This is an interview Bob Crittendon on Faith Radio. We talk about the impact faith makes in a person’s health.

First of all, I guess Bob I could bore you with a lot of literature and discuss the impact of faith has on medicine. We kind of chose to do it a little bit differently with the book and really kind of instead of giving him for information giving more inspiration.

Iowa Study: People who exercised faith lived longer

But you know there’s studies like, for example, in Iowa. I believe 9,000 patients in Iowa, senior adults in their 60s. They took those who had had faith and practiced their faith and they compared them to people who didn’t. They found that those who were active in their Faith and active in spiritual activities, such as church. They tended to live 12 years longer than the other group. It’s, pretty amazing to think about that.

Bob: So, as you began to to see studies like this and from your own practice and seeing how a person’s, faith really impacted their their bodies and their health, what are some of the conclusions you drew?

Dr. Chuck: Faith makes every difference in the world in how people respond. I’ve seen that people who and it doesn’t mean that you know God always heals when people go through difficult times.

But I’ve noticed that God empowers people to be able to respond to their circumstances in a in a different way. We talk about living above your circumstances instead of living under your circumstances. I’ve seen people who’ve been able to express their faith in the most amazing ways.

Praying for patients:

Bob: Tell me just a bit about your own personal faith story and how you really integrate your faith into your medical practice.

Dr. Chuck: So I became a Christian at 16 years of age, I came from a nominal Christian family and none of my my parents went to college, and so this was a journey.

I felt called to be a physician and went through medical school and then moved back to small town Texas to practice medicine. I’ve noticed in being in in a rural area, is that so many people asked me just to pray for them? In fact, last week my wife had plans to for us to go out with some friends. I was running late and had a consult at the hospital. They wanted me to change at tracheostomy tube out on a patient. A trach tube is a neck tube that helps people breathe. She was a sick lady and they were gonna have to put her on on a breathing machine that night. They were worried that they were not gonna, be able to to to ventilate her. So I went in. I really had a bad attitude.

Bob: that’s funny. No, I’m, not you!

Yes, it’s. Funny Bob, I always thought being a doctor, I was gonna do something you know big with my life. What I realized, I think. God really meant it more for my sanctification. The nurses didn’t have what I needed. When I went in to change the trach, of course, this lady was not doing well.

She was probably in her forties and I you know I took the trach out and put the new trach in. When I finished I she could barely speak. She looked up at me and she said doctor, would you pray for me? It just broke my heart.

First of all, because I had such a bad attitude. I prayed for that lady and I believe I was the last person to ever really talk to her. I just thought–wow– what an honor that was, and what a what a divine appointment that was. And here I was with a bad attitude the whole way.

Like Jonah in the book of The Book of Jonah. You know, God told him to do something and he had a terrible attitude about it. But I see these things every day and that’s what this this work is about. It’s, just stories of everyday people who have responded to their life tragedies in God-honoring ways.

Surviving Sickness and Suffering Series, Bible Study and Journal:

https://mailchi.mp/charleswpage/surviving-sickness-and-suffering