Visionary Health Insight

Jesus said, “And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe” (John 14:29). Jesus doesn’t expect His followers to exercise blind faith. Our confidence in His promise is based upon evidences we have already seen of His goodness and power. As we exercise faith, it grows from a tiny seed to a strong tree that can bear the winds of falsehood and unbelief.

In His promise to the disciples, Jesus acknowledged faith’s cumulative quality. He capitalized on it by telling them not just what would build their faith, but how it would be built. They would see the fulfillment of His words, and they would believe. This would enable them to believe His words before they were fulfilled.

Seeing the fulfillment of the words of Ellen White works similarly. She is a mere vessel through which Christ’s Spirit has worked. Yet her words have been consistently proven true by science and experience. Let us consider her teachings in the light of modern-day research.

Tobacco
The fact that in 1864 Ellen spoke of tobacco as a “slow, insidious, but most malignant poison” doesn’t impress us today given the fact that medical science has so completely unveiled the deadly effects of smoking. But we must remember that it was not until 1957 that the American Cancer Society concluded that smoking was a factor in lung cancer.

When she gave her counsel, her words were not easily discernable. After smoking increased during World War I, it took about 20 years before its menacing harvest was reaped in the form of lung cancer and other diseases. Subsequently, medical science has proved the link between smoking and coronary heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, osteoporosis, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and miscarriage — as well as lung and a host of other cancers. Amazing, given the fact that at the time Ellen gave her counsel, cigar smoke was used as a cure for lung disease!

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