Healed or not healed........

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Read on 28 November 2008 at 7:43pm

Viv

A difficult one always - why are some healed and some not? I certainly do not think it was because her faith wasn't enough, or because there was sin in her life. There is sin in everyone's life. No-one's faith is "enough" by any reasonable measure, and yet grace is given when even the smallest faith is there.

I had a sort of similar experience at New Wine this year - I really thought that a pain in my wrist had been sorted out, but later, on further testing out, it turned out not. I do think God heals, but I also think that sometimes we get carried away and think He has, when He hasn't this time.

The way I think of it is this - every healing is a wonderful sign from God, and advance taste of his coming kingdom for us all to rejoice in - a sign that one day we shall all be restored and made new, that there will be no sickness, crying or death. We can all share in that, even if we aren't healed today. Somehow, for me, this makes the issue of "that person was healed, but this person (or I) wasn't" much less important - it puts it in its proper context. I don't know this way of thinking will help everyone though.

"All I did was listen"..... often that helps immensely, much more than clever answers.

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Permalink Reply by Tim S Kemp on 28 November 2008 at 7:57pm

I'm gonna sit on the fence a bit with this one. Firstly let me state that I firmly believe in total healing, by God, through prayer and the laying on of hands, and by the faith of the individual to be healed. Additionally I believe in the power of the mind.

If I cut myself while working I can carry on working and block out the pain, the wound is not healed. In the same way if someone is expecting the pain to go away they can block that pain out, and the pain is effectively not there.

When divine healing comes then there is normally a physical manifestation thereof, which can be verified medically - there is nothing better than hearing testimony from those who have been healed as to how their next visit to the doctor left the doctor speechless, whether it's a broken toe or cancer the miracle is just the same.

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Permalink Reply by Wulf Forrester-Barker on 29 November 2008 at 8:20am

Sometimes relief is just temporary and that could be related to the euphoria of going to a stirring meeting (although that is part of how our God-designed bodies work, so one can still give earnest thanks to God even for such temporary easement).

I have very little tolerance for those who teach that a lack of healing is down to a lack of faith on the part of the unwell person. I think that can be a factor - there are passages in the gospels where a lack of faith is given as a limit on miraculous signs and plenty where Jesus says things like "your faith has made you well" - but I think a lot who harp on about it today are trying to cover up the fact that their own healing ministry isn't quite as infallible as they would like us to think (and, when it comes down to it, they would like us to pay for!).

God is good and working all things together for the good of those who love him. If the "unhealed" lady can still find faith in that, and perhaps make some new friends through her time of honesty and confusion, perhaps there will be greater blessings on more people yet to come?

Wulf

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Permalink Reply by David Bull on 29 November 2008 at 6:46pm

I think the "Having enough faith" issue is awful. If you allow others to pray for you, you have faith which it's self is a gift of God.
God loves us and can heal but often doesn't. I do not full, if at all, understand the issues beyond that.
I think a suitable reply to the lady in question would be "I don't understand either but I do know it's not your fault"

David Bull.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Barlow on 4 December 2008 at 5:05pm

I don't want to get into a lengthy debate on the topic, one word of advice though. Let's rejoice that God gave her relief from pain for the time she did. What ever the cause or other details, she had some relief from pain for a period of time. Praise God.

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