Why didn’t God heal her? The entire church was praying for her! We had special meetings where we joined together our petitions on her behalf. The pastor and elders laid hands on her; she went to special healing and prayer meetings at other local churches, too. She prayed, she confessed, she believed.
After major surgery, a long hospital stay, and many returns to the emergency room, she lived; she struggled through the recovery process. Years later she was able to be taken off of the last prescription that kept her heart in order. Some of her closest friends’ hearts never fully mended after this disappointment. Their emotions crushed by God’s apparent silence in the midst of a storm. Yes, they agreed God had pulled her through and she was alive. But where was the “Stand up and walk” healing they had believed and prayed for?
Jesus Heals the Sick
(Matthew 4:23-24, NIV
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.
Then scripture tells us that the disciples healed people.
Disciples are sent out in pairs...
(Luke 9:6, NIV)
· So they set out and went from village to village,
preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.
Then scripture shows how healing results in people believing in God.
Get Up and Walk...
(Acts 9:33-35, NIV
· There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
Then scripture tells us that we, as believers (we are the ‘anyone’ in this passage), will do these same things and greater, by the power of the Holy Spirit in us.
He Who Believes... (John 14:12, AMP)
· I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father.
Exactly! Some would say, “It’s right there in scripture, we believed, how come it didn’t happen?”
God’s Ways
(Isaiah 55:8-9, NIV)
· “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
There is so much more going on when someone faces a crisis than we can perceive. Hard hearts are softened, families draw closer, black sheep return, resentment melts, and Love grows. Even what we do see only scratches the surface of all God uses these challenges for. Bad things still happen but we see only from the outside, God sees the heart. (I Samuel 16:7) He is the only one who sees from the beginning to the end. We are only guessing - we do not know.
Medical science is a gift from God. I agree that, as with all gifts, there is some abuse and misuse. I have a friend who is a paramedic who explained that in our lifetime the treatment of heart attacks has improved by 100%. Now we are taught what symptoms to watch for and take serious. A paramedic can usually be at your location within a few minutes (fire department and ambulance). While you are being transported: the crew can calm you down, check your heart, remove/reduce stress from your heart, call ahead and have staff waiting to confirm and fix your heart in less than 2 hours. That’s a miracle. Think about a blood clot stuck in your heart, making it act funny (thus causing you pain and making you act different), and a call to 911 has you taking an aspirin and an ambulance on the way to take you to a special lab where they can go in (without opening up your chest) and dissolve the clot often before it causes damage or death.
I have witnessed and prefer the “Stand up and walk” kind of healing scenario. Yet, I see the work of the medical profession as an extension of God’s loving hands reaching out to the sick and broken. Every good thing comes from above, including the wisdom that continues to be used to make more medical discoveries. (James 1:17)
What about when healing doesn’t come in this life at all? When the one we’re praying for dies? Only God knows the days and the hours of our life. (Psalm 139:16) I pray for healing often and at the same time I say, but You Lord know the number of their days; please help the family endure if it’s this person’s time to go. Then I pray God will use the scenario to heal broken hearts and families and bring salvation to all those who have yet to accept Him.
I am not so mature that I take everything that comes with a great calmness. When my emotions want to take me on a roller coaster ride because God hasn’t answered according to my plans or desires for this person, this I know. God does not lie. Even when I cannot explain or understand who is healed or not healed. I can trust Him. It is the perspective of a child to think God is there to give us what we want. It is a mature point of view to recognize that God is not just a giver of good things. He has our spiritual development in mind long before we do. So, in faith, with prayers of request and thankfulness, even though I don’t thoroughly understand Him, I will wait on Him.
Don’t Fall For That Nonsense... (Matthew 6:7-13, MSG)
7-13"The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what's best— as above, so below
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You're in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You're ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Written by Mary M. Wilkins
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