Get Well

Someone in my life has recently come across a serious medical issue and is struggling to keep perspective. While I know that God is completely capable of handling the situation, I also know that He cannot work in our lives until our attitudes, our faith, our actions, and our words line up in agreement with what God wants to do for us. It worries me when people I know are hoping for God to intervene, but are not really believing that He will because doubt is the first step to being defeated. It prevents God from moving in our lives and on our behalf.

This particular person, and their situation, has been on my heart quite regularly since I first heard the news. And God has put it on my heart to start studying and really understanding the way He works in our lives, in our bodies, for healing.

It starts with belief. Nothing short of fully believing God is capable and wants to heal us - WILL heal us - will prompt Him to move. Then we have to be willing to turn it over to Him, letting go of our own ideas of HOW He will heal us. Not all healing comes in the most 'miraculous' of ways. In the Bible, healing is done in many different manners, from a simple touch to washing in the river seven times, and on and on. There is not one cookie cutter way that God goes about His business, and we should not expect our illness to just vanish before we believe it is God doing the healing. In fact, often, and in more situations than just our physical well-being, God will not do what we are able to do on our own. We have to do what we can, and let Him do what we can't. So if we can eat better, take certain medicines, get adequate sleep, drink enough water, etc, then we need to do all of that. If there are treatments available, we should pursue them. We must do our part, fully expecting God to do His in His perfect timing. But often when we are waiting on Him, He is really waiting on us.

If we are truly believing God is working on our behalf, our thoughts, our actions, our attitudes, and our WORDS must align with that belief. If we are to walk together with God, we must agree on where we are going. (Can two walk together, except they be agreed? - Amos 3:3) We MUST KNOW what God says about us, about His willingness and ability to heal us, and we must STAY in agreement with that, in every way.

So, I started looking up verses that deal, either directly or indirectly, with healing. There are quite a few that I've come across in only a matter of two or three days of searching. Many of them also deal with the faith attitude we are to maintain, as faith is the key for healing to take place. For now, I want to share just one with you. This particular passage of scripture was the first one that came to my mind when I heard of my friend's illness. It had been shared with me about two months ago when a man at our church shared his story, and I want to share it with you:

This man had been living a dedicated life for Jesus for nearly thirty-five years when he was diagnosed with cancer. His cancer was rather serious, and doctors did not give him a positive prognosis. He was up in years at the time, and they worried that certain procedures would take too much of a toll on him. They promised to do what they could, but they encouraged him to get his affairs in order in case their efforts didn't help him. He admitted that his reaction was full-fledged fear, followed by anger and depression.

This man, who had loved God's word, and had read it daily for years, could not bring himself to open his Bible. He struggled even to pray. One day, on a visit to his doctor's for a check up, one of his nurses was just getting off duty, and she stopped in his room to see how he was doing. Nurses were not allowed to share their faith with patients, but since she was off duty, she approached him as a visiting friend. Still, not wanting to push the limits, she simply gave him two or three scriptures on slips of paper to keep with him. That way, he didn't have to open his Bible, he could just get them out and look at them when he wanted. He says he hooked the papers to his key chain and kept them with him at all times. Although he was still angry, frightened, and depressed, he began reading these few verses out loud to himself regularly. Over time, he began to feel a change in his attitude. He began to notice that his fears were subsiding and were being replaced with a glimmer of hope, which eventually grew into belief.

Now, several years later, he is cancer-free. Ultimately, it was not the doctor's medicine that healed him. He had gone as far as he could with medical treatments, with some, but not complete, success. He did what he could, and God did the rest. He now goes for check-ups on a regular basis, but they have not been able to find anything more than a mild case of arthritis in his knee. He just celebrated his 88th birthday. And he will be the first to say that, had he not chosen to stand on God's word, and to confess God's word out loud, even when he did not feel like it, he would probably not be here today. This is the verse he stood on most heavily:

• I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done. The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. (Psalm 118:17-18)