Signs & Symptoms of a good physician: Faith in Medicine

A good physician knows his patients’ desires. Dr. J was telling me of the famous Z-Pak. Although the Z-Pak is one of the world’s best selling antibiotics, Dr. J believes that this is very weak medicine and he usually prescribes something much stronger. We laughed together as he called it somewhat of a, “sugar pill”.

But then yesterday came. Yesterday, Dr. J and I were treating a patient with sinusitis and bronchitis. Dr. J started to prescribe a strong antibiotic when the patient interrupted with, “I’d rather just have a Z-Pak.” After Dr. J went back and forth with the patient, he finally conceded to the patient’s desire.

As we discussed the case, Dr. J explained how much of a patient’s recovery is dependent upon their faith in the medicine they are taking. This has been shown through research in blind studies involving placebos. If a patient believes that the medicine they are taking will make them better, more times than not, they recover in the same manner as a patient with true medicine. And so, for the patient’s overall health, Dr. J prescribed the Z-Pak and walked away with a clean conscious.

Although the Great Physician (Jesus if you haven’t caught on by now) knows our desire before we ask, He doesn’t always concede. This is okay because when we push back, He simply reminds us that, ” For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Is 55:9.

Just like with modern medicine, faith is necessary for our restoration. Check this out from Matthew 9:

²⁰And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, ²¹for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” ²²Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.

And Mark 10:

⁴⁶ And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” ⁵⁰And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” ⁵²And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

And finally, Matthew 8:

⁵ When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, ⁶“Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” ⁷And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” ⁸But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ¹⁰When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. ¹¹I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, ¹² while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ¹³And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Here is point:

Everything we see in creation screams the Gospel. Therefore, we must ask how the proven benefit in simply believing that a medicine will make you well displays the Gospel. And here is my take; Just like faith in a medicine (real or fake) makes your body well, faith in the resurrection of Jesus after the cross (event that occurred in 33A.D.) will result in eternal life. It is dangerous to look at the stories above outside the context of each other because we can falsely assume that it was their faith in the method that made them well; not their faith in Jesus being God. But when we look at these three stories collectively, the only thing they have in common is that they believed Jesus when He told Martha that he was the resurrection and the life.

However, the immediate push back is the argument of people who pray to Buddha, Zoroaster, Confucius, Mohammed, or events in The Freethinker and are still made well. The answer, I believe, is found in 2 Corinthians 11 where it says,

¹⁴And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

There are two powers in this world. There is the power of God through His Spirit and a demonic power from Hell. The bible speaks of even the Antichrist given demonic power to perform miracles.

So my question to you is this: Is your faith in the One who gives life, or in the one who entices you to death?

Signs & Symptoms of a good physician: His city

“Tell me, have you ever been over to Chapel Hill? There is a coffee shop over there called Cafe Driadi. It is named after the Druids. Remember the Druids? Well, this little coffee shop is just off of Franklin St. and has the best environment. You can sit outside under a terrace surrounded by trees and nature. At any time, there are four different languages spoken. Can you believe it? Oh, you must go. Their coffee is imported from all over the world. And their pastries, oh their pastries! Their pastries come from a bakery nearby in Durham called the Guglhupf Bakery. This bakery originated when a German family came through Ellis Island only carrying their Guglhupf machine. This machine makes pastries 100 layers thick! Oh they are delicious. You must go when you get a chance. Cafe Driadi.” – Dr. J

Wow, I was astonished how much he knew about Chapel Hill and Durham (these two cities are right next to each other – Duke/UNC rivalry). I was unaware of the extensive history in these two cities. But Dr. J knew. I found out that Dr. J knew much more about Chapel Hill the more I shadowed him. So what is so important about a physician knowing their city?

Culture is, often times, geographical. For instance, look at the “south” verses the “north” here in the US. And often times, common diseases arise in culture through location and practice.

Location: Rocky Mount Spotted Fever is very popular throughout ticks here in NC and surrounding southern states. This is because these states are the niche for the tic that carries the disease. We see a lot of cases here in NC throughout the summer.

Practice: Late onset Diabetes is an enormous issue here in the South due to our love for food in grease. Thanks to BP, we can now have our seafood broiled and deep-fried at the same time. HA! But common knowledge of this lifestyle will greatly benefit the physician in knowing how to counsel his patients.

Friend, the Great Physician knows of both our location and practice! I am deeply comforted that Jesus knows me and awe struck that He loves me to the point of laying down His own life so that I might live.

Signs & Symptoms of a good physician: Rememberance

Shadowing my Urgent Care doctor has been great! Today, Dr. J walked in and our patients were an elderly black couple. They said, “Is that you Dr. J!?” And my doctor rejoiced as he said, “Hey folks! So good to see you. You have made my day, week, month by coming in today.” And we sat for about 15 minutes just catching up with each other. I thought to myself, “Oh these must be regular patients”. But to my surprise, Dr. J turned to me as we walked out and said, “Brad, you know they were one of my first patients out of med school”.

No way! Dr. J has been practicing for well over 2o years. I was amazed that, not only did his patients remember him from that long ago, but he remembered his patients as well. He has seen tens of thousands of patients throughout the years, yet he remembers them.

And so here is a sign and symptom of a good physician: Not only do your patients remember you, but you remember them as well.

We read in Luke 23 about The Good Physician.

Have you asked Him to remember you?