Meditation and Medication

Today, I visited a lady named Bertha. She shared with me an experience that was so profound that I wanted to tell it to you today. With her permission, I’ll tell you the story of when she was in the hospital. She was receiving some treatment, and was going through a lot of pain. Bertha told me, “I heard the Lord say in my mind, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So I began repeating it over and over in my mind, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” Bertha continued, “The doctor came in and told me that he was going to give me some morphine for pain. I told him, ‘If this is as bad as it’s going to get, I don’t need anything.’” She went on to tell me that she felt it was because she had been repeating this part of Deuteronomy 31:6, that she had experienced less pain than the doctor expected she would have.

Even though Bertha didn’t know it, she was practicing meditation—the repetition of God’s Word in the heart. Many Christians call it “Scripture memorization,” when they repeat Bible verses over and over. The only difference between memorization and meditation is that the goal of the former is to get the Word into your head, while the goal of the latter is to get the Word into your heart. Either way, the process is the same—repeating a verse over and over, like driving a long nail into a thick piece of wood. Sometimes our hearts are a little thick and wooden, and it takes repeated pounding to make God’s Word sink in. Many people know that practicing meditation is good for the soul and spirit—but did you know that it’s good for the body as well?

God, who is a Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, created us in God’s own image. That makes us a trinity of body, soul, and spirit—and a strong connection exists between these three. When Jesus healed a person’s body, He also ministered to their soul and spirit. By making the soul and spirit healthy, He also worked toward the well-being of the body. The goals of Christian meditation are holiness and wholeness—two words and two concepts that cannot be removed from one another. Meditation was making Bertha holy, but it was also making her whole. She was nurturing her soul and spirit, but God’s Word was also healing her body.

I’m not a doctor, so I can’t write prescriptions for medication. But when people come to me for pastoral counseling, I often do prescribe meditation. It makes a person holy and whole—inside and out. By no means am I against medication—it does a very good job at controlling a person’s chemical needs in the body. But I’ve found that meditation has many of the same helpful attributes, yet without all the side effects. Why load yourself with pharmaceuticals without first seeking help from the God who made your body, soul, and spirit? Often when people do need helpful medications, they find that they need less of it because they have been helped by meditation. I’ve prescribed meditation for people in need of pain management, people with hypertension, ADHD, PTSD, autism, anxiety disorders, and much more. Bertha would tell you the benefits of meditation—the repetition of God’s Word—for both the wholeness and holiness of your being. Why not try meditation today? Take just a verse, a phrase, or even a word from the Bible, and use it as your short prayer. As you breathe deeply, repeat the Word slowly, over and over in your heart. Invite it to transform you. Allow it to heal.

Greg Smith is a Baptist minister who has served churches in Central and Southside Virginia. He lives in Halifax County, VA with his wife and children. To read more of Greg’s writings check out his blog at revgregsmith.blogspot.com.