Woo-Hoo! God Does It Again!

A few years ago I faced some seriously scary symptoms in my body--symptoms made even more scary when the doctor I saw came up empty as to their cause. After a few weeks of suffering, our church had its bimonthly ladies' meeting, which yours truly attended. But at the end of the teaching part, I gave my regrets to the hostess that I didn't feel up to sitting through the fellowship part. She was very understanding, but as I spoke with her I became aware that one of my dearest church friends had come to stand by us.

"Janine," she said, "I really feel that the Lord would have me pray for your tummy before you go. Is that okay?"

Of course I said yes! Her words were a foreshadowing of the great thing God was about to do--I had NOT told my friend what my symptoms were but they were, indeed, related to my "tummy."

So Lucy prayed, as always with a fervor that leaves you with the sense that she has touched the hem of His garment, and I went home. In the morning, every single symptom was gone. Gone.

Fast forward a few years and again--scary symptoms of a different nature but also "tummy" related. They continued for about a week. I didn't want to scare my husband unnecessarily but on the way to church Sunday night I felt a release to share with him so that he could help me pray.

Imagine my surprise later that night when the pastor told us what he would minister on--healing! Just in the nick of time! He had no way on earth to know how timely this message was for me. Needless to say, I went forward for prayer and the next day my symptoms were on their way out. Once again God touched my physical body. To Him be the glory, honor, and praise for what He has done.

But this is not the sum of my healing experiences. I have experienced God's mercy in healing in other ways. For example, did you know that Proverbs 4:22 says God's words "are life unto those that find them and health to all their flesh"? I took God's Word like medicine, three times a day, for a disease I later learned was nerve related.

Which brings us to the question: why? Why doesn't God heal the same way every time? Why does it vary from one time to the next?

Hmm . . . How about we take a clue from good ol' Grandma and--try Jesus first! See how He healed people!

If you look at the narratives in Scripture of how Jesus healed, it is nothing less than mind boggling. They are as varied as the number of grains of sand in the sea! The woman with the issue of blood dared to reach out and touch Him. Blind Bartimaeus disobeyed those around him and lifted his voice to cry out to Jesus for mercy. Then we have the time Jesus actually spit on the dirt, presumably to make mud and create new eyes for a blind man, who He then directed to go wash in the pool of Siloam. And voilá--his sight was restored! Is that crazy or what????

While it is true that you can see an element of faith in these people as they reached out to Jesus, other stories don't follow that pattern. Like the story of the dead son in Capernaum. That guy didn't do anything! In that account, Jesus was moved by compassion for the grieving mother and simply reached out and touched him! (How I treasure this story when I pray! Jesus's compassion for mothers, it gives me hope every time I come before the throne of grace for my children!)

The sum of it all is that with regard to healing Jesus moved outside the box. He listened to His Father and did solely what He was told to (John 5:19). No more--no less. Ministers and teachers sermonize and teach about these five steps for healing, or those five prerequisites for healing, etc. While in many cases there is much truth in what they say, there is no way any belief system can encompass all the absolutes with regard to healing.

Before continuing, let me say that to receive the brass ring of healing, the very first step is to believe that it is for us today. Isaiah 53 and I Peter 2:24 are two of many scriptures that establish that fact. Healing, simply put, is part of the package Jesus bought and paid for on Calvary. While He was on earth, Jesus himself went about teaching God's word and healing all that were afflicted by the devil (Acts 10:39). Now that He sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven, He has passed the healing baton on to us. We are His hands and feet to go and minister to His church.

Then why doesn't every believer get healed? If you prescribe to the absolute faith precept, you stand on the belief that if God says it, it is true, and you are healed, whether you see it with your natural eyes or not. For many years I walked in divine health standing on this precept. Yet I have also known four stalwart women of God who experienced miracles of healings in their bodies--but in the end, because they refused medical help, died from a given disease. I also knew one stalwart man of God who stood on God's promises and was healed at least two times miraculously, miracles I myself witnessed, and did go to medical doctors for the last illness he suffered. 'Janine," he said, "I will do what the doctor says, but I will trust God for the healing, to do that which the doctor cannot do." But even though he surpassed Asa in the Bible (who only looked to doctors for help instead of praying --2 Chronicles 16:12), guess what. He died.

