Hi Gabriella,

Thanks for sharing this. I think there is some truth to this. Certainly as I improve my relationship with God, there is often a response in health or at least I handle my problems better. When I separate myself ....well I'm more vulnerable to the problems that exist and far more emotionally affected by them and less able to cope and accept my suffering.

However, let us not forget that suffering is part of life for most people and very much part of the walk of a Christian and I do not necessarily relate suffering/sickness to punishment either, or that increased suffering/sickness means that somebody is lapsing in their spiritual walk (though there are cases that can indeed be oppression etc).

I think there is the mistake that prosperity and health = favour with God. Jesus' death on the cross is a testament to the meaning of poverty, pain, trials and certainly there are plenty of holy people throughout history who have lead pretty wretched lives in sickness/suffering and poverty who have certainly carried a very heavy cross. And there are plenty of rotten people living the life of riley.

Though I must admit there have been many times in my life that either increased in health or increased in suffering has tested my relationship with God in different ways. The point is how I respond and whether I remain faithful or not in any such circumstances. Through sickness or in health, will I be faithful? Will my sickness and suffering cause embitterment, disallusionment and hate and finally a disbelief? Or will I look at the cross and learn some acceptance of the things I may not be able to change at the time and perhaps use my suffering for the good?

Will increased health and feeling good cause me to forget God and decide I don't really need Him anyway? Or will it cause me to be grateful and use my health for the good and help others not so fortunate?

Don't get me wrong, I do definitely feel that sometimes pains may WELL be a wake up call to us for the good of our souls, because without such, I wonder would we really consider otherwise? But I think it's too difficult for us to give one answer for it all, since we are all individual and God works on each of us differently and for different reasons, according to our needs.

There is no doubt that when I improve my walk with God, I do notice positive changes, but the main thing is the soul more than the body. As much as I get angry and frustrated at times (being only human) I try to remind myself that this is temporary.....I continue to make efforts with my diet etc regardless, because I know God wants us to try regardless and also remain faithful. The rest is up to Him.