Untying the Knots

In an interesting, even at times disturbing book, a Canadian doctor describes the connections between the emotions and relationships in a person’s life and their health. He says that if the primary relationship between mother and child is negative that alone predisposes the child to illness. In other words, we are more apt to get chronic and life-threatening diseases if we do not experience the love of our mothers.

When the Body Says No, by Gabor Mate, is a difficult read and there is much more to this than my simplistic description. However, when I overlay my knowledge of what the Bible says, the parallels are astounding.

For instance, this observation about mother-child relationships includes the receptivity of the child to the parent. That is, if the relationship goes awry, the adult child can hold resentment and anger against the parents, and those emotions have a negative effect on that adult child’s health. Therefore, when God tells us to honor our parents that we “may live long on the earth,” His command was based on a physiological principle. He should know; He created our bodies.

Enmity with anyone has a negative effect. Several psalms describe how fear and persecution rack the psalmist’s body with pain and physical suffering. Most people know the knot they get in their stomach when in conflict with another person.

Mate explains why. He says that the “gut” sends more signals to the brain than vice versa, and that these signals have a direct bearing on the proper functioning of the body’s immune system. Too many knots equal a suppressed immunity and make the person open to everything from asthma to rheumatoid arthritis.

While this book does not talk about enmity with God, it makes sense that being at odds with my Maker would also knot my stomach and affect my health. Amazingly, the Bible agrees.

Deuteronomy 5:29 says, “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and their children forever.” A few chapters later, God promises that if His people obey Him, He will “take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt . . .” (Deuteronomy 7:15). In chapter 10, verse 13, He says that keeping His commands is “for your good.”

Enmity with God leads to eternal death. I never thought about it before, but this very core enmity leads to physical death as well. When a person is separated from God by sin that knotted up state ruins the body’s ability to protect itself. We are sitting ducks and eventually shot down by something that terminates our life here on earth.

God knows. His response to the effects of sin is Jesus. Jesus came to reverse this curse and give us eternal life. Romans 5:10 says, “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

By bringing my sin to Him, Jesus removes the enmity and sets my soul free from the curse of sin. This can extend to my body (reread those promises from Deuteronomy), but this old body will not live here forever — I started dying the moment I was born. I still get knots in my gut. In my human flesh, I still worry, still have relationship problems, even sometimes am at odds with God because I resist His will (silly me).

However, the big core relationship problem is solved, cured, fixed. My Creator has reconciled me to Himself. Because of that, death no longer has any power over me, and He has even untied many of my knots. Knots or not, I know that my body will eventually stop working, but because of Jesus, I also know that I will live forever.