The day I stopped double-thinking

By Melanie Ann Wahlberg

In the book Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, the rulers of a futuristic society develop a language called "Newspeak." One of the words of this terse language is doublethink, which means to advocate one view while privately, perhaps even subconsciously, holding another.

I would never have called it double-thinking at the time, and yet that's pretty much what I was doing at one point several years ago. I had suffered from intense discomfort any time I was quite active during hot weather. I had become accustomed to anticipating acute pain and debilitation and would even adjust my schedule to avoid exerting myself when it was hot outside.

This disturbed me, because for as long as I could remember, I had considered God to be omnipotent, and I had experienced healings based on my understanding of God's omnipotence. The Bible certainly gives us authority for considering God as the only power influencing our lives, and it assures us that His power is only good. The Psalmist declares: "Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works... For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone" (Ps. 86:8, 10).

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