Review of Radical Well-Being
A biblical guide to overcoming pain, illness, & addictions
I have to admit that I was a little curious about the title of this book. Just the draw of finding a biblical guide to help with physical ailments was a topic of interest for me as I am currently struggling with several serious physical issues.
I couldn’t wait to dive into this book! Finding a quiet place to dig in was another story. So here I am, sitting in my van waiting on daughter #4 at the orthodontist office… I remember the book in my carry bag. With the warm sun coming through the windows, I settle in with the book and right away I am struck with the feeling of overwhelming peace.
I am a margin note taking reader. I don’t usually share my books once I work through them because they are written in, highlights are on most pages and I often go back through them a couple of times before they are ready to discard. This book has underlines on the introduction page! That is how fast I was drawn in and touched.
From the start, Rita identifies with me as a reader. She admitted that “Anytime she felt bored, anxious, angry, frustrated, or sad…she ate.” Um, that is so me! She goes on to explain that in her adult like, she discovered the secret to taking off the excess weight, keeping it off, and dealing with other physical ailments had nothing to do with dieting or willpower. Her position is that it has everything to do with dealing with the underlying thoughts and beliefs that have been buried so deep that I don’t even realize they are a part of me.
So before getting too deep into the whole biblical healing theory, let me tell you a little about her background. Dr. Rita Hancock is a board-certified Physical Medicine specialist with subspecialty board certification in Pain Management, and she has been in full-time practice in Norman, Oklahoma for fourteen years. Currently, she serves as the Oklahoma delegate for the Christian Medical and Dental Associations.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjintV2ZKgs?rel=0]Whew, sounds like she has put in the time in traditional school but what about the biblical angle on her medical practice? She explains “Controlling your unwanted behavior is important, but it’s not the whole answer. Good health requires paying attention to the inter-relationship between mind, body, and spirit.”
Your place to start for answers is with your submitting your mind to God. As a Christian, I am well aware that the accuser traps us into believing lies. Society is the playground of the accuser. Both men and women accept the lies of the world, often as the expense of their health.
Now don’t get me wrong, this book is not shoving religion down your throat. It does draw correlation between your mind, body and spirit when it comes to healing your physical problems.
Dr. Hancock uses several example client histories to explain how as adults, we are carrying around baggage from our childhood, and if not dealt with, will come back around to cause us physical illness or emotional suffering.
For example, a young girl that believed she was fat will often have self esteem issues long after learning to physically control her weight. The root isn’t the weight, it is the belief in the lies she buried as a child. Unless the lies are brought out and faced as lies…dealt with once and for all time…she will always have this cycle of gain weight, feel bad, eat because she feels bad which means more weight…and the cycle continues again and again.
This book is broken down into sections that are easy to follow and offer so much insight that I couldn’t put the book down.
Part One – You’re No Good – Bad old lies and what they do to you
Main Point: Don’t Believe Everything You Think!
Part Two – The Whole You – Connecting Mind, Body, and Spirit
Main Point: The Whole in Three / Sometimes Your Senses Lie
Part Three – The Spiritual You – Seeing Through God’s Eyes
Main Point: We Judge, but God Loves
Part Four – Take Captive Every Thought
Main Point: How Right Thinking Leads to Right Actions
Part Five – Hope in Your Future
Main Point: Biblical Steps to Healing and Health
One of my favorite parts in her book comes from Part Four – Taking your thoughts captive. In 2 Corinthians 10:4 Paul instructs us to “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and…take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
In the above, Paul is telling us to “Pay Attention! Filter out thoughts that conflict with God’s plan. Make yourself think the right way, and your right actions will follow naturally.”
How does all this fit together? We know that our bodies are perfectly and wonderfully made. They are made to live in balance. When we allow our lives to become unbalanced, our physical body will suffer.
Headaches, Intestinal issues, Non trauma related pains? Most of these are caused by outside forces that we have taken internally. By learning to bring your mind and spirit together in a relationship with God, your body will naturally respond.
Learning to identify your emotions is the basis of being able to deal with them.
Are you really hungry or did you get your feelings hurt?
Are you sure you are feeling angry or are you afraid of failure?
Are you sure you are sick or are you sick from hidden sin?
In order to learn how to stay away from the lies of the accuser, you need to correctly identify your emotions and address them head on. We need to learn to deal with losses, sin and mistakes and shake off the dust. You can’t continue to dwell on past issues.
Scripture teach us that hidden sins kill us from the inside out. It sabotages our emotions by causing guilt and shame, leads us into unhealthy stress-induced behaviors, and destroys our physical health too. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
Overall, I enjoyed this book! My margin note taker was in full swing throughout the book and the issues that came up in my live are noted and crossed off as I sought or offered forgiveness and healing. It has become almost like a prayer journal.
This walk we all must take is a journey. Christ is the answer and the only way to live a life full of the spirit and with a hope for eternity. This book is a wonderful tool to be used with biblical studies, prayer and many hours of soul searching.
I do hope you will join in on the journey and that one day you are “perfected” in mind, body and spirit in Glory!
For more information please check out Dr. Hancock online at RadicalWell-being.com or on Facebook
If you have interest in her book on dieting, it can be purchased on her site at TheEdenDiet.com
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