Hey, post-readers! Hope you’re all having a Sunderful day! (“wonderful” + “Sunday,” hehe ;-).)

I’m presently — and  rather obviously  — sitting at a computer, resting beneath a ceiling fan sipping green tea with a Yorkipoo curled atop my right foot like it’s a canine body pillow (I should patent that idea). One of my dear beautiful  friends is poolside, soaking up some sun (I’ve had my daily allotment of UV rays!), and our significant others are washing our cars! We are very blessed young ladies!

As some of you may know, I was diagnosed with “infectious mononucleosis” three weeks ago. What I may not have mentioned was the doctor’s orders: No working out for four weeks…

I can’t say I’ve faithfully adhered to his treatment plan, but I can explain!

Allow me to back up a bit and provide my beliefs when it comes to sickness and healing. Scratch that; I just had to remind myself that this is a blog post, not a book chapter. However, for more on the subject, you are certainly invited to check out my forthcoming book!

Toward the end of my struggle with anorexia and a perverted preoccupation with food and exercise, the Lord began to speak a sobering message into my spirit: I care for every part of you, spirit, soul, and body.

This unwavering whisper led me beside still waters where I was refreshed and filled with the confidence to boldly approach God’s throne with any care or concern (Hebrews 4:16). No longer would I pray only for things I deemed “worthy” or “acceptable” to an Almighty, Sovereign Lord. Yes, He’s King, but He’s also our Father! He longs to comfort us, lead us, and give us rest, no matter the magnitude of our struggle; in fact, He delights in it!

“For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” -Zephaniah 3:17

Since overcoming that physical battle, I’ve brought countless, more minor injuries and illnesses — including mono! — before the Lord. But I don’t simply plead for healing — I receive it!

Matthew 21:22 records Jesus’ words which teach that in all things that we pray for, we should believe to receive. James 4:2 says we don’t have because we don’t ask. I think many Christians today view sickness as something they have no power to overcome, apart from doctors’ appointments and drug stores. The Word of God teaches us that we have greater authority than most of us realize…

Hebrews 1:2 says that Jesus is the “express image” of God, or, in the Amplifed Version, the “perfect imprint and very image of God’s nature.” You cannot read the four gospels without being awed and overwhelmed by the graciousness, gentleness, mercy, and love with which Jesus, God incarnate, healed the sick and suffering. But He did not, and could not, for that matter, heal everyone…only those who believed to receive (John 5:6; Matt. 13:58).

I think I “backed up” enough to now give you the facts about my relationship with the “kissing disease” known as “mono.” They are as follows:

• I was diagnosed on August 9th.
• From that day forward, I began reading and learning all I could about the illness. Frightening photos of swollen lymph nodes, exudative pharyngitis (truly a lovely sight!), and horror stories of swollen spleens that eventually burst contributed greatly to…
• Increased anxiety!
• That anxiety turned to fear.
• That fear, in turn, made me feel worse day by day; I had intolerable lethargy, weakness, and even unjustified feelings of depression by August 16th.
• At the end of the day on the 17th, I took charge! I was “sick and tired of feeling sick and tired,” as they say. I had allowed fear to form a stronghold, and in so doing exacerbated the symptoms of mono, which had, up until my official diagnosis date, been relatively mild.

Reiterating the biblical principle that life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21), Jesus told His disciples to speak to their problems:

 

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”-Matthew 17:20

 

So what did I do?I mobilized the muscle right above my swollen lymph nodes and just in front of my red tonsils to speak to my body. With my tongue I proclaimed 1st Peter 2:24 which says by His wounds, we have been healed.

Jesus has already provided the healing! He even commanded His disciples – that includes you and me – to continue His work of deliverance, both spiritually and physically, saying: “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give (Matt. 10:8).

 

Despite the healing provided for us through Jesus, sickness is still pervasive in the Church and disregarded as “part of life” when in fact, it is part of death. The belief that sickness is normal is, in my opinion, one of the most efficient “flaming arrows” Satan shoots into our minds (Ephesians 6:16). When we don’t defend against the arrows of deception and then accept the lie as truth, he gains permission to make us sick and make us worse.

Simply talking was the first step to ridding my body of mono for good. I had to revoke its permission to be in my temple. This was as easy, if not as absurd sounding, as refusing to remain sick by saying, I don‘t want to be this way anymore. This sickness does not belong in my body!

My family and friends can attest to the fact that immediately after I took mono “outside,” so to speak, I felt the weight of its symptoms lift. Energy rushed into me again. I felt effortlessly sociable. My body was “prospering” again, just as my spirit is (3 John 1:2).

Now, all of that said, my lymph nodes haven’t completely deflated yet, and two days ago my throat was rather unhappy. So I took it easy and consumed an abundance of antioxidants! 😉 What I refused to do was doubt that healing was on its way and allow fear to creep back into my psyche. I reminded myself of Daniel chapter ten when an angel appeared and told the prophet that he had been detained by a demonic “prince.” Daniel’s prayer had been answered long before angelic help could be delivered, but the delay didn’t discourage Daniel, nor keep him from praying and believing.

“Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.” -Daniel 10:12

It’s hard to comprehend the spiritual warfare that is being waged this very moment in dimensions physicists can hardly theorize. But despite our ability to fathom, let alone visualize, the realities of satanic attacks, oppressive spirits, and demonic delays, the Bible clearly tells us they exist; we feel their effects, and so we must use the Armor of God to fight against them (Ephesians 6:10-18).

I rejoice that the battle over death, sin, and the grave has already been won! Nothing Satan fires our way can loose us from Christ’s hand; we are His! (John 10:29). However, through sickness, depression, grief, strife, temptation and dissension, our gospel-carrying work can be severely hindered so that the Light we contain has little effect in the darkness around us.

I thank God that healing is on the way as I continue to stand by the verse I posted back on August 9th:

Isaiah 53:4-5
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.

Stay fit, stay faithful ~<3 Di