Should Christians Use Medicine To Treat Ailments?
Introduction
About four years ago I had some serious health problems that doctors said required some drugs to treat. At first I started to take the drugs as my doctors advised me to. However, after a little while I began questioning whether I was being an unfaithful Christian by doing so.
I asked myself questions like, “Am I being faithful to God by using these drugs instead of putting my 100% reliance on him to heal me?” I then began to pray about it about three years ago. I would ask God intermittently to show me if I was doing something wrong by taking the drugs that were prescribed to me. All the while I was, and still am, eating as healthy as I possibly can. I only eat the foods that God made. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and salmon.
I also began searching the scriptures for an answer to my question about whether or not I was OK with taking prescribed drugs. I didn’t really find any hard evidence from scripture for the last three years. However, that just changed right now as I was reading scripture this morning. God showed me the answer I was looking for.
Hezekiah’s Medical Story
For answer we need to look at 2 Kings 20. King Hezekiah was gravely ill on his way to death.
(2 Kings 20:1) "In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live."
Hezekiah’s response should be how every Christian responds when they have a sickness. He totally and completely submitted himself to God and prayed about it.
(2 Kings 20:2-3) "Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying, {3} I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore."
God tells us to do this. He tells us to bring everything to him in prayer and supplication.
(Philippians 4:6) "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."
What was God’s response to Hezekiah? Well, not only did he hear Hezekiah’s prayer, he agreed to answer the prayer, and heal Hezekiah.
(2 Kings 20:5) "Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD."
Not only that, but God gave him a bonus 15 years of life!
(Isaiah 38:5) "Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years."
Not only that, but God also delivered Hezekiah’s city out of the hand of the king of Assyria!
(Isaiah 38:6) "And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city."
You see, when you bring matters to the LORD often times he’ll not only answer your prayer, but he’ll give you more than you could have ever imagined. That is how good of a God he is and how much he loves us.
Now how does this all tie into whether or not Christians should use prescription drugs to help cure their ailments? Well, the answer lies here.
(2 Kings 20:7) "And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered."
Notice that God instructed Isaiah to use a lump of figs to heal King Hezekiah’s ailment that was going to kill him. Isaiah used the medicine at the time to heal Hezekiah, and it was right from God.
Word of Caution
A word of caution though. This story does not mean that we should just take whatever the doctor prescribes us. Often times doctors prescribe stuff that we don’t need, masks the problem, or makes new problems.
We should first seek the LORD in prayer, and see what he says. Ask him for wisdom. Next, we should eat only the foods that God made. God designed our bodies and the fuel for them. That fuel has a tremendous healing effect.
The vast majority of our ailments can literally be cured by simply eating right. I can personally attest to this. As I have been eating only God’s food for the last four years and almost all of my ailments have gone away, and the drugs used to treat them.
We have to remember that God foresaw all these ailments that we would face, and made food for us that would cure many, if not all, of those ailments.
Summary
In summary, whenever you face a medical situation in which a doctor prescribes you drugs, first seek the LORD in prayer. See what God has to say about it. If he gives you the go ahead, then it’s perfectly fine to take a prescribed drug. However, you should eat healthy too and use the healing powers of the food God made. Try everything in your power to get off all prescribed drugs. Most importantly keep in prayer about this subject. It took three years for God to fully answer my question about this. He will answer your prayer, if you are faithful to him.
How To Get Saved
If you are not saved yet by Jesus Christ for all of eternity, God wants you to know that you can be. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. God loves us so much he gave his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins on the cross even though we don't even deserve it. He was then buried for 3 days, and then gloriously resurrected 3 days later.
This is what the Bible says about how you can be saved:
(Acts 16:30-31) "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? {31} And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
If you want to know more about salvation and how to live a victorious Christian life after you get saved, I have a salvation guide on profile or here:
Amen rely on the only doctor you need—the Great Physician, Christ Jesus!