Stories of Healing

Since my diagnosis there are a few specific passages that have emerged in my questions about what God wants for me and from me.  As you might expect, they relate to the topic of healing.  While I’d love to just “claim God's promise of health (and wealth),” I just don’t find it in the Bible to claim.

The poster child example against health and wealth for me is found in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 where Paul speaks of his requests that God heal his “thorn in the flesh.”  God’s repeated answer to Paul was “No, my grace is all you need.  My power works best in weakness”. 

Even with this truth, I’ve been challenged by the passage.  It indicates Paul made 3 specific requests.  Why 3 and why not something like “prayed about it every day for a year?” I sense the answer has something to do with honestly and earnestly making the request in light of a connection with our full need and God’s full power.  I think I’ve let myself be in that place just a handful of times in my life with the first and foremost when I humbled myself to accepted Jesus death and resurrection to forgive my sins.  That place of raw need and dependence is scary.  For my tumor so far, I think I’ve been quick to concede the situation to “God’s will” as it has some sense of “spiritual maturity” and doesn’t require much depth or feeling from me. 

While God told Paul “no” after 3 earnest requests, Mark 5:24-34 tells the story of a woman who suffered and sought solutions from doctors for some 12 years before being healed by quietly touching the hem of Jesus robe as he passed by.  How many times had she prayed?  In the end, it seems it wasn’t about words, it was that she put her belief that “Jesus can” into action by quietly drawing near to him.

Another story I’ve been thinking about is found in Matthew 8:5-8 where a Roman soldier comes to Jesus on behalf of a servant who was “paralyzed and suffering terribly”.  The Bible says that Jesus was amazed by his faith and that the servant was healed that same hour.  I love this story because it’s not about the servants faith, it’s about “faith on behalf of”.  The Bible talks about the gift of faith and while I am a believer, am not sure how strong my faith is.  This story is a great encouragement for me – both my situation and as an encouragement to continue to pray for others as well. 

With Easter tomorrow, it’s only appropriate to point out the ultimate story and promise of healing.  Just today I happened to read 2 Corinthians 4:14-5:10 which tells of our sharing in the resurrection and our new bodies.  It starts with “We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you.”   (Click to read on…)