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This subject has been on my mind a lot lately, and for various reasons. I don’t know where to start exactly. I guess it started (recently at least) with a new song we sing at church that got my wheels turning, and also with a variety of people who I am praying that God will reach out and intervene with in a very tangible way.

So what’s been on my mind? Well, it’s about a fine line really. I’ve known people who pray for healing with a confidence that leaves me in admiration; admiration of their faith, but more importantly, admiration of the God they have faith in. They just earnestly plead with God and at the same time, pray with an amazing confidence (as opposed to desperation), seeming so at peace, knowing that the One who has the absolute ability to do anything is the one hearing their prayers. I’ve also heard people pray to God telling him that they know he will heal that person, and thanking him in advance for it. The difference between the two is drawn by a very, very fine line. In both cases, they have faith in a God who is able to heal. In both cases they have no doubts b/c they trust God completely.

In either case, people prayed for by both camps witness God do amazing miracles. Here’s the big question. What happens when he doesn’t?

And he doesn’t always, no one can argue with that. People get sick. People stay sick. And yes, people die. But if you stood on the authority of God’s word and said that God’s word promised that a person would be physically healed, and prayed to the God that has the ability to do anything, and someone wasn’t healed, then doesn’t your logic leave you with an amazingly powerful God who 1) lied in His word when he promised healing and/or 2) cruelly chose not to use his infinite abilities in your favor?

Obviously neither is the case. God is always good, and God never lies. In fact, nowhere in the New Testament does God promise us a pain-free, perfect, healthy existence. Quite the contrary actually. He did promise that he was good, and had a master plan, and would be with us every step of the way. He also promised that we would be refined through suffering (which is in some cases physical), and would be made more like His Son (the ultimate goal in life) by conforming to His death. The problem obviously isn’t with Him, it’s with us, and our interpretation of His promises.

Ironically, the song that started all this commotion in my head holds the simple explanation:

I believe You’re my Healer
I believe You are all I need
I believe You’re my Portion
I believe You’re more than enough for me
Jesus you’re all I need.

Yes, the song is all about how God is Jehovah Rophe, our healer, but more importantly, the songwriter’s focus is moreso about glorifying God for who He is, not just glorifying what He is able to do, or the act of him being physically healed. When it all comes down, I personally think it takes a lot more faith to say something like this, much like what the song communicates:

God, I believe you can heal, and I’m asking that you will heal. And I also know that you are infinitely wise, as opposed to me, who only sees my little sliver of reality from my limited understanding of how the world works. So I trust you.

And no matter what you do, I still believe that you are my Healer. And even if I live with sickness, and even if you decide to take me or my loved one from this earth to be with you, it’s ok, because YOU are all I need, not physical healing. You are my portion, and you’re more than enough for me, which is why it’s ok if I don’t live, because whether I’m here or in heaven, I still have you, and THAT is the most important thing. Jesus you’re all I need.

God is inifinitely wise, infinitely good and infinitely able. And when we pray for healing and he does miracles (which he does) I believe He is due some serious praise, and He definitely increases our faith that way.

I also believe that the God who chooses to heal people physically is the same God who chooses to answer our prayers in ways we can’t explain. Let me break that down for you in a very tangible way: the God who miraculously healed my pastor’s dad is the same God who chose to eventually take my dad home to be with him after battling cancer for 18 months. He doesn’t love one of them more than another, and they both loved him. People of great faith prayed for both of them. Here is the question: Not “Why did God choose to heal one and not the other” but “Do I know God’s character well enough to trust Him anyways, continue to have faith in Him anyways, and NOT ask why.”

Do we love God because of WHO he is, or because of WHAT he does? The short answer (b/c the long answer is a whole other blog post but I will save it for later): God is good. All the time.

So when I pray for healing, I will pray boldly in faith and ask God (because his Word does say to do that) to heal because I know he can. And I will also ask Him to increase my faith and help me to know His character better, so that no matter what he does, I can still say, with confidence:

I believe You’re my Healer
I believe You are all I need
I believe You’re my Portion
I believe You’re more than enough for me
Jesus you’re all I need.

Note: For an upclose look into who God is, check out Northway’s new series “Hello My Name is God”, which focuses on the names of God and what they reveal about His character. They had a super awesome speaker kick off the series last weekend…oh and there’s some pretty good stuff in the lineup for the next few weeks as well.