Spiritual hypochondria

Hypochondria: the belief that physical symptoms are signs of a serious illness, even when there is no medical evidence to support the presence of an illness.

 It is estimated that 10-14% of the general population suffer from this affliction, often for long periods of their lives. Many doctors report that since the advent of the internet a far greater number of people are "self-diagnosing" and the incidents of hypochondria are on the ascent

Many famous people have suffered from this affliction: they include Charles Darwin, Florence Nightingale, Tennessee Williams, Howard Hughes, Hans Christian Andersen: Adolph Hitler suffered from a messiah complex and hypochondria, surely a lethal mix.

There is another type of hypochondriac: this person does have some actual maladies but is obsessed with them, spends an inordinate amount of time, thought, energy, or money on them, uses them to get attention from others, uses them as grounds for self-pity. This kind of hypochondriac requires that others love and care for them before they will love and care for others. After all, they are the one in need of attention. This makes such a person quite self-absorbed, bitter, and unable even to notice—let alone serve—those around them. One gets the impression that they almost prefer to be sick, because they think that relieves them of responsibility and gives them grounds for excuse-making.

There is a spiritual corollary of this debilitating disorder, and over the years I have seen its devastating effects numerous times. My wife and I spent four years ministering  to a young woman who suffered from many supposed "soulish" conditions, that required constant prayer intervention on our part. No sooner would we deal with one episode than another would pop-up requiring yet more prayer.

We were first exposed to this disorder in the first home-group that we ran. A work colleague of mine started attending our little group, and after a few weeks she took me aside and informed me that she was suffering from cancer. She even exhibited some of the visible signs of this dreaded disease.

Our little group swung into prayer, and our church took her to heart, wanting, expecting a miracle. I began to feel uneasy when she started missing appointments with doctors and other medical professionals. I finally tracked down a family member who informed me that she had tried this "stunt" with several other church groups in the past, and was regularly  "healed" of the cancer that had never existed in the first place. My anger and disappointment at such duplicity was tinged with sorrow and regret. 

Spiritual hypochondria is a heart issue. The person afflicted with this condition is only happy when they are miserable. They move from drama to drama, crisis to crisis, burden to burden, and problem to problem. At

first, their friends and fellow church members try to be sympathetic, but eventually they are uncovered and those friends realize this is an affliction. The symptoms are no joy, no satisfaction, no peace, they are a complaint department unto themselves

The person suffering from this condition must have a justification for their unhappiness – To accomplish this, they must turn a blind eye to God’s provision and blessing. When God is visibly good to them, they must dig around and unearth something which makes it all about them. They are always looking backward instead of forward - God’s call is for us to march onward and upward, not backward or downward. 

I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you]. Romans 12:1-2 Amplified Bible 

To say that much of the world is caught up in a fitness craze is an understatement. Physical fitness has become a multi-billion dollar business that continues to grow apace. At any given time you can find the latest “infomercial” on television featuring the newest fitness product on the market. More often than not such advertising equates good health and physical exercise with "sexiness" and "more years to your life'. 

It's a great pity that such effort and expense does not go into "spiritual fitness". The New Testament has a great deal to say about preparing ourselves for not only our temporal role, but our eternal role in God's Kingdom, and more importantly, ensuring others do not depart from the true path. Read 1 Timothy 4:1-9

In these words to Timothy, Paul gives to us the keys to spiritual fitness which is profitable in this world and in the world to come. Spiritual fitness begins with a healthy spiritual diet. Just as a good diet in the natural results in a healthy body, so too does a healthy spiritual diet result in eternal well-being. 

Our spiritual diet is clearly outlined in Scripture. 

Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. Jeremiah 15: 16 NIV

Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. 1 Peter 2:2 NIV

Where Jesus is speaking with the Samaritan woman at the well, we have this recorded conversation between Jesus and the disciples: “Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.  And this is as Paul told Timothy, that he would find spiritual nourishment by knowing and teaching the words of faith and sound doctrine. John 4:31-34 NIV

We know that "junk food" is not very nutritious, and a constant diet of it is detrimental to our physical well-being, resulting in various health issues, and often an untimely death. Like-wise, spiritual junk food will result in eternal issues, and often, eternal separation from our Creator.