A couple of weeks ago I was reading a book which had a story
in it about people asking to be healed from illnesses but weren't and they were
told they were not healed because their faith in God was weak.
This got me thinking, is healing down to our faith and how
strong it is? Our God is a God of
miracles and this includes healing people – think of the stories in the Bible
of people being healed from Leprosy, the blind being able to see again and even
Lazarus being raised from the dead. Were
they all healed because of their faith in God?
We may ask for healing, but God does not always respond to
our desires, and he frequently allows circumstances in our lives that we wish
he would not. However, through these
hard times, and times when we are in despair that our prayers aren't answered,
we need to remember:
- God is a sovereign God
- He is in control
- All things are under his rule
- Nothing happens without His direction or permission
- God works all things according to his counsel
The sovereignty of God is not merely that God has the power
and right to govern all things, but that He does so, always and without
exception. In other words, God is not merely sovereign de jure (in principle),
but sovereign de facto (in practice)
God has the power and responsibility to exercise his right
over creation according to his will. As it says in Psalm 50 v 1 “The Mighty
One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to
where it sets”
We may wish to have a great job, to be married, to be healed
but sometimes God does not answer us the way we want him to. Don’t get me
wrong, God always answers our prayers, but maybe not with the Yes we want. God
has three answers to prayer:
- Yes
- No
- Wait
Our requests, prayers, desires will not always coincide with
God’s responses or God’s purpose for our lives. But we should never give up
hope or give up on God as it says in 1 Peter 4 v 19 “ So then, those who suffer
according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and
continue to do good".
If our prayers are not answered, if we ask for healing but
are not healed, we have a tendency to doubt God and his Sovereignty but we
shouldn’t, we should have faith in God and that he knows what is best for
us. As Hebrews 11 v 1 says “Now faith is
confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see"
God asks us to trust Him in the power of the cross, and that
is what we should do. So if your dream job does not come then don’t doubt God,
trust in Him and that he has a better job out there for you. If you are not
healed then don’t doubt God or doubt your own faith, trust in God and don’t say
“Why me?” but instead ask “What do you want me to learn through this God?”
We must embrace the sufficiency of God’s Grace in all
circumstances. It is imperative that the
God of the mountain top also be the God of the valley. If we despair that our prayers are not
answered, we should remember Paul. Paul
requested three times to be healed from the ‘thorn in his flesh’ but God did
not answer the prayer the way Paul wanted instead he answered “My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (1 Corinthians 12
v 9)
Despite the ‘thorn in his flesh’ Paul carried on walking in
faith with God and spreading God’s love and message to the unbelievers and many
came to Christ through Him. So
throughout weaknesses we can see that Jesus can work through us – we may not
see the fruits of this work but don’t give up heart – your actions and words
can help people in ways you may never do.
For example the other day someone told me I was an encouragement to them
but I never feel like I am, but I was encouraged by this anyway.
And when we suffer we must remember that we can endure
suffering just as Jesus endured the cross, and in our suffering we are not
alone as God is always with us.
Our affliction is purposeful and passing and although we may
not be able to understand why we are going through periods of sadness, distress
and illness, we must cling to God’s goodness and follow the pattern or His Son.
Many time we are left with more questions rather than
answers, we don’t know why God allows one person to be healed and others not,
but it’s not out place to question God’s and His sovereignty, it is our place
to have faith and trust in Him.
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