The Purifying Fire of Inflammation

Remove the attempts to protect yourself from pain and you just might find complete healing.

Inflammation is part of how God heals us. The word inflammation comes from the Latin inflammare, which means to set on fire. Fire might seem like a bad thing, but it’s really a good thing. The Bible even tells us that one of the names of God is Purifying Fire (Malachi 3:3). In the forest, fire has a multitude of ecological benefits releasing a new generation of bio-diversity, growth and life. Just like rain and snow, fire is a part of the natural system and order of created things. In the body, this purifying fire is inflammation.

Inflammation is not a synonym of infection. Infection is bad. Infection is caused by exogenous pathogen: germs from outside the body. Inflammation is a protective attempt to remove injurious stimuli. It’s a complex biological response of our tissue (our physical flesh) to reject and remove harmful irritants. It evidence is as purifying fire: redness, heat, swelling and pain.

In God‘s economy, pain always serves a redemptive purpose. Without inflammation, wounds and infections would never heal and the rapid destruction of living tissue progresses until it compromises the survival of the living organism. Inflammation is no accident of random evolutionary mutation; it is a central part of a wonderful and intelligent design. It is a utility written mysteriously into the code of human flesh by the Author of Life itself.

Many things in the physical and in the natural are mirrored in the spiritual realm, as well. Inflammation is no exception. Within each of us, the image of God is our conscience. The conscience is the internal “yes” or “no” to accept or reject things good or bad.

Those who ignore the warning of the conscience and go on to embrace iniquity (wickedness, evil or sin) soon lose the ability to discern right and wrong. 1 Timothy 4:2 refers to those who have a “seared conscience.” The word “seared” means burned into insensitivity so that normal functionality ceases.

The medical community recognizes progressive stages of inflammation: redness, heat, swelling, pain and finally functio laesa, or loss of function. This is mirrored in the spiritual realm. Just as God wired us to reject things harmful to our flesh, he gave us a built-in capacity to reject evil. Those who do not heed the early corrections of the conscience lose the ability to discern what is good; spiritual and natural death is only a matter of time.

The diseases of inflammation that result in swelling and immobility often have spiritual roots. Those in our church who work with deliverance (freedom from bondage) and healing notice things like simple arthritis can be a result of bitterness toward others or not forgiving oneself. Jesus taught forgiveness as something not only to free others but as something that frees us. Anger and bitterness can immobilize us, eventually even physically.

When we go to the doctor to treat non-bacterial inflammation, the prescription is typically antibiotics. However, if there are other causes provoking inflammation besides bacteria, then the antibiotics will have no effect. Continuous usage of antibiotics destroys body flora which we need to maintain our balance. (Some bugs are helpful!)

Non-bacterial inflammation may be a symptom of something that is not right spiritually. Few realize how much things like past hurts and emotional wounds begin to destroy our health. We have seen the body heal itself when these deeper spiritual roots are addressed and resolved. We have seen the physical body precisely mirror the realities of the spiritual person within.

For the past six or seven years my wife and I have watched a dear friend literally start to shrivel up with crippling arthritis and inflammation. We’ve prayed over her many times for healing but to no avail. However, we began to sense that her affliction was more spiritual than physical and that it was rooted in deep bitterness. This woman’s only son, whom she loved very dearly, was put in a Federal Penitentiary unjustly. Over the years, we’ve helped her appeal to lawyers and even US Senators. No one would listen or do anything and at each legal setback her condition worsened. One day she saw what was happening to her, that she was just as imprisoned as her son. So, she started a process of letting it go, forgiving and surrendering to God. Improvement was almost immediate. However, setbacks followed with her son and she slipped back into resentment.

Ask God to come into your life as a purifying fire and burn away all that displeases him: anger, bitterness, self-hatred, fear and guilt. Ask him to reveal root causes of the things that ail you. Ask the Holy Spirit, whom the Bible refers to as being like the wind, to blow and fan this purifying fire. To the degree you sense your conscience is seared, ask God to restore the full function of your conscience so you are able to reject things that are seeking to enter in and destroy your health and life.