Over the last two months now, I have been dealing with some health issues that seemingly came out of nowhere. Most of my life has been outside the walls of the doctor's office... having very few trips there. Until recently, I could not have even told you my doctor's name because I had only been one time since moving back to Indiana! While I and many other people have been praying and believing, at this point I still have only vague answers or ideas and no relief from my symptoms. Obviously this has brought frustration and caused me to think more on this topic of healing.
Why are some people healed instantly and some are not? Why do some people struggle for months or years before they receive their healing? Why do some people not ever receive it and eventually pass away? Why do some people receive their results through the hands of a doctor and some others through a supernatural miracle? These are questions that you have no doubt asked, thought of or heard others ask at some point in time. I believe we all have been there. Here is my answer to all of the above questions... "I do not know". I don't think any of us can truly answer these. While some think they can, I believe this is just one of those areas that we can't fully understand. We are not God. HE is and His ways are above our ways... His thoughts and understanding are far beyond what our finite brains can reach. Some people are not satisfied with an answer of "I don't know", but through my life and experiences, I have come to realize that there are MANY things that I do not and can not understand.
When I was a very young boy, my mom suffered with sever migraine headaches for a year. She went to all types of specialists and treatment centers in various places in the country... she was given all sorts of reasons for her symptoms... put on a large amount of medications... put on special diets... but continued to suffer to a point of not being able to function in the manner she wanted and needed to as a pastor's wife and mother. Were lots of people praying during this entire year? You bet they were! Did my mom have faith to believe that God could heal her? Of course she did! After about a year, she WAS healed in a camp service at our Lake Placid district campground. From that evening on, she's been completely healed and not needed any continued medication. God healed her, without a doubt. Why did it take a year? We don't know, but the fact remains that God showed up as her healer.
In 1986, my youngest sister was born was transposition of the great arteries in her heart. She had open-heart surgery as a 9-month old, 9-10 pound baby. She could have died at that early stage of her life, but she did not. Her entire life has been filled with struggles, limitations, medications, treatments, surgeries... and now is on a list for a heart transplant as a 23 year old youth pastor's wife. God has spared her life many times and that has been very evident... but why has He not healed her heart condition yet? We can't know the answer to that, but God knows what he is doing! I know that God gives us abilities and intelligence and expects us to use them... and I believe that many times God uses the hands of doctors to bring correction and healing to our sicknesses and diseases. God has a purpose and a plan for all of our lives. Have you ever thought that God's plan for some people is that they would be a doctor and use the God-given abilities and insight to bring physical correction to people's problems? I believe that God could very well be using the hands of man to bring my sister's healing in the form of a heart transplant. Could he supernaturally give her a new heart? Yes He could and who knows... He just might do that. Or He could choose to work through the doctors that are involved. Either way, I am believing for a miracle.
In 1991, my family was in a major car accident where we all received various injuries. My mom and 5-year old sister were lifelined via helicopter with very serious injuries. My sister (with the heart conditions) almost died 3 times on the way to the hospital with internal injuries. Later, after the doctors reported to my dad that my sister would be flat on her back and unable to move for many weeks... that they were fighting the internal issues... they left the room and then my sister sat up, started moving around saying "look at me!". Within an hour she was released from the hospital and was healed! My mom should have not survived the accident, but she did. She's had 12 surgeries since the accident and lives still with some limitations. However, she walks in races after she was told she'd never walk again. She rides a bike... which she was never supposed to do. She does many things that she is "not supposed" to be able to do. She is a walking miracle. Has she received a 100% healing? No. Why? I don't know. I do know that doctors were used to fix some things, then God took her even further.
In 1995, my grandfather died from cancer. He had been an Assemblies of God pastor for over 40 years. He was an awesome man of God with an effective ministry... a man that impacted everyone, everywhere that he went. There are many things in my life that I can attribute to him. Could God have healed him and kept him with us longer... and kept him doing the work of the ministry longer? Sure. It's hard to know why he did not receive his healing, but again I trust in God and know that He is in control. The picture is always bigger than me. There is always more to a situation than just what affects you. There is a bigger picture that I can't always see, but God can and He knows best.
Now as I face my own physical struggle, I was recently reminded of a passage in the Bible that helped me and I trust will help you as well. When the three Hebrew children refused to bow before the king's image despite the threat of being thrown into the fire, they stood in faith believing completely in their God. They told the king that their God was able to save them from the fire and that He would save them. Then they continued on and said even if He doesn't, we will not worship the image you have set up (Daniel 3:16-18). They believed that God was able to save them, but declared that regardless of how this situation panned out, they would still stand for the God they served and declare who He is even in the face of death.
In the same manner, I choose to have faith and believe that God is able to heal me... that God will heal me (through His hand or a physician's)... but even if He doesn't, that does not change the fact that God IS the Healer. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Even when I do not understand the timing or the end result, God is still God... and I am not. I know this is a long post, but I hope it helps you as you read it. Keep the things of your life in perspective and remember that God is on your side. He will never leave you. Trust and believe in Him today and don't forget to keep praising Him even in the midst of your trial!
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perry meade
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