Man, a tri-partite being exists in three parts that make up a whole; the spirit, soul and body. We have confirmation of this in many scriptures of the Bible.

1 Thessalonians 5:23
And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

To function effectively in this life, all three parts must work as one in purpose and will. The moment one part of our being is out of balance, things start going wrong in our lives. Because many people are dismissive of the spirit or the soul, they are not always able to identify where the problem lies, so they are not able to fix it.

It is not now, nor has it ever been God’s will for us to be sick and suffer illnesses; but with the entry of sin into the world things started going wrong in our lives. The ability to connect with God in our spirit came under attack, mental and psychological problems presented themselves and physical decay leading to death became our new reality. Therefore, I think it only fair to write about some of the physical struggles we are faced with in life as our bodies have to deal with all sorts of disorders, conditions, natural cycles that cause us pain and discomfort. We know that it will deteriorate over time and eventually die, and a body deteriorating over time will sometimes be in pain and generally not respond to life as well as it did when it was young and healthy. Eyesight dims, hearing impaired, joint movements slow or motionless, the aging process and its’ own set of unique attributes.

When we come to the Lord, we must begin to live in the Spirit and the emphasis is no longer on the physical man, but is now on the spirit man. However, the Lord does not expect for a moment that we should lose interest in looking after our physical body or allow it to fall into a state of disrepair. On the contrary, without this body we will not be alive, without it there would be no place for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to come in and dwell within us. We are need to look after our bodies. Now approaching the age of 53, I am dealing with things that I was definitely not prepared for.

I don’t remember any lessons or guidance on your body feeling like it is overheating to the point of combustion, followed by uncontrollable sweating, and the need to desperately seek for something; anything, to cool yourself down! Call me naïve, but through the years I have often seen women cooling themselves down with fans, sheets of paper, electric fans directed in their faces at work; and never thought to question it. All I knew was that I was nearly always cold and need fairly hot temperatures to truly enjoy the weather. I have often thought ‘it’s not that hot, why are they fanning sporadically?’ Obviously sometimes it’s the heat or a lack of air circulating in the room, but in these last 18 months I seem to have joined in this strange behaviour. Now a little older and wiser, I have come to realise that these ‘heat attacks’ as I call it, is none other than the onset of the menopause, a very natural cycle in our lives yet so full of varying degrees of discomfort pain!

Obviously with all the things happening in our lives, we take them first to the Lord, pray about them ask for healing, endurance and strength to cope with whatever is being thrown at us. But we must also acknowledge that we will not be healed of all ailments in this life because the promise of a perfect life without sickness and death is not here and now, it is the spiritual and everlasting life in Christ. We still need to be wise in looking after this body until it is time to go. We know in Genesis 1 that God gave us all the green herbs and fruits bearing seeds to feed our bodies and keep us healthy. And although we have moved so far from the life God had planned for us, we should continue where possible to use these natural remedies that grow on God’s green earth to help to keep our bodies going.

There are many things as Christians we seem reluctant to discuss or deal with, but for me I think it is good to talk and share our experiences to help each other. Sometimes we have family, friends, acquaintances, church brethren or strangers who are suffering in silence and dare not bring up certain life subjects for fear of reprisal; so it is very important that we talk about these very real issues to help someone who may be struggling with them.

Having always maintained a healthy lifestyle, and healthy diet where possible, I find that as we are getting older and our bodies are not functioning as well as they used to, it is wise to make healthy eating a priority and use healthy products on our skin. More recently I have re-acquainted myself with some healthy remedies my grandmother used to give me. One of them being root ginger, she would pop a small chunk into my mouth as a child to combat travel sickness… and it worked. I have recently become more involved in making my own juices using healthy organic products and avoiding those with unnatural sweeteners, artificial colours and preservatives. It is very exciting and therapeutic, and so much healthier for us as we get older. I have also been given a recipe of: apple cider vinegar, garlic and unpasteurised honey mixed together and taken daily in the morning to help with the effects of the menopause. I have only been using it for a few days so no updates on its’ effectiveness as yet!

However I am more than happy to trial healthy remedies with no side effects than the artificial alternatives with side effects. Don’t be afraid to use the natural remedies that come from the earth and balance it with the medical alternatives that God has blessed us with also. And please, introduce some exercise into your daily lives. Keep that heart healthy. Let us do the little things to help ourselves and leave God to do the big things. Remember Faith without Works is dead; so let’s not abuse our bodies and then expect God to work a miracle to fix it.

Don’t neglect your bodies, it is the house of the soul and the spirit; and the dwelling place of God, so it is important that we take care of it. We have a responsibility to look after ourselves as no one can do it for us. If you have any healthy remedies you are using, don’t be afraid to share them.

Be Blessed!