Bible Salt: Finding Hope and Restoring Health through God's Design

By Saifon Chang and David Huie

Receiving a grim diagnosis can be a defining moment in a child's life. With a few intimidating words, carefree play is replaced by endless doctor visits and a search for cures that can last a lifetime. For me, the diagnosis was childhood leukemia, then pre-diabetes, and later, fibromyalgia, auto-immune disease, and severe migraines. My quest for

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Sep 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781640884786

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Bible Salt

Finding Hope and Restoring Health through God’s Design

Reverse • Repair • Rebuild

Saifon Chang and David Huie

2020

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2020 by Saifon Chang and David Huie

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For information, address Trilogy Christian Publishing

Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, Ca 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/ TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-64088-477-9

ISBN 978-1-64088-478-6 (eBook)

Note

This book is designed to provide helpful information on the dietary use of salt and other health and wellness topics. I believe in the information contained in this book, but that doesn’t mean it is right for you. This book is not intended to be a substitute for the personalized medical advice of physicians. Always consult a physician regarding the diagnosis or treatment of any symptoms or medical conditions. This book should not be used to diagnose or treat any symptoms or medical conditions. Before implementing any recommendation or practice described in this book, consult with your physician to make sure they are appropriate for your personal health needs. The publisher and authors expressly disclaim any responsibility for any damages or adverse effects resulting from any use or application of the information contained in this book. References are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of any books, websites, or other sources. Readers should be aware that the websites listed in this book may change.

Preface

As I finish writing this book and prepare to have it published, the world is engulfed in chaos. Outside my home, the coronavirus pandemic of the year 2020 has turned the world upside down. Nations are locked down, the economy is at a standstill, businesses are shuttered, jobs lost, investments crashed, and many families are grieving loved ones. We’ve been told to avoid all but the most essential contact with others, allowing fear to affect even the most trivial interactions. We are hunkered down in our homes, venturing out only for necessities. Fear has swept the world like a wildfire, leaving many wondering if this crisis will ever pass.

Just a few months ago, life looked very different. As we entered 2020, the economy was roaring, unemployment was at record lows, investment accounts were up, and for many, life was good. No one could have predicted that within a few weeks, the most powerful countries in the world would be stopped in their tracks, humbled by something that can only be seen under a microscope. Looking back, the situation we find ourselves in today seems so unlikely as to be unbelievable. Collectively, the world is staggering, stunned by the speed at which life can be plunged into uncertainty.

This brief window of time has brought the world to its knees and reminded us all that no matter how hard we try, we are not God. Rich or poor, old or young, the reality of just how many things we cannot control is now at the forefront of everyone’s minds. As a result, the current situation has become a unique opportunity for Christians to walk the talk. It’s a time to remain firm in our faith and to confidently live in a manner that displays the eternal comfort and good hope, which we have been given through grace (2 Thessalonians 2:16 NASB).

At the time when you pick up this book, there may not be a global crisis. The world might not be facing a pandemic, but there will still be plenty of things to worry about. Events like natural disasters, politics, wars, and famines affect thousands or even millions, and they are an inescapable part of this world. There are also troubles that affect us on an individual level. Among them, few things are as jarring, personal, and deeply concerning to us as the onset of a serious health issue. Just like a natural disaster or pandemic, life can seem to be going smoothly until a health issue interrupts everything. A lump or troubling diagnosis can change the course of life quickly and drastically. Sometimes, the havoc wreaked by a condition isn’t caused by how fast it comes on, but rather, how hard it is to escape. For people like me, a health condition can lead to years of pain, suffering, and despair. Problems with your health can bring life to a halt, and just like the pandemic today, it can be difficult to see how life could ever return to normal.

The similarities between a global crisis like a pandemic and serious health issues don’t stop with the anxiety they create inside of us. Much like the current pandemic, health problems can stir fears and uncertainty that test your beliefs. What you believe to be true about creation, life, death, and the purpose of it all will have a huge impact on the way you handle a difficult health condition. Just like the current moment in time, a health condition can be an opportunity for believers to stand for the Lord, to remain firm and confident in His truth, and to seek to glorify Him through all things.

Whether it’s a global pandemic or a personal health crisis, we suffer these things for one simple reason: we live in a fallen world. It is this fallen world into which I bring this little book, Bible Salt. This book has been years in the making, and it’s actually quite different from what I had first set out to write. At the time, I merely wanted to write about health. I just wanted to share the things that I had learned on my journey to see if I could help others. The twists and turns of life kept me from finishing the book quickly, and I grew very frustrated with the time it was taking to complete this project. Still, I kept chipping away, writing whenever I could. Somewhere along the way, the book changed in some meaningful ways.

