Healing. Health. Where do you stand when it comes to healing and especially, do you believe for your own healing? Do you know why you believe as you do? This tends to be a subject that we really don’t talk about because it is inevitable that you will offend someone. Passions run very high when it comes to this subject. And sometimes we don’t know why we believe as we do. Remember… it takes courage to believe for healing. I didn’t say, pray for, I said – believe for. Perhaps it’s only those who have experienced their own, or someone close, healing that the fullness of this is realized.?
Is healing actually supported by scripture? Yes. And in a number of places in both the Old and New Testaments, but the most startling and impacting is found in Isaiah, in his prophecies about the coming Messiah.
“He was despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and pain and acquainted with grief;
And like One from whom men hide their faces
He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or esteem Him.But [in fact] He has borne our griefs,
And He has carried our sorrows and pains;
Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken,
Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him’.But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing];
The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him,
And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.All of us like sheep have gone astray,
We have turned, each one, to his own way,
But the Lord has caused the wickedness of us all [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing to fall on Him [instead of us].” (Isaiah 53:4-7, AMP)
Isaiah was prophesying this centuries before Jesus came and yet it is Jesus about whom he is referring. And while Isaiah was stating a future event, look at the words… He has, He was, we are healed. ‘Are’ is a immediate, now word – not a future state. WE ARE. So why aren’t we? How do we view healing? Is healing for us now? Dare we believe for our own healing?
Healing is such a ‘touchy’ subject. And there are many who genuinely believe that God puts sickness and disease on us to teach us something. Let me try and dispel this last thought. I have problems with this concept on soooo many levels. First and foremost is WHY would God want His creation to be sick and infirm? And presupposing He does, why do we turn to Him for healing, if it is He who puts illness on us? See. Doesn’t compute. There’s no logic. Ergo, in my world, God never puts sickness and disease on His people to ‘teach them something’. However, in our times of being sick, if we turn to Him, He can help us understand things we did not realize.
Then there is Jesus. What did he do? He went about healing all of our diseases (Matthew 4:34, AMP).
“And He went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news (gospel) of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people…”
Why? He was demonstrating Who He was and where He came from. He went about healing, but it was also coupled with the people’s faith (see Mark 6:5). But He also went an additional step – He empowered His disciples to heal.
“And He called the twelve [disciples] and began to send them out [as His special messengers] two by two, and gave them authority and power over the unclean spirits.” (Mark 6:7, AMP)
Why would this happen if He wanted us sick? Look again at Isaiah 53:6 – ‘And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed’. He suffered the cross for our healing, including physical healing.
So what do we do when we do get sick? Suffer through? Stiff upper lip it until we experience our healing? Whatever you do… just never ignore what’s happening. You need to address any illness you experience with wisdom and faith. And you can do this at the same time you proclaim your belief for your healing. Remember that Jesus used many ways to heal, from laying on hands, speaking words of healing, spitting on clay and putting that on the eyes of the blind man. Healing comes in various forms and not always do we recognize this.
Obviously I don’t have the last word when it comes to healing and health. I don’t know why one person is instantly healed and another not. Does it have to do with their hearts? Probably. The point in this is that He is our healer, we come to Him to be healed… how is not the focus just like ‘if’ and when are/is not the question(s). If He healed one… He will heal us all. And not just physical healings. Read again Isaiah 53:4-5
But [in fact] He has borne our griefs,
And He has carried our sorrows and pains;
Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken,
Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him’.But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing];
Griefs, sorrows, pains, wounded, crushed… emotionally, spiritually, as well as physically. I believe this with all my being that God wants His creation to be whole, healthy, happy – spirit, soul, and body… abundantly.
