I have been thinking a lot about healing this week. It is amazing to me how and what God uses to bring us to certain points of realization about Him and how He works and why He works. Let me share a few things that have brought me to think about this.
First, my mother is sick. She has cancer. It may not be as bad as it can be right now, but she has cancer. Breast cancer. Lung cancer. Nodules on her liver. She asked me to pray for her. So I am. My church is praying for her. Some of my friend’s churches are praying for her. Facebook friends are praying for her.
Second, my boss sent me a paper that his daughter wrote for school. It details how when he was a little boy he caused his mother to have a terrible car wreck. She was pronounced dead and was revived. Her legs were shattered. Her ankles were powder. Her church prayed for her. Her husband carried her to the altar at that church one night and they prayed around her. She walked out and the next day x-rays showed healed ankles. God miraculously healed her.
Third, this week I heard about a man who was on a respirator and unresponsive. They removed all devices that were keeping him alive and waited for him to die so they could harvest his organs for people needing transplants. They expected him to die within an hour. The next day he sat up and opened his eyes. He answered questions by squeezing their hands. Another miracle.
Most healing is not quite as dramatic as these examples. They catch our attention when they happen, but they are not the norm. We are used to more regular healing taking place. Normal healings, while not as exciting, are no less miraculous. They happen. God heals people everyday. He also does not heal people. Some people do not recover. Some people stay sick or suffer through illnesses for years. Some will pray for healing to come and never get the answer they want.
Unfortunately, we never know the reason other than it was not God’s will for them to be healed. There are other things beside illnesses that may or may not be healed. Broken relationships may or may not be healed. Financial hardships may or may not be overcome. Prejudices and discriminations may or may not be defeated. There are countless other ways that we can apply this.
The question of why God does or does not heal us has to come to our mind. Does God heal us to make us happy? Does He heal us to make us better? Does He help us mend relationships to fulfill us? Does He help us overcome our shortcomings to make us better people? The answer is yes and no. The answer is yes, that He does all of this for our benefit and to make our lives better and the world a better place. But that cannot be the only reason, or the best reason, or even the central reason.
I believe that we can get our answer from the Bible in John 5. Here Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath. This man had been crippled all of his life. There was a pool that sick, ill and disabled people would go to be healed. Jesus encounters this man and asks him why he doesn’t get in the poo. The man gives his answer and Jesus goes to work. He tells him to get up and walk. A man who had never walked before. So, he does. Jesus moves on and the man looks around for him, not knowing who He was. He finally finds him. The Jews become upset because Jesus did this on the Sabbath and that violates their Law. Jesus explains to them that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. In the middle of the event, though, Jesus explains exactly why He healed this man.
Jesus told the man not to sin anymore, so that nothing worse would happen to him. What is Jesus saying? What He is saying is this: Get in a right relationship with the Father. Your healing is nothing that lasts. For that matter, neither was your disability. Something worse could happen. You could face the judgement. So, get into a right relationship with my Father.
After that, the Jews confronted Jesus about doing this on the Sabbath. He explains the whole reason for the Sabbath. He tells them He only does what He sees His Father do. He also basically tells them that if they really want to be amazed, just watch. More amazing works are going to be done by the Father.
We could summarize it this way. Jesus healed this man to demonstrate the work and power and glory and majesty of God. This man should live his life in a relationship with the Father as to demonstrate these same things. Jesus says that even more amazing things will be seen that this. Imagine!!! More amazing than seeing a disabled man walk. Paul said it like this. For me, to live is Christ, to die is gain.
Paul had an amazing work done in his life. He was healed of his disease or disability, whatever you want to call it. His life became his relationship with Christ. To live is Christ. Death became nothing for him. Nothing worse could happen to him due to this relationship. Death just became another event on the calendar. It became gain. So for those of us who follow Christ, healing or not , overcoming or not, illnesses or suffering, life should be Christ. Death becomes nothing. We have passed through the judgement. Death becomes gain.