Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Faith vs. common sense

FOX News reported the story of a family in Wisconsin who's 11 year old daughter died recently from ketoacidosis, a complication of diabetes. The reason? Rather than admit their daughter had diabetes and seek medical treatment, they chose to pray for her healing. This young girl died a slow death, as her body was consumed with too much sugar and no way to deal with it.

My husband has been diabetic since he was six years old. His parents prayed constantly for his healing...probably still do...but they also gave him the treatment he needed to live. Does that mean they didn't have enough faith? Hardly! It means they used the common sense God gave them to care for their son.

I guess this begs the question of faith versus common sense. At what expense do we continue to pray, while doing nothing on our own to help the situation? Scripture exhorts us to "pray without ceasing". OK, so pray, but if God has provided a way of help, then take advantage of it. God, through modern medicine, has provided a way for diabetics to live a productive, healthy life. They prayed for their daughter, He provided a way of escape and they ignored what was right in front of them because it wasn't the complete healing they were praying for.

Did they ever consider the possibility that this disease was part of God's plan for their daughter's life? Part of His greater purpose? Mike will tell you he is thankful for his diabetes because of the discipline it has taught him in every area of his life. He has seen it as a blessing of sorts, not a death sentence. All of us want our children to be healthy, but it's not an all or nothing deal. We can't say, "God heal my child, or I'll just let them die."

I would venture to guess this family thinks they did the right thing. You would have to be incredibly committed to your belief in order to watch your young daughter die such a slow, horrible death, especially knowing it could easily be prevented. The mother is holding on to the notion that God is going to resurrect her daughter. I pray the Lord will minister His truth to their hearts.

4 comments:

  1. What a sad story....:( It never ceases to amaze me at how Satan can deceive people, especially people who appear to be devout Christians.

    Like you, I pray that the Lord will speak to their hearts and bring them comfort, but also wisdom.

    Hugs,
    Donna

    ReplyDelete
  2. That poor little girl. I believe God allowed Dr's to find away to help us and so we should consider that as our answer to prayer. I am sure people 100 or even less years ago prayed for the technology we have today. Their prayers were answered yet some people don't see it that way. Sad Sad.
    :>Michelle
    @ hsb SeekingJesusnTeachingKids

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  3. You stated that very nicely. I agree.

    Nowadays we can pray for the miracle of God providing the money to pay the hospital bills!

    ReplyDelete
  4. If it were God's plan for this child to be diseased, why did He put it on Jesus? Didn't He bear the curse so we could be free? Sounds like double jeopardy.

    (Agreed that the parents did the wrong thing - obviously)

    ReplyDelete

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