he said " i don't understand. i trusted the Lord with my health. i have been faithful. i can't understand why He let this happen.
i had no answer.
You should have told him this...
Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge
Proverbs 29:18
where there is no vision (revelation, understanding), the people perish
One must be very involved in living / walking in God's Word to walk in divine health which includes walking in His Wisdom where He will lead one to also take care of their own body (eat right, take supplements to get proper nourishment, get plenty of sleep, drink plenty of water, get some exercise, don't be stressful, etc which is all common sense stuff most people won't do )
And it's going to involve confessing God's promises concerning health as well as standing against symptoms. Confessing God's Word helps to control the mind. Jesus confessed God's Word when the devil attacked Him so this is the standard we should follow since this is what Jesus did. Butt, let's take it further and confess God's promises even in the good times when the devil is not attacking!
Over the years there have been times when I experiences alarming symptoms and I made up my mind God watches over His Word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12) where my life is concerned and like Abraham I'm convince He will in fact do what He said because He is not a liar and He loves me and will in fact move in my behalf. There cannot be any doubt!
Most people don't do any of this and listen to others who the devil is talking through sowing seeds of doubt causing them to wonder if it's God's will to heal them or keep them well. First order of business is to shut down any and all voices that are not in full agreement with God's promises which is how Jesus walked and the devil never could make Him sick
I've heard people say "well, what if you died?"
I'm like Glory to God, that would be great! In other words, I'm not afraid to die and would rather be with the Lord than stay here anyhow so the devil can't use fear of dying on me at all. I laugh at that! Getting in to fear will stop God's Word from working in one's life.
In short I don't care what the devil says or what people say, I've learned over the past few decades to trust only the Word of the Lord. Any source telling me God's promises don't always work are ignored. God's promises work for me because God cannot lie. He upholds all things by the Word of His Power (Hebrews 1:3). I'm standing on His Word therefore I will be held up and will be victorious. Period, end of discussion! (you gotta tell this stuff to the devil as part of walking in
James 4:7)
But then, I'm an extremist - I'm extremely blessed, I'm extremely well, I'm extremely joyful, I'm extremely thankful, I'm extremely victorious over anything evil the devil would try to bring in to my life.
Jesus said the devil had nothing in Him (John 14:30) because Jesus gave NO PLACE to the devil (Ephesians 4:27) because Jesus never allowed the 5 things the devil uses to choke the Word out to enter in:
Mark 4:13-20
And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?The sower soweth the word.And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
Here we see Jesus telling us the 5 things the devil uses to choke the Word and cause it to be unfruitful... IF these things are allowed to ENTER IN which we have the responsibility to not allow... see John 14:23 where Jesus says "If a man love me, he will keep my words" as in NOT allow it to be choked out of us.
The 5 things are... affliction, persecution, cares of this world, deceitfulness of riches, and lusts of other things
If any of these are allowed to enter in, then they will choke the Word of God out of your life causing you to be unfruitful meaning God's Word won't come to pass in your life.
If we let things slip we should repent and ask the Lord to forgive us for becoming faithless and then get back on God's Word doing what we know we should be doing and kick the devil out of out thinking, out of our speech, out of our actions