I sensed the need to add a part three to our recent series called Hardships Among the Ways of God, an additional segment that can and should help some that have chronic issues in their physical bodies.
Listen :
I have in mind the pains and sufferings of some that are under a yoke of sickness or disease or a physical disability that continues day after week after month and longer.
Paul had such things to cope with as did Timothy, and you can be sure there were other the Word could have listed that we know not of.
Heretofore in these discussions, we have spoken in broad terms about the kinds of hardships we face in life that are either permitted or arranged by God. He oversees such times as the opportunities to tutor us, train us, teach us, or in a rare time to spank us in the process of redeeming you and me out of sinful or displeasing ways and into the ways of righteousness and holiness.
An often-used and important qualifying word used in the New Testament from the Greek is the term “ek”, which means “out of”, such as the term “ecclesia”, meaning “called out” ones that comes into English as the word “church”.
As born-again ones from Heaven we are to “come out” of all that we had been by the sinful nature of the past (our wrong thoughts and passions, behaviors, lifestyles) and we are to not venture into other new areas in our tomorrows that are displeasing or contrary to our new nature in Christ.
This was something that the Lord spoke to the children of Israel in the early part of their Wilderness travels and it has not changed for the born-again members of the church today.
Now as to the hardships that we face that are due to protracted or ongoing sickness or disease, or a permanent disability brought on by injury or age or some other reason, many ask, “Why doesn’t the Lord heal me?” and might reference the Word in two places that records “By His stripes we are (or were) healed”.
This is not an unreasonable challenge but is one that needs careful consideration (personal thought and study) by all of us in our particular circumstances.
Let’s talk about this “healing” and about what the first and foremost healing need that you and I had before coming to believe on Jesus. “Why have I not been healed?” many ask. If you are truly born again, according to the Hebrew word healed, you were made whole, fixed right again by having your sins forgiven and your human spirit regenerated, once again made alive unto God.
A spirit that has been regenerated means that that part of the man and woman that was dead to God because of sin has been revitalized, given new life.
Which is better, to have a dead spirit to God, be lost in sin and ignorantly on the way to be eternally separated from God, or to be made alive unto God once again by the “healing” of your spirit because of the Word made flesh, now accepted by God and fellowship with Him restored(!)?
That, dear ones, is the highest needed healing that the sufferings and death of Jesus has accomplished for you and me. Yet—our redemption is not complete and much remains to be done in our hearts and minds by which God uses various hardships to accomplish, if we will cooperate.
Just because our human spirit has been healed and we are now forgiven and can walk past the torn veil into the very holy Presence of God does not mean we are in mind and heart totally fit to be there, although He allows it because we are accepted in the Beloved having been washed in His shed blood.
Our human spirit has been healed but much remains about you and me to be worked out according to God’s plans for thoroughly redeeming us through the processes of this present life.
Now as to the hardships involving sickness, disease, or disabilities from these things or an injury or even age, I have things to share that should offer wisdom [correctly applying knowledge to a circumstance] and at least some comfort to the afflicted.
As you’ve heard me already say in parts one and two, we are to become patient (KJV: to persevere) in our lives and faithful toward God in all circumstances. There are issues of our mind and heart to be removed and other adjustments in our thoughts and practices that God wants to happen that hardships are to affect, if we will seek the Lord about the reasons behind our troubles and then submit to His counsel and ways.
Yet, by spiritual inexperience or stubbornness or pride, so many do not sincerely and earnestly seek the Lord but continue to suffer.
As to significant issues in our physical bodies, we have a God that can heal and a Savior that has paid the price for healing.
As to significant issues in our physical bodies, we have a God that can heal and a Savior that has paid the price for healing. Then why, when we pray in faith asking for it (and for many even being patient waiting for it to happen), [why] does it not come?
I have known of genuine God-worshipping, Word-honoring, Jesus-loving people in my life that prayed and continued to pray, believed and declared the Word but in the end died of a serious illness.
Case-by-case, only God knows the answer. However, there are secondary steps that can be taken when healing does-not-happen; something more that we can do.
As already mentioned, when healing does not come, the petitioner should earnestly seek understanding and answers from the Lord. “Lord, please help me to understand what the issues are that are preventing my deliverance from this thorn in my flesh.”
Such a prayer must be sincere and earnest, and patiently waited-on and not one carelessly uttered and soon faithlessly forgotten. God’s answer and your understanding and help can be among these reasons:
God’s answer (+) your understanding and help can be among these reasons
1. The involvement of a spiritual evil: A curse must be broken or some possession removed or habit repented of and renounced that has allowed an evil spirit(s) to afflict the body and or mind, spirits which must be bound and cast out
2. Matters of the heart and mind that must be dealt with (hatred, bitterness, unforgiveness, greed or covetousness, anger at God, pride, other sins)
3. The body has been poisoned through diet, abused or neglected (which may be continuing) and that must be stopped and corrected to receive healing
4. The Lord wants more of you than you have been willing or obedient to give (higher devotion, one’s time, service [Jonah],) yet many resist
5. Sometimes God wants us to seek medical solutions for healing
6. Also, there may be others that God is using your infirmity to change and train to higher levels in His ways also—pray that His will be done in other’s lives
In short, there can be reasons healing does not come that we have control over, if we will diligently seek the Lord, learn the cause, and act on the understanding. Otherwise, one day such a one will face the Lord and He will ask, “Why didn’t you seek My will and bend to it in order to receive your healing?” To which there is no answer but ignorance of His Word, stubbornness, pride (which our God hates), or an unwillingness to abandon the reasons behind the physical trouble in our life; all things that were within a person’s ability to change with the Holy Spirit’s help.
Here are my heartfelt recommendations for anyone having significant and ongoing issues of the physical body:
1. Know that healing is part of the God’s general plan of redemption
2. Take time to review healing Scriptures and the Gospel’s healing stories
3. Carve out a regular prayer-time to specifically talk to the Lord about your healing needs and then become quiet and listen for insights
4. With the Spirit’s help, check yourself against the 6 reasons just mentioned that can cause healing to be delayed and deal with anything that comes up
5. Some fasting with prayer is recommended, and if you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, ask for a fresh infilling and daily use your prayer language
6. Obey what you discern by the Holy Spirit and from the Word
7. As you heard in part two, as in all hardships, honor God and your Savior with heartfelt praise and gladness for Who He is and what He has healed you of—an eternity separated from Him for sin
8. It is an act of true humility to ask others to agree to pray for you regarding these issues—as long as you are also willing to relentlessly do your part
As a result of these steps, is your healing guaranteed to come? Some might say yes, I would have high hopes that it will, but in any event you will draw closer to the Lord for which the benefits are worth the time and effort.
One final thought: As we pray for healing, we often stick in that prayer that it will be “for the glory of God”. Here is what He said to me about that: “My glory is secure, what is more important is your complete transformation into the image of my Son. I the Lord will forgo any glory otherwise given Me by letting some sufferings continue—until that which I desire to be changed in you is accomplished.”
Is there more to know about healing? You can be sure of that but these few paragraphs are a good starting place!
~Bro. Scott Send Email to: scott@portervillepost.com
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