So healing is in our salvation package but we can die anyway?????

When I was a youth in Mexico City, I loved, loved, loved when Brother Bobby Ewing would come to minister. An anointed teacher of God's Word, he always left you longing for more. When you sat under his teaching, two hours would seem like five minutes. You didn't want it to end!

One time he shared a dream he felt was from the Lord, a dream that for many years I did not understand. In the dream, Bro. Bobby was in a hospital. He had flowers to give the sick people and he went from bed to bed, giving each patient flowers and praying for them. Only every time he prayed, the sick person died. When he woke up, he complained to the Lord.

"Lord, if the people are going to die, I don't want to pray for them! That's awful!"

And he heard the Lord respond in his spirit, "It is your job to pray. It is my job to heal."

Let me interject here that Bobby Ewing was of the "if you pray, it is done, whether you see it or not" school. And he lived it. He trusted his health and healing to the Lord till the day he died.

But I was as flummoxed as he. If healing is for God's children, why do we not see everyone healed?

A little aside here of something that makes my blood boil. I have heard preachers on TV say that if you do not get healed, you must be in sin.

Really????? Did these people never hear of a book called JOB????? Apparently not because they are spewing the same claptrap as Job's supposed "comforters." And they were wrong!!!!!!! Job was NOT sick because of sin!!!! The guy I told you who stood on God's word but died? He was my first husband, Steve Muse, and let me tell you, that man had gotten so close to God that I would literally cry when I prayed, asking God, "Oh, Lord, why can't I change as much as he has???" Sin, my foot! Yes, some disease is brought on by sin. But there are times when godly men and women, who know how to stand on God's word, die.

I must confess, however, that this did bother me off and on until a couple of years ago. I was whining (one of the things I do best) to my Texas pastor, Kelly Rumfield, that I didn't understand why Steve had died. He knew how to stand unwaveringly on God's word--but he died. Even years later, I just couldn't wrap my head around it.

I can still remember Bro. Kelly's kind eyes as he looked at me, and the gentle smile that graced his face.

"But he died believing, didn't he?" he asked me.

I nodded.

With the gentleness that marks the greatness of his sprit, Bro. Kelly smiled even wider and nudged me verbally. "He died in faith, then, didn't he?"

That's when it all came together for me.

You know the chapter of great faith heroes? Hebrews 11? It starts out naming great heroes of faith most of us are familiar with like Moses and David--but from verse 33 on names are omitted and cases generalized. But the unnamed heroes have one thing in common. They did not see victory here on earth. They were tortured. They died. AND YET THEY ARE REFERENCED AS GREAT HEROES OF FAITH. I didn't put them in the BIble--God did! What God is saying through their heart-rending testimonies is obvious: when you believe, and keep on believing even though you don't see the answer in the natural, that is great faith.

Now, just because some do not see their healing this side of heaven, are we going to quit praying? Absolutely not! It is our job to pray--it is God's job to heal. Just don't put Him in a box.

The healing might come quickly, as in my case, or it might take a while--like in the case of my husband Dennis. The doctor had told him his incurable skin disease would always require a certain medicated lotion. Dennis kept praying. After many years, one day he looked down--and the skin disease had disappeared! It's been years since that dratted lotion has had a place in our home. God healed-on HIS timetable!

Then there is the way God will heal you. Last night our pastor shared a testimony of how God healed his back--he fell eight feet and thought, Now I've gone and done it. But when he got up, the crippling pain was gone!

The end of the matter is: don't put God in a box! He WILL be glorified in your life! He WLL answer your prayer--but hold on to your horses and get ready for the ride--and surprise--of your life! Your answer is coming--but only HE knows how He will wrap it up for you!