TeenConnect: Your Healings
April 11, 2023
My healing of asthma
I suffered from asthma when I was a kid. Sometimes I would have trouble breathing. My parents were always supporting me—praying, singing hymns, and knowing God’s care for me—but at that time there weren’t any Christian Science practitioners in the Philippines to call for Christian Science treatment.
My family kept praying based on what we’d learned through studying Christian Science, and the asthma symptoms would go away. But one time, my uncle, who is a doctor, heard me struggling to breathe and said I should go to a local clinic to receive medical treatment. I did. But while my symptoms were temporarily relieved, unfortunately, the doctors there said that there was no cure for the condition itself.
I’d been attending Christian Science Sunday School since I was little, and I’d learned that God’s love is always with me no matter where I am, because God, divine Love, is ever present. So it was natural for me to pray and think about God when I was afraid or struggling with my breathing. This helped me feel calmer.
During this time, I thought a lot about the Bible story of David and Goliath, which I knew by heart. I loved that David, a shepherd who was only a kid, had so much faith in God and knew that he wasn’t facing his challenges alone. He knew God was bigger than the lions and bears that threatened his sheep. So he also had confidence that God would help him defeat Goliath, a fierce warrior from the Philistine army, who was a big bully.
I realized I could face this fear and the challenge of asthma just like David, who showed true humility and trust in God. He also had the courage to yield to God’s guidance when facing Goliath, which is how he defeated him once and for all.
I realized I could face this fear and the challenge of asthma just like David in the story of David and Goliath.
What I learned from this story is that no matter how big a bully looks, God is always bigger. No matter how scary the situation appears to be, God is always the real power. This story along with Hymn 53 from the Christian Science Hymnal reminded me that we can lean on God no matter what we’re up against. Here’s what the hymn says:
Everlasting arms of Love
Are beneath, around, above;
God it is who bears us on,
His the arm we lean upon.
He our ever-present guide
Faithful is, whate’er betide;
Gladly then we journey on,
With His arm to lean upon.
From earth’s fears and vain alarms
Safe in His encircling arms,
He will keep us all the way,
God, our refuge, strength and stay.
(John R. Macduff, adapt. © CSBD)
This hymn helped me understand that, as God’s child, I could never be outside of His love, because I’m always safe in His tender care. I didn’t know how it would happen, but I expected healing. And little by little I did see some progress.
Then one day there was a turning point. By this time we had moved to the United States. Once again, I was having trouble breathing, but now we were able to call a Christian Science practitioner for Christian Science treatment.
The practitioner prayed for me, and she also invited me to grab my bike to go get ice cream with her along with my siblings and cousins. At first I was really surprised. I didn’t know how I was supposed to go biking. But the practitioner really knew that God had already made me well. So I did go biking, and I felt free! I wasn’t struggling to breathe at all. I pedaled along, feeling the fresh spring breeze. That was the end of the asthma.
This healing impacted me in a big way. Not only did I learn how to rely on God for healing but I also grew in my understanding of God. I understand so much more deeply now that God really is always present and that His love for me is the real power. I can always turn to God and lean on God for healing. I am so grateful.