This might be a click-bait title, I am sorry about that, but it is actually a question I was directly asked once over the phone.
On one hand the question sounds ridiculous, right? How in the world could any one, least of all me, know the answer to this? What ONE herb can cure cancer??? Was he serious? If I knew of one, single plant that could literally cure cancer, I doubt I would be here just talking about tinctures and planting random gardens and just keeping it all to myself. Everyone would know because I would have told the world. Because everyone has been touched in some way or another by the devastation of cancer, so everyone and their brother would be sharing the cure.
Bad timing
This question came only weeks after two very close people to me passed away just two months apart from one another, both from cancer. My uncle, who was more like a big brother, and my friend, mentor and founder of Shawnee Moon, Victoria.
I tried pointing him to some of the Shawnee Moon formulas created for supporting immune health and normal cellular apoptosis. He was not satisfied. He insisted that there was one herb that was the ‘best’ for fighting cancer. My recommendations continued to come up short to his expectations.
Finally, I made a statement along the lines of, “Well, we each have to just analyze the information and research the data and the options available (herbal or medical) and then pray about it and trust that we will honor God through whatever the outcome of our choices.”
This again, was not satisfactory to the gentleman on the other end of the line. His tone changed, he was frustrated. He raised his focus and insisted that he needed the ‘facts’, that there must be data on it, and flatly put down the idea of faith, or prayer being at all a part of the equation. He stated that he needed to know to tell his friend dealing with a grim cancer prognosis.
I don’t have all the answers
At this point, it was clear that there was no more I could say to get on the same page with him. I replied to his heated retort with a low-key speech of something like, “If you are interested in trying any of our products, you can view them on the website at shawneemoon.com and if you have any further questions you can email me at…”
I made my point, and he got the hint and hung up with a bang. I set the phone down and sobbed.
Looking back
As I said at the beginning of this, on the one hand, his question seemed ridiculous. But now looking back, on the other hand, I completely understood the place the gentleman was coming from who posed the question. Perhaps it was unreasonable, but that is the place we can all find ourselves in; a place of exhausting all the options and holding out hope against hope for a cure…
At the time, I was seriously burdened with the recent losses to cancer in my own life. As much as I told myself it wasn’t my fault, a part of me struggled with the thought that I didn’t do enough to help Paul or Victoria. That if only I had done more research, or tried ‘this’ herb or ‘that’ protocol, that maybe things would have turned out differently… This question in that phone call at that time was the final knock out punch in the boxing ring of this thought pattern that I was trying to get out of.
Working through this situation and also the things I was struggling with at the time, really helped me to form my entire world view regarding health and wellness. In overcoming the burdens I kept hanging on to, I had to release them to Jesus, the one true cure for all things, physical, spiritual, emotional, mental, and any other ‘-ical’ you can think of.
God taught me a lot about His heart for wellness in all areas of our life. But also that, in this age of Grace that we live in, we have liberty in Him to make a lot of choices on our own. (this applies to health and other areas of our life; but I don’t think most people take it into account with deciding health choices, unless of course there is a ‘life or death’ situation, or we think that “now” at this point, I’m out of options so ‘now’ I will pray about it).
So in this liberty we have living under the grace of God, when we are in His word and praying for His will in our life and we bring our health and wellness concerns to Him in prayer, He will guide us and direct us, just like He does in every other area of our life. We may feel convicted to always use the ‘natural’ way first, we may be led to only go to medical doctors our whole life, you may be called to use a mixture of the two paths in your wellness journey… the point here is that you are listening to the will of God in this area of your life, just like every other area.
No matter what you choose to do in what health situation; if you are following the Lord’s leading and the convicting of the Holy Spirit, then you will be better able to glorify God in that path than if you did anything else out of fear or peer-pressure. You will better glorify God on that path than I could if I was just doing ‘it’ cause you were doing ‘it’ and not because I felt led to by God.
To sum up..
This all to say, God is always wanting us to release control of more and more areas of our lives. Our health is one of those areas that we often don’t think about as being something to make a matter of prayer, out side of, ‘dear Lord, I’m sick; heal me’. He wants so much more than that. His ways are perfect and higher than our ways and all things in this life, (when we are truly seeking to be more like Jesus), are a part of the plan that is for our good and His glory.
PS- If you are interested in hearing some of the scriptures that go along with this point of view, sign up for my next ‘Biblical Perspective of Wellness‘ class.
