the milkman in glass bottles put in the milkbox on the porch.  I remember when the milkman was replaced by 7-11’s, Shore Stops and other chains that sold milk from a refrigerated shelf in plastic containers or waxey cartons that had a built-in spout for easy pouring.

 After moving to Ukraine, we were surprised to learn that milk is sold in cartons, in stiff bags lined with aluminum, neither are refrigerated.  There are also thin plastic bags that are kept cold.  None of these options are easy to pour, particularly when they are first opened with the milk usually pouring down the sides and all over your counter.

The theory for why this happens is interesting, maybe to someone.  When the carton is filled the milk coming out doesn’t allow any air to enter the carton at the same time, thus the milk comes out in spurts.

 Well a few years after we arrived in Ukraine some cartons started having a built in plastic spout.  This was a significant improvement over pulling back the corner of the carton and cutting the end to fashion a spout.  Often we punctured the top of the carton to allow air to enter the carton when the milk was poured.

This past week we noticed another giant step forward for mankind in the evolution of the milk carton in Ukraine.  The little plastic spout on top of the carton now has two holes.  Unfortunately, when I pour milk, it still dribbles down the side.  Maybe when I grow up I will be able to pour without spilling.

House Calls

It is often difficult for young mothers in Ukraine whether they are nationals or foreigners.  Often I receive a call for medical advise to just help people through the medical system in Ukraine.  A young missionary family e-mailed me two days ago to ask for help.  Their nine month old was ill with respiratory distress, they had already seen five different doctors and still were not certain what was wrong with their child and if he was receiving the correct treatment.  Now they would like me to come to their apartment to examine their child.

The story started at the beginning of the week when the child developed a cough and a fever.  The child’s condition became progressively worse through out the day.  They called for a doctor who administered an injection and said she would return later in the day to check on the little boy.  If he was no better he would have to be admitted to the hospital.  The doctor did not say what was wrong with the child but left just after writing six precriptions.

As the day progressed the child became worse.  The parents were now faced with the decision of where to have their son admitted.  They took him to a private clinic called Boris.  They agreed the child needed to be admitted but would not admit him to the private hospital because he had diarrhea.

Well the child eventually was admitted to a government hospital for one night, but the parents took him home the next day because they thought their child was being treated no differently than what they were doing at home.

The child seemed to have a combination of acute asthma and croup.  Fortunately, by the time I examined the child he had significantly improved.  Thank you God for designing our bodies to be able to cope with many illnesses despite our attempts to practice medicine.  In Ukraine, nebulizers are not routinely available.  Albuterol and racemic epinephrine are not available at all. 

What pediatric visit would be complete without a plethora of questions from the mom.  This visit was no different.  The questions however concerned information regarding drafts, wearing slippers, and not going outside.  Apparently, one of the doctors who came to the apartment from the polyclinic would holler at the mom for not taking care of her child properly blaming her for why the child was ill.

After seeing the first child the parents asked if I would not mind examining there other two children.  This is not uncommon for pediatricians in America as well.  The twist came when they asked if I would also see two other children belonging to couple who were friends of the parents from two buildings down the street.

What initially began as a 45 minute visit turned into a marathon.  What we are trying to model to health care workers is how to build trust in their patients by providing consistent accurate information based on fact instead of superstition or tradition and to abandon their blind authoritative approach to delivering care.