Well-Being

With spiritual eyes I see God at work in me and in all people.

A friend asked me if I noticed how so many people complain for years about the same health condition or life problem, yet nothing changes. “Don’t they want to get well?” she asked.

I had to laugh. Hadn’t Jesus asked that question of the paralyzed man at the Pool of Bethesda, according to the writer of the Gospel of John? The meaning, as I remembered it, was: Don’t wait for someone to rescue you. God is the Source of your well-being. Believe it and you are healed!

“You mean, why don’t they just pick up their mat and walk?” I half-jokingly answered my friend.

Even as I said it, compassion and gratitude filled my soul. I remembered being one of those people. It seemed long ago and far away, but I lived in daily misery for decades, complaining to anyone who would listen while changing nothing.

I felt stuck in an emotionally abusive relationship—believing I was worthless—getting angrier, meaner, and more self-hating every year. I wanted a better life but had no clue how to get there.

I cried in the dark with self-pity, blamed those closest to me, and sank into addictions that ultimately drove them away.

How Mistaken Beliefs Shape Our Journey

In a 12-step program, I learned how sick I had been. Digging deeper revealed the choices that got me there.

From my earliest years, I developed habits of people-pleasing, obeying religious dogma, and trusting other people’s ideas on how I should live—essentially putting everyone else’s well-being before my own. Somewhere in the process, I lost my very self; I was an empty shell.

There was no one to blame—not my parents or teachers, not my partner or even myself. I was acting from mistaken beliefs that had helped me survive the fear and insecurity of growing up in a chaotic, unstable home.

It was hard to accept the damage I inflicted upon myself and others. However, that work brought healing and the chance at a new life, especially with my children. A loving God was quietly at work in me as I learned to pick up my mat and walk.

I had been sober a little more than a year when something unexpected happened. While waiting in family court—filled with fear and anxiety that I would lose my kids—I decided to give my problems to God. This was a decision, a commitment, I did not make lightly. It was difficult, and yet it was easy.

What Happens When We Let Go and Let God

I released the outcome in faith that whatever happened, we would be okay. I let go of fears about money and where we would live, trusting that whatever I needed to learn for us to be okay would be shown to me. And with that, it was done. The sense of relief and well-being was tremendous. I began to relax.

While things worked out that day in the courthouse, I still had a lot to learn about personal responsibility. Letting Spirit show the way has brought me through every life challenge—unemployment, relocating, cancer, divorce, starting a business and losing one, the deaths of loved ones, and a recent open-heart surgery. In each one, I wanted to be healed.

In time, I learned to see healing through not only physical eyes but also spiritual eyes. Spiritual eyes look past limitations, and they know nothing is impossible with God. They see healing happening in every cell and situation all the time. Most important, they show us our choices, pointing the way to well-being. I see it in my recoveries from heart surgery and cancer.

God is present in small things too—in turning off cable news for soothing music instead, stopping to meditate, write in my journal, or take a walk rather than feel lonely or anxious.

Affirming that God is my Source restores my sense of financial well-being which, in turn, opens the door to prosperity. With spiritual eyes I see God at work in me and in all people! This isn’t a spiritual bypass. It is seeing things rightly.

I did not have an answer for my friend who asked why some people don’t heal. But in my heart, I knew the Truth that we can.