As I look at the book in front of me now, I see that it is about health, but it’s also about much more. It’s about the pain and suffering that come with living in a fallen world. It’s about the fragile nature of the human condition and the despair of our mortality apart from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s about how God uses the universe and all things in it, even something as mundane as salt, to reveal and glorify Himself to us. It’s about finding hope and healing in God’s design. Yes, this book is mainly about health, but it’s written with the premise that our physical health is secondary to our spiritual health. If we’re strong and healthy but headed for destruction, there is little reason for joy or celebration. On the other hand, if we struggle to remain healthy, but our trust is in Jesus, we will always have a reason for bold, deep, and satisfying hope.

When I started writing this book, I had no clue that the world would be in such turmoil today. Now, as I sit with the news streaming in the background, I am struck by the fact that, after the Bible, this is the book I would want to give to the world at this moment. My book would always be about health because this topic has been such a big part of my life and story. However, if I were beginning to write today, I would want the book to be marked by a desire to honor and glorify the Creator. I would want it to be a book that could possibly help someone with a physical issue, but would definitely point them to the Word of God. As I look at this book now, I think those desires are a part of this book, and that fact gives me great joy. When I started writing, I had no clue where the world or I would be today, but God did. Graciously, He worked through all things to help the me of yesterday to write the ideal book for the me of today and her world. It is a gift of opportunity to serve and glorify Him, and I’m humbled and grateful to have it.

While I feel there is a special opportunity given the current condition of the world, I know that the timing doesn’t really matter. Any book that points people to Jesus will always be a perfect fit for a fallen world. Moreover, until we are in heaven, we know that we must be good stewards of our bodies, and this book will help in this lifelong task. No matter what the world looks like as you read this book, it is my hope and prayer that this book will hold value for you. I hope this book helps you to heal and stay healthy and strong, ready to fulfill the purpose God has for you. I pray this book encourages you to look to the Word for guidance always and to seek, honor, and glorify the Lord and His design.

When I wrote this book, I primarily had Christians in mind. However, that doesn’t mean only Christians can enjoy it or gain value from it. While the book is written from a Christian worldview, the information in it can be put in use by anybody. That said, I have a special burden for believers suffering from health problems. Many believers struggle with health issues, unaware of the tools provided by God in His design that can help them to heal and maintain their bodies for His glory. The world of natural healing has usurped God’s design, leading many Christians to resist playing an active part in their health and wellbeing. I don’t think that’s a Biblical approach, and I share another way to look at health in this book. However, I want to be clear that I have no intention to create or establish any new theology in this book. As Christians, we receive our theology from the Bible and nowhere else. I am merely sharing my journey and all that I learned, one believer to another.

Ultimately, this book is my story of finding hope and healing in God’s design. Whether the challenges that you face are big or small, I hope this book helps you to survive, thrive, and to glorify God in the process. To God, be the glory!

Saifon visiting one of the farms that supplies produce to her restaurant.

Chapter 1

A Long Road to Hope

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…

(Matthew 28:19–20 ESV)

The Great Commission—pretty simple, right? The Lord gave us our marching orders, He put His Spirit in us, and He provided everything we need to know in His Word. At face value, it would seem easy for us to live fruitful, purposeful lives according to His will. Unfortunately, the reality is not nearly so simple. This fallen world will do everything in its power to prevent Christians from spreading the Gospel. Some believers get distracted by earthly pursuits, others are compromised by sin, while others yet are deceived by false teachers. As bad as those pitfalls can be, few things frustrate, hold back, and demoralize pure-hearted believers like significant health challenges. Health problems can paralyze believers, robbing them of joy as they lose their effectiveness and sense of purpose, wondering if there is any hope in sight. I know how devastating health issues can be because they have defined much of my life, both before and after becoming a Christian.

The day I received the gift of salvation did not happen until a bit later in life. By that time, I had already spent several decades suffering from crippling migraines and severe pain throughout my body. From the time I was a child, I had received an endless stream of diagnoses and treatments, with many nights spent curled in a ball in agony and wondering, Why me? My search for a cure cast a shadow over much of my adult life. For as long as I can remember, my health has been a source of frustration and despair. Becoming a believer didn’t immediately change those feelings, although it did distract me from my trials with a new and wonderful sense of purpose.

My new Christian faith sparked a sense of urgency and excitement inside me at the prospect of sharing the good news of Jesus with everyone I could. I wanted to evangelize at every opportunity, but I was often held back. There were many times when the pain made it simply impossible for me to function. I dreamed of the things I could do for the kingdom of God if only I were healthy. I had confident hope that eternal life will be wonderful beyond imagination, but my life here on earth felt painful, and I couldn’t see how that might ever change.

Along the way, I’ve met many believers facing similar or worse health issues. While I certainly felt alone at times, my situation is hardly unique—the church is filled with believers dealing with debilitating health conditions. It’s hard to explain how difficult it can be to experience the joy of being saved and the confidence in knowing God while living with daily pain and suffering. It can be tempting to give in to the condition and let it control your life. For many Christians, a diagnosis becomes a death sentence, and if their doctor doesn’t have a quick fix, they give up. They hope for a miracle but let their condition rule their lives. I’ve felt the temptation to surrender to the pain and just accept the limitations on my life, but I knew I could never do that unless I had explored every possible path to healing.

Before I became a Christian, the only place I knew to look for relief was in man’s ingenuity. I went to doctors and healers, tried every medicine and treatment, only to be disappointed again and again. Man has used the gifts that God gave him to do amazing things, but for me, man’s way was a dead end. With my salvation came an unexpected benefit: a whole new way to see the world through the lens of God’s design. Instead of feeling like a fish searching around my fishbowl for answers, the Bible gave me the opportunity to read the words of our Creator. From the very beginning of my Christian life, I knew that the Bible speaks of spiritual things. It took quite a while longer for me to realize that it also speaks on physical things with wisdom and insight that could only come from the One who created the universe. Even on a subject as mundane and temporal as our physical health, God graciously provided us with guidance and wisdom for how we should treat the bodies in which we all live. To reap the benefits, we only need to read His Word and apply it to our lives.

Unsurprisingly, many aspects of our modern lives make it difficult to live by Biblical health principles. That difficulty didn’t stop me from making changes based on the wisdom I found in the Bible. Those changes improved my health and wellbeing, but I still experienced severe pain. Combing through the pages of God’s Word, I stumbled upon a simple, commonplace substance, provided by God for our good since the beginning of the world—natural, unrefined whole salt. A staple of the ancient world, salt is referred to in the Bible dozens of times and is used to communicate Biblical principles of the utmost importance. In today’s world, it is blamed for disease and maligned nearly as much as the Bible itself. Even people who otherwise know nothing about health live in complete fear of eating too much salt. Nonetheless, it was this simple mineral, a seemingly insignificant part of God’s common grace to the whole world, that helped my body to finally heal. Using whole salt allowed me, and has continued to enable me, to live out God’s purpose with strength and joy. Whole salt was the last piece of the puzzle, and perhaps the most important.

In this book, I’ll share with you about whole salt, along with other ways to improve your health and wellbeing. However, the best news that I want to share with believers suffering from health issues is that we aren’t helpless, and we can do our part to get healthy. When modern medicine doesn’t have the answers we need, we don’t have to give up or wallow in pity, hoping for a miracle. The Lord has provided an abundance of ways in which we can take action to keep our earthly bodies fit and able to live out His purpose in our lives. Just as we exercise spiritual discipline to maintain and grow our spiritual lives, we can use what God has provided through His design to keep our bodies healthy and fit, able to run our race in this life, glorifying God every step of the way. We only need to be willing to receive His instruction, giving every opportunity for the Spirit within us to bear abundant fruit.

God Gets the Glory; We Get Joy

When it comes to the topic of health, I’ve often found that Christians tend to approach the subject at one extreme or another. Either they care too much about their bodies and their health, or they care too little. Both perspectives miss the bigger picture and can be harmful to believers in different ways. These attitudes are also very likely to affect how a book like this is received. For those that have allowed health and fitness to become almost an obsession, I don’t want this book to be another stumbling block in your relationship with God. For those that think they don’t need to play a part in caring for their bodies, I want to take a stab at convincing you why you really should care, and why this book could be valuable to you.

There is a large and growing group of Christians that are preoccupied with looking good, living well, and living longer. They spend a lot of time and money on health and fitness. The problems start when this fixation on the body and health becomes a form of idolatry. If that seems extreme, think about it for a moment. As Jesus said, Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21 NIV). If all your time and money is being spent on your physical appearance and wellbeing, who is really being worshipped at that point? That’s not all—obsessing over our earthly circumstances makes it really difficult to maintain a heavenly mindset. If we’re using the majority of our time and resources on earth to serve our bodies and the concerns of the world, it’s pretty unlikely that we’ll also be able to work for the Kingdom of God. Caring for the body is good, but taken to an extreme, it can lead to patterns that are incompatible with our Christian calling, and toxic for our relationship with God.

There’s another group of believers that hold pretty much the opposite views on health. They seem to have a total lack of concern for the care of their bodies, neglecting any exercise and eating with reckless abandon. They just don’t seem to think that they need to play any part in the care of their bodies. The sovereignty of God, His absolute power over all things, becomes an excuse for them to throw in the towel when it comes to health. Regardless of their exact reasons, the reality is that this attitude toward exercise and food often becomes an excuse for hedonism. They abandon any self-control when it comes to maintaining the body. When I encounter Christians with this perspective, I find that they are totally content to place all responsibility for their health with their doctors. When things go wrong with their health, they place all their trust in doctors, and if the doctor doesn’t have an easy fix, they simply shrug and say, oh well, and give up. It’s almost as if they’d rather do anything than take the steps necessary to improve their health, even